Question NW680 to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans
29 October 2019 - NW680
Marais, Mr S to ask the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans
With reference to the media briefing by Lieutenant General Lindile Yam on 7 August 2019 (details furnished), (a) what plans (i) does she have to prevent the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) defence capabilities from total failure as implied by the specified person, (ii) have been developed to address the SANDF budget allocation and (iii) have been developed to downscale and rightsize her department and all the units of the SANDF to comply with the realistic defence requirements as determined by section 200 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, based on the realistic defence threats to and priorities of the Republic and (b) on what date will the plans be submitted to the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans?
Reply:
1. The prevention of the SANDF capabilities from declining further is entirely dependent on the budget allocation of the Defence Force, which has been decreasing at an alarming rate over the years with a negative impact of the entire capabilities.
2. The Defence Review 2015 has been developed has been developed with a plan to arrest the decline of the SANDF but unfortunately no funding has been received to attend to the declining capabilities of the SANDF.
3. The Defence Review 2015 is the defence policy document which has all the tenants of the requirements of the Defence Force. The defence has become progressively unsustainable in terms of declining defence allocations and have reached a point where the Republic must decide on the kind of Defence Force it wants and can afford.