Question NW396 to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans

Marais, Mr S to ask the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans

(1)Whether R 800 million was moved from the SA National Defence Force’s (SANDF) budget to pay Deloitte to do an audit of SANDF’s battle preparedness; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) what were the (i) motivation and (ii) objectives of the specified audit, (b) why does the SANDF not have the capacity to perform the specified audit itself, (c) why was Deloitte contracted to perform the specified audit, (d) when did (i) she and (ii) her department approve the specified audit and (e) what procurement processes were followed before appointing the specified company; (2) whether there are any higher priorities for spending the funds instead of the specified audit, especially in the face of constant complaints that not enough funding is provided to among other things South Africa’s contribution to peacekeeping forces in Africa; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details for prioritising the specified audit?