AG’s office paints bleak picture of state of affairs at Defence Dept

The combat-readiness marrying up drill rehearsals build up to the exercise’s Distinguished Visitors Day capability demonstration taking place on Thursday 21 November 2024.

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The Office of the Auditor General (AG) has painted a bleak picture about the state of affairs at the Department of Defence and Military Veterans.

The AG’s office briefed the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) on the department’s audit outcomes, financial statements for 2023/2 financial year and the performance of the South African Army, the Navy as well as the Air Force.

It says there is a decline in prime-mission equipment of these entities, which has resulted in vessels spending reduced hours at sea while aircraft are also flying lesser hours compared to the financial year 2013/2014 and 2012/2013 respectively.

AG Office’s Deputy Business Unit Leader, Fhumulani Rabonda partially attributed the decline to the state of affairs at Denel.

Rabonda says, “Denel must be saved and for Denel to be saved there needs to be accountability for all the irregularities that were reported by the state capture commission of inquiry.”

In addition, the AG’s Office says at least 62.5% of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) commitments were unfunded, at the year-end including the deployment of soldiers to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through Operation Thiba.

The office says due to the decline in available air capabilities, the department has had to charter private aircraft to meet some of its day-to-day activities.

uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Party MP, Thalente Kubheka expressed concern about the situation at the department.

Kubheka says, “We will be told chair for sure that our country is in a mess, we no longer have a Department of Defence, it needs to be handed over to the likes of your military-industrial complex that runs the US and the west.”

While African National Congress (ANC) MP Cameron Dugmore, expressed concern about maritime security of the South Africa’s coastal line.

Dugmore says, ” The presence of international drug cartels in this country and the reality is that unless we are able to deal with this there’s a genuine threat to our sovereignty as a country.”