{"id":91008,"date":"2017-04-13T14:47:40","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T12:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/south-africas-army-is-in-steady-decline-and-nothings-being-done-to-fix-it-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2017-04-13T14:47:40","modified_gmt":"2017-04-13T12:47:40","slug":"south-africas-army-is-in-steady-decline-and-nothings-being-done-to-fix-it-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/south-africas-army-is-in-steady-decline-and-nothings-being-done-to-fix-it-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa’s army is in steady decline and nothing’s being done to fix it | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Africa’s army is in steady decline and nothing’s being done to fix it<\/a>: <\/p>\n

South Africa's army currently has about 80,000 active personnel.<\/span> Flickr\/Spc. Taryn Hagerman, US. Army Africa <\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is in a \u201ccritical state of decline\u201d and is largely incapable of carrying out its constitutional duties.<\/p>\n

This sobering fact is set out in the Defence Review, South Africa\u2019s new defence policy finalised in March 2014. The Review noted that the army couldn\u2019t afford its main operating systems, was unable to meet standing defence commitments, lacked critical mobility and was \u201ctoo poorly equipped and funded to execute the widening spectrum of tasks to the desired level\u201d. It concluded that:<\/p>\n

\n

left unchecked, and at present funding levels, (the decline of the SANDF) will severely compromise and further fragment South Africa\u2019s defence capability.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Three years later the situation remains the same.<\/p>\n

The South African constitution says that the SANDF\u2019s primary function is to protect the country\u2019s territorial integrity, provide border security and to support peacemaking operations in Africa.<\/p>\n

Currently the army has about 80,000 active personnel. Global Firepower ranks the SANDF\u2019s military capabilities and available firepower 5th in Africa and 46th in the world.<\/p>\n

Over the past two decades the SANDF has been sent to peacekeeping missions in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. There was also the questionable deployment to the Central African Republic in 2013 where 15 soldiers lost their lives. In addition, the navy has been involved in protecting South Africa\u2019s territorial waters and maritime interests as well as contributing to the fight against piracy.<\/p>\n

Over the years thousands of soldiers have also been deployed to protect the country\u2019s borders. And the army has taken part in the crime fighting Operation Fiela.<\/p>\n

Under funded<\/h2>\n

The army\u2019s dire situation has arisen because the government hasn\u2019t provided sufficient funds for the SANDF over the past two decades.<\/p>\n

In 1994 the spending on defence was around 3% of the GDP. This declined steadily to 1.54% of the GDP in 2004\u20135 and around 1.2% of the GDP since 2014. The minister of defence believes that a defence budget of about 2% of the GDP \u2013 in line with countries such as Turkey, France and United Kingdom \u2013 would help it rebuild its capacity.<\/p>\n

\"\"
South African soldiers on patrol in Bangui, Central African Republic in 2013.<\/span> Reuters\/Luc Gnago<\/span><\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The cost of the SANDF taking part in peace missions isn\u2019t an issue as these are covered by funding from the National Treasury and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation. The challenge is to fund \u201cday-to-day maintenance\u201d including equipment, infrastructure, training, administration and force preparation.<\/p>\n

In particular, the SANDF\u2019s infrastructure is falling apart. In March 2014, only 38% of the army\u2019s facilities and only half of the soldiers\u2019 living quarters were in decent conditions. Some of the bases are in such a poor state that they are \u201cunsuitable for human habitation\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Defence Review stressed the need for immediate intervention to stop the critical decline and <\/p>\n

\n

create a firm foundation to \u2026 develop a sustainable defence capability appropriate to South Africa\u2019s international status, strategic posture and its inescapable continental leadership role.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In addition, it warned that \u201ceven with an immediate intervention, it could take at least five years to arrest the decline and another five years to develop a limited and sustainable defence capability.\u201d <\/p>\n

During the intervening three years the government has shown no urgency to help the SANDF develop into a capable force. There\u2019s been no significant increase in funding for the army since 2014.<\/p>\n

The writers of the Defence Review operated under instructions from then Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu to \u201cpursue a long-term framework\u201d. This was based on the assumption the government would provide the necessary funds to implement the review\u2019s recommendations. Since then Sisulu has been moved to another portfolio and the army\u2019s budget has not gone up.<\/p>\n

Today the SANDF \u201cdoesn\u2019t have the money or manpower to step up security of the country\u2019s porous borders.\u201d According to the Minister of Defence, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula<\/p>\n

\n

there are huge expectations from us but budget cuts remain a problem.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to the latest budget figures, spending on Defence and State Security will amount to R54bn in 2017-18, up from R52bn in 2016. In 2018-19, spending is set to increase to R56bn and R60bn in 2019-20. <\/p>\n

But these increases are not enough to arrest the decline, let alone rebuild the capacity of the SANDF and implement the review\u2019s recommendations.<\/p>\n

Recently, President Jacob Zuma, surprised to hear about the army\u2019s financial woes, encouraged Mapisa-Nqakula to bring the issue up at a cabinet meeting.<\/p>\n

This raises the question whether he even read the 341-page review document. <\/p>\n

Neglect likely to continue<\/h2>\n

Lacklustre economic growth means that no significant budget increases are likely in the foreseeable future. In a challenging environment, the government and the Department of Defence have two options: find extra money or scale down. Both options are set out in the review:<\/p>\n

\n

There must be either a greater budget allocation or, a significantly scaled-down level of ambition and commitment which is aligned to the current budget allocation. In short, there are two strategic options available for government: budget must be determined by policy or, budget must drive policy.\u2018<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Defence analyst John Stupart argues that South Africa doesn\u2019t have a plan B. At the same time, the policy that exists is \u201csimply unachievable\u201d.<\/p>\n

But something will have to change, and quickly. Stupart argues that South Africa\u2019s strategic needs could be met by a smaller, well trained and highly capable defence force equipped with modern weapons and tactical know-how. The alternative is that a large, over-staffed and badly trained military slides \u201cinto decline and, ultimately, obsolescence\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

Savo Heleta does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong> The Conversation \u2013 Articles (AFRICA)<\/a><\/small>
\n<\/p>\n

Read more on The Conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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South Africa’s army is in steady decline and nothing’s being done to fix it: South Africa's army currently has about 80,000 active personnel. Flickr\/Spc. Taryn Hagerman, US. Army Africa The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is in a \u201ccritical state of decline\u201d and is largely incapable of carrying out its constitutional duties. This sobering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[4635,6981,6164,8890,5765,5793,25363,3576,15290],"class_list":{"0":"post-91008","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-africa-news-2","7":"tag-africas","8":"tag-army","9":"tag-being","10":"tag-conversation","11":"tag-decline","12":"tag-done","13":"tag-nothings","14":"tag-south","15":"tag-steady","16":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91008\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}