The South African Defence Union (SANDU) has accused the government of defunding the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) for over two decades and ultimately left it short of meeting the international defence funding standards.
The union raised the concern following the presentation of the R57.1 billion budget allocated to the Department of Defence and Military Veterans by the Minister Angie Motshekga.
Delivering the budget, Motshekga conceded that the budget is not enough to address the challenges facing the department and the SANDF in general.
“In spite of the ongoing financial constraints which affect the planning and operations of the SANDF, the government has assured the troops that they will have the resources needed to defend and protect the country,” Motshekga told parliament.
The minister however assured parliament that the budget, although insufficient, will be used to prioritise the needs of members of the SANDF.
“These include ensuring soldiers are properly equipped with the uniforms, boots, protective gear, and habitable facilities catering for the needs of all including women soldiers and persons with disabilities,” explained Motshekga.
Meanwhile, SANDU national negotiator Jeff Dubazana told Newsnote that it is unacceptable that the government is still unable to meet the international benchmark in terms of defence funding.
“The defence budget has been less than 1% and the current one the minister was presenting for the current financial year is slightly above 0.7% and bear in mind that this has been happening for over two decades.
The recent tragedy of the demise of our soldiers in Goma, eastern DRC, was simply because of the defunding,” remarked the frustrated Dubazana.
SANDU still insists that it is through a commission of inquiry that full details around the demise of the soldiers in the DRC can be unearthed.
South Africa lost 13 soldiers who were part of the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) as peacekeepers mission in January 2025 because of an escalation by the rebel group, M23 and Rwanda Defence Force engaging the DRC forces.
“A wise man will always look back, analyse and take stock of how he fared on a fight he was involved in before engaging on another fight to correct the mistakes of the previous fight and prepare better for the next one.
This is why as SANDU we have been calling on the Commander in Chief, President Cyril Ramaphosa to establish a commission of inquiry to understand exactly what happened during this deployment.
So that once we know what happened, we can correct those mistakes before placing our soldiers up for the next deployment,” Dubazana concluded.
The department has undertaken to prioritise needs and support of the soldiers on deployment.
