Defence Minister Angie Motshekga has attributed her department’s severe under-capacity to ongoing austerity measures and budget cuts, telling Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) on Tuesday that these constraints have significantly hampered the department’s ability to meet its obligations.
Motshekga’s testimony follows recent criticism over the deaths of South African soldiers deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the last financial year, her department exceeded its staffing budget by R3 billion. She explained that continued budget reductions have made it impossible to maintain critical equipment, while state arms manufacturer Denel has also failed to deliver on its obligations.
SCOPA has been investigating a series of qualified audit opinions, driven by irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure within the Defence Department. Detailing the challenges, Motshekga said the organization is overwhelmed by a combination of grounded equipment, a bloated wage bill, dysfunctional military hospitals, and questionable tender practices.
“Defunding has hurt us badly,” Motshekga said. “It places us in a very difficult situation.”
Motshekga also highlighted the financial strain posed by unplanned operations, including the extended deployment of South African soldiers to the DRC since December 2023 as part of a joint United Nations and regional peacekeeping mission—costs not factored into the current financial year’s budget.
Despite these challenges, the minister remains optimistic that the department will receive some relief in Wednesday’s budget, following discussions at the recent Cabinet Lekgotla.
