SA can’t support thieving SANDF

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is a shadow of what it once was… that’s a fact and not nostalgia for the apartheid past.

It has steadily been weakened by the ANC governments over the past 20 years or so through drastic reductions to its operational and equipment replacement budgets – to the point where defence experts have warned that it may soon be unable to execute its most basic task of defending the country, never mind providing “support to the civil power” in times of national emergencies, such as natural disasters.

It doesn’t help, of course, that the ratio of generals to grunts on the ground is well out of proportion… or that the salary bill is one of the biggest items of expenditure.

The military in this country has become, some would say, a nice place to get a job, rather than a capable, hard fighting force.

It further doesn’t bolster the defence department’s case for improved funding when its own financial books are a mess.

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Parliament found that out when it was informed by Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke that there has been “irregular expenditure” there of almost R16 billion.

The taxpayer cannot give more money to an institution that squanders, or steals, it.