SANDF confident it can handle deployment to Mozambique and KZN

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was confident about its ability to handle more than one crisis, despite concerns about focus and its budget.

On Wednesday, SANDF chief General Rudzani Maphwanya addressed the media on Operation Vikela and the force’s contribution to the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique.

Maphwanya said the SANDF could handle both the deployment to Mozambique and the current crisis in KwaZulu-Natal, despite budget issues.

“The SANDF was structured to be able to conduct more than three deployments,” he said.

Maphwanya said its buildings had also been affected by the flooding and added assets from other air forces were being deployed to help.

ALSO READ: SANDF budget cuts could hamper KwaZulu-Natal flooding rescue mission

“Failure to collectively address the security situation in Mozambique can easily result in our country having to deal with grave security challenges spilling over from there,” he said.

During the question session, Maphwanya said the budget issue was being addressed at ground level.

“We cannot have a budget that allows us to buy a coke and expect it to be whisky. A coke budget cannot be a whisky budget,” he said.

Strategic studies expert from the University of Stellenbosch, Professor Abel Esterhuyse said the question was if the SANDF was handling the local issues or the foreign issues.

“It’s one thing to deploy soldiers, but it’s another to sustain the operation over a period of time,” he said.

Esterhuyse said another serious question was the force to space ratio and if the army had enough force for the area they were responsible for.

“The country is critically dependent on the availability of intelligence and if you don’t have a blanket of intelligence coverage of an area you are doomed,” he said.