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The Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans has raised concerns about the ongoing reductions in funding for the Department of Defence.
 
The committee warned that this poses a significant threat to the security and stability of the country. The committee was briefed by National Treasury on underfunding of the Department of Defence. The committee also engaged the Office of the Auditor General on financial and non-financial performance of the department and the Department of Military Veterans (DMV), and entities that include Armscor and the Castle Control Board for 2023/24.
 
The committee said a strong defence force is critical to maintaining a safe environment that fosters investor confidence which will lead to economic growth. It emphasised that underfunding the defence force undermines section 200 of the Constitution which mandates the defence of the country.
 
The committee also warned that while underfunding is a major concern, the defence force must also use the funds it receives responsibly, a factor that is undermined by increased irregular expenditure in the department.
 
The National Treasury expressed concerns about the financial strain caused by prolonged and open-ended peacekeeping missions, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and increased domestic deployment requirements. It further said since 2017/18, defence has received additional funding amounting to R13 billion and that defence was accommodated in the adjustments budget and the normal Medium Term Expenditure Framework processes.
National Treasury said the Department of Defence has been allocated R4 billion over the next three years to conduct border security activities, with a focus on acquiring border safeguarding technology as force multipliers.
 
Regarding the DMV, National Treasury told the committee that the challenges facing the department are not budget related but stem from crippling inefficiencies and underspending. The DMV is one of the departments with the highest underspending, reaching R260 million in 2023/24. The National Treasury said contributing factors to underspending at the DMV were due to the late promulgation of the military veteran’s pension benefits regulations, however, the underspending trends are worsening, and this could affect future budget allocations.
 
The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Dakota Legoete, questioned the failure of the DMV to maintain a healthy and reliable database of its members. He said: “We have a population register with Home Affairs, how do we have an unreliable database when DMV can easily get this reliable information through the department of Home Affairs. The DMV can also talk to the Department of Social Development and South African Social Security Agency to get information to prevent military veterans from double dipping on social assistance services.”
 
The committee intends to meet with the Standing Committee on Appropriations to look at how the Department of Defence can be assisted with funding constraints.

Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, Dakota Legoete