3. Although mindful of its mandate, the Committee re-iterates previous concerns raised about the pace of and commitment to transformation of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). Throughout these visits the Committee sought to understand the challenges hampering the development of a defence force that is appropriately skilled, gender, demographically representative and capable of operating and maintaining newly acquired defence equipment. Once again, information relating to the above was limited and such reluctance to provide information remains a cause of concern.