Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon Members of Parliament, my predecessor, Mr Motimela, Chief of the Defence Force, the Secretary of the Defence Force, guests in the gallery, the mission of the Department of Defence is to provide, manage, prepare and deploy defence capabilities commensurate with the needs of South Africa as regulated by the Constitution, national legislation, and parliamentary and executive direction.
The above is provided through the proper management, provision, preparedness and employment of defence capabilities, which are in line with the domestic and global needs of South Africa.
I will now turn to the global needs of South Africa. I will deal with the domestic needs later.
In his state of the nation address to this House, the President, consistent with ANC policy, declared that the continent remains central to our foreign policy engagements as a Republic. We have declared before that the peace and stability we enjoy in South Africa means nothing if there is no peace elsewhere on the continent.
Consistent with this policy position, the SANDF supports government's foreign policy initiatives in the region and on the continent to promote and maintain regional and continental peace, safety, stability and security.
Evidently, the SANDF has taken part in various large-scale UN and AU peacekeeping missions since 1994, numbering roughly 14. Most prominent was Burundi, the Comoros, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There was also the 1998 SADC peacekeeping operation in Lesotho.
Currently, the SANDF is only involved in the DRC mission. South Africa is the 11th highest contributor to the UN's peacekeeping initiatives in Africa and ranks number 17 in the World. South
Africa not only provides peace keeping, but also renders, inter alia, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, post-conflict reconstruction initiatives, the deployment of military advisors and technical teams and military assistance and training.
This has bolstered our image as a contributor to peace and stability and supporting, advancing and consolidating democracy on the continent. Peace, stability and security are sine qua non for development to happen and flourish.
However, the Department of Defence could do more to promote these successes to the public. Our forces stand ready to provide mission-ready defence capabilities. We owe this to our men and women who put their lives on line in the defence of the nation and the territorial integrity of our borders, thereby upholding and defending the Constitution. They safeguard all the entry points, namely, sea, air and land borders. For effective protection, these borders must receive sustained guarding.
The rise of terrorist attacks has necessitated the tightening of nodal points such as airports, seaports, and IT systems as these
are likely to be exploited by those with criminal intent, namely, terrorists and criminals.
The Constitution mandates the SANDF to protect sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state. Only you have this mandate. We therefore look to you for this high calling.
On a negative note, the funding cuts bring with them the decline in South Africa's ability to contribute forces, participate in peacekeeping and patrol our borders. Our limited air support also means we can't extend beyond the reach of our military far beyond SADC. This may damage our reputation as a peacekeeping nation in the long run.
The oversight visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, by the two Defence committees in March 2018 - during which visits South African peacekeepers were visited - highlighted some of the implications of the current declining defence budget. One particular challenge is the serviceability of key equipment.
Despite these challenges, the SANDF manages to conduct peace support operations in support of the United Nation Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Monusco, as part of Monusco's Force Intervention Brigade. This mission has been very successful in the defeat of the M23 rebels.
These achievements combined with the high quality of support by our peacekeepers in dealing with belligerents in the recent months in the eastern DRC, attest to our peacekeepers' professionalism and dedication.
To further highlight this level of professional support, the nomination in 2019 of SA Air Force helicopter pilot, Lieutenant- Colonel Stefan King, for a United Nations Exceptional Courage Medal, serves as a clear indication of the calibre of support offered by the SANDF. The Minister mentioned this,
I now turn to domestic needs.
The SANDF has a long history of involvement in borderline guarding. For the most part, the borderline safeguarding environment has been under the control of the SANDF since 1994, with limited involvement between 2003 and 2009, when the function was allocated to the SA Police Service. Currently, the SANDF has 15 subunits deployed to patrol along the 4 471 km land borderline of South Africa.
The consequences of the limited budget noted above as illustrated by the Minister further highlights the need for more funding. We are deploying 15 subunits to border safeguarding, instead of the 22 subunits required to effectively safeguard our landline borders. The achievements of the current 15 deployed units - such as the confiscation of drugs, counterfeit products and stolen vehicles as well as the arrest of illegal immigrants - testify to the tremendous role the Defence Force plays in addressing cross-border crime. These successes can be exponentially increased if more subunits can be deployed.
Crucial to enhancing the SANDF's border safeguarding capability is the need for force-multiplying technology such as sensors and
drones. The requirement for these interventions underlines the Department's need to have its budget expanded.
Given constraints in defence funding, the acquisition of new military equipment has largely stagnated. In the late 1990s, South Africa managed to replace its ageing fighter jet, frigate and submarine capabilities, with the main beneficiaries being the SA Air Force and the SA Navy.
However, the SA army remains in need of urgent capital acquisition to replace much of its ageing military capabilities. Central to this is Project Hoefyster that aims to replace the South African army's ageing fleet of Infantry Fighting Vehicles with new vehicles. While the design of the vehicle and initial production progressed well, significant delays as a result of capacity constraints at Denel have negatively affected the programme. The delay is impacting negatively on the modernisation program of the SANDF. All efforts by Armscor, the Department of Defence and the Department of Trade and Industry to restore capacity at Denel are therefore supported.
Furthermore, long-term planning to address the SA Air Force's ageing Oryx helicopter fleet, maritime-patrol aircraft at 35 Squadron and challenges related to a strategic airlift capability should also be addressed.
I want to commend the community upliftment program of the Department of Defence. This program saw the SANDF Engineering Support Regiment building bridges, noticeably in the Eastern Cape, reviving the collapsed municipal sewer infrastructure in the Vaal in direct response to the call made by President Ramaphosa to the army to immerse itself in such development programs.
South Africa doffs its hat as it congratulate the first two female commanders at 28 Squadron, Lt Col Carol Duvegne and Maj Nandi Zama who flew the light infantry formation C 130 versatile aircraft as they saluted the new commander in chief, President Ramaphosa. I also take this opportunity to congratulate South Africa's first black female fighter pilot, Maj Mandisa Mfeka. This is a symbol of women's advancement as they break the glass ceiling.
This inspires confidence in the service and defence of our nation. I have no doubt that the first commander in chief, President Nelson is satisfied with the progress.
The ANC supports this Budget Vote. [Time expired.] [Applause.]