Hon Chairperson, our SA National Defence Force, SANDF, is the sharpened tip of the spear in defence of this nation, its people and its borders. For the year 2013-14 the Defence Force will receive an allocation of R40,24 billion, and the IFP will support this budget. [Applause.]
Yet we have a Defence Force that is still struggling in many respects. Our landward defence capability requires drastic improvement to give them technologically advanced primary mission equipment. Our infantry forces desperately need to be equipped with new generation combat capability, and the budget increase of 6,5% in this regard is very welcome.
Our Defence Force's core mandate is the protection of the country, its territorial integrity and its people. Clearly, they are struggling with this task. You would be hard pressed to find a more porous border. People stroll across our borders on a daily basis without any concern or hindrance. Poachers from Mozambique have free rein in our national parks, mutilating our elephant and rhino populations, and then quietly and without incident return to their country of origin to profit from their horrendous trade. This is because not enough resources are being made available for the Defence Force to perform its function to its fullest extent.
Our airspace is obviously just as porous, what with the recent assault on Waterkloof Air Force Base by the Gupta family and friends. This will forever remain a total embarrassment to our Defence Force. Every single person in the chain of command who had knowledge of or who should have had knowledge of and/or who authorised such a grave security breach at this National Key Point should be fired and criminally prosecuted.
Our peacekeeping operations have also been dogged with numerous challenges. Some of these deployments were ill planned and ill equipped, and resulted in the unnecessary loss of lives, such as in the Central African Republic, CAR. In this vein, we seriously urge the hon Minister to take great care when we deploy our troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They do not have the combat readiness or equipment for that environment, nor the home ground advantage that the rebels do. We also urge stringent follow-up, Madam Minister, with the African Union and the UN in respect of mission expenses that must be recovered.
We are currently in a serious economic downturn, with unemployment skyrocketing. We are aware that the Defence Force has been asked to decrease serving members by 10 000 over the next three years. What is the department doing or going to do to skill these workers in order to prepare them for their entrance into the marketplace and to make them employable and competitive?
The National Youth Service is another very important strategic priority of the department. We welcome the recruitment of our young people into the various arms of the Defence Force, as by so doing we are teaching them the admirable character traits of discipline, fitness and honour, and creating patriotism for our country. However, we are concerned that the criteria for recruitment is not clearly spelt out and this opens the entire programme up to abuse whereby only youth from the ruling party echelons will benefit. The IFP urges the Minister to implement a programme with full transparency as soon as possible.
Madam Minister, the maintenance of defence facilities, notably the military barracks, must be given priority attention. Therefore we will urge that the migration of works from the Department of Public Works to the Department of Defence and Military Veterans is expedited.
Madam Minister, we also hope and trust that it will not be long - and I will buttonhole you to that - before our self-protection units and self- defence units qualify for benefits as military veterans.
In conclusion, our Defence Force currently has many challenges to face and overcome. However, these are not insurmountable and we are confident that with the right leadership these challenges can and will be met. We call on the Minister and her chain of command to be ruthless in the eradication of all ills that currently plague this department. We call on the Minister and her chain of command to remain apolitical in all military actions, as they are mandated to be. We call on the Minister and her chain of command to restore pride in the uniform of soldiers of the SANDF. I thank you. [Applause.]