Hon Chairperson, as the IFP we welcome the swearing-in of the Military Ombudsman and hope he will be instrumental in bringing back discipline to the National Defence Force. His office is supposed to improve conditions of service and streamline processes in the military. The ombudsman must be independent and impartial, an attitude we hope he will maintain even in the face of possible political influence in the discharge of his duties.
The launch of the Office of the Ombudsman has given us hope that the unions in the Defence Force will be dismantled as they are an undesirable entity in the Defence Force because they undermine the purpose of the military. Owing to union action, there are over 100 soldiers who have been suspended for almost three years, with full pay, for storming the Union Buildings during a strike in 2009. This has resulted in the department spending over R150 million on salaries. What makes this worse is that the department has allowed this situation to drag on for this long without resolution, opting to embark on expensive legal battles that have been lost.
So, the department is paying these soldiers to stay at home, instead of taking steps, engaging with them about the situation and dealing with the disruptive unions in the military. Pinning our hopes on the Ombudsman does not, in any way, guarantee a resolution to this problem. This situation needs to be a high priority on the department's agenda.
The hon Minister recently stated that allowances need to be made for the military, specifically to do with loosening the constraints of the Public Finance Management Act on the department. The logic behind this revolves around the idea that the military has special working conditions. If the department is given this exemption, it will mean that they have an endorsement to function outside the Act, even though they have shown that they are incapable of complying with Treasury procurement rules. How much more fruitless and irregular expenditure does the department need? How many more costly airbus contracts need to be cancelled? With the introduction of an exemption, the department would not need to subject itself to any procurement procedures and there would be no limit to billions that would be spent on unnecessary military weapons that take money away from the urgent needs in our society.
We have discovered recently that the department owes R26 million to its fuel supplier, affecting operations at both the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders. This situation is unacceptable because it cripples our ability to secure our borders and restrain foreign nationals from coming into our country illegally, thereby stretching the limits of our resources. Instead of spending money on covering such a vital role, the department spends money on submarines that do nothing for the country, but cost R89 million a year in upkeep. Our people lack so much, yet the department is content to spend money on equipment it does not need, but then states that the budget is not sufficient. The department really needs to reassess its priorities.
The Defence Force is vital to the security of our country, and our soldiers need to be treated with dignity. Yet, that does not excuse the military from acting responsibly with the budget given to them and not allowing wasteful expenditure to exist in the department. Unnecessary spending should be avoided and strict control needs to be applied to the finances, so that the department does not need special circumstances to fulfil its mandate. The IFP supports the Vote. [Applause.]