When the hon Maynier started his speech, he started with phrases and all these things, but when he looked to his right he saw the hon Lindiwe and changed his speech. He started saying bad things about the hon Minister. I think, hon Chair, that should be noted.
Bab' uSithole, uma bewuke weza ekomidini, wazama ukwabelana nathi ngalolu lwazi onalo lwezimali, bekuzoba ngcono futhi ubuzosibeka esimeni esihle. Mfowethu Nhanha, besihlala nawe ekomidini, uyangimangaza uma nanamuhla usabiza i-Ombudsman. Asina-Ombudsman, sine-Ombuds. [Uhleko.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Hon Sithole, if you had attended the committee meetings, and tried to share with us the financial knowledge you possess, it would have been better and it would also put us in a good position. My brother, hon Nhanha, I was sitting with you in the committee, but you surprise me today because you are still talking about the Ombudsman. We do not have an Ombudsman anymore, but an Ombud. [Laughter.]]
Chairperson, I am going to concentrate my speech on landward defence and defence intelligence. The objective of landward defence capability is to provide supported landward defence capability for the defence and protection of South Africa. In its report to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, the Interim Defence Commission reported that the infrastructure of the SA National Defence Force was seriously inadequate and, in many cases, in unacceptable disrepair and decay. This is more so in the case of landward defence, because it was not part of the strategic defence package procurement.
Landward defence seriously lacks the technologically advanced state-of-the- art artillery that it so desperately needs. This programme has enjoyed an accelerated increase in the budget from R10,6 billion in the financial year 2008-09, to R17,6 billion in the year 2011-12 at an annual rate of 18,2%. This was due to the improvement in conditions of service for soldiers and the Military Skills Development System initiative.
This Military Skills Development System initiative is one of the interventions utilised by the department in order to meet government's priority of job creation, as called for by the President of the Republic.
An additional vehicle initiated by the Ministry which I know the Minister is passionate about, is the National Youth Service. Both these programmes seek to create work, discipline and skills opportunities for the youth. Upon completion of this programme, the youth that enrolled are left armed with skills to allow them to be easily absorbed into the employment sector, or perhaps absorbed into the department, or they are also facilitated to get employment.
The ANC-led government realised that projections cannot be a reality if not provided for in the budget. Hence the allocation for this programme is further projected to increase to R21,4 billion in the year 2014-15, an average annual rate of 6,8%.
We are encouraged by the fact that the department has, in its strategic plan, identified the rejuvenation and upgrading of the landward programme. As one of its strategic focus areas, we are even further encouraged by the fact that the programme has received the largest increase in allocation in this current budget - to the tune of 24,59%. The department has indicated that it is currently focusing on replacing obsolete equipment and ammunition, with the aim of accumulating sufficient stock to facilitate comprehensive force preparation and training.
We look forward to receiving an update in the portfolio committee from the department on the progress here in due course. This is especially exciting because, through this rejuvenation and upgrade, the current administration has an opportunity to shape the landward capability into what we need in this current day and age: an army that responds to the current force design, requirements and needs.
This august House should note the important role played by the landward defence capacity in the deployment of soldiers for the United Nations and the African Union in humanitarian and peacekeeping support operations in Africa and other regions. This is in line with international bilateral military treaties and agreements to which South Africa is a signatory.
The increase in allocation to this programme is also attributed to the fact that the Defence Force has now taken over borderline security, which, in most instances, is covered by the landward defence capacity. This was a positive move by Cabinet towards strengthening our borders, the security of the country and its citizens.
The department has indicated to the committee that deployments are currently limited owing to capacity constraints. This is meant to increase gradually over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period. The committee will be most interested to hear how this process of taking over the borders is proceeding in the near future.
The Defence Intelligence Programme is mandated to conduct intelligence on foreign military forces and their intentions, as they relate to South Africa and the continent. For obvious strategic intelligence and security reasons, the outputs of this programme are classified and unavailable to the general public.
As a point of reference, one wishes to quote but a few incidents where intelligence support proved vital. The first successful operation was reported by the department during the Operation Kgwele 2010 World Cup in terms of which a secured intelligence data communications network was set up between the Defence Intelligence Headquarters and the national joint operation centre. This proved the capability of our defence intelligence to rise up to world-class standards and ensure a safe world event. Consequently, defence intelligence was also called on to support the international Cricket Twenty20 World Cup as a result of defence intelligence's good work.
What has been reported as a challenge to the programme is the poor state of the defence intelligence's headquarters. We are happy that during the committee's interaction on the strategic plan, the department indicated that the work on the new defence intelligence headquarters was nearing completion. We are advised that all that is left to do is to finalise the analysis and rezoning. We look forward to this process being finalised so that this important programme can function optimally.
An additional challenge is related to human resources and financial ...