In today’s meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, the national defence force was revealed to be in a state of complete crisis. The Department of Defence’s 2024/25 Annual Report paints a picture of an organisation crippled by financial collapse, systematic rule-breaking, over-dependence on foreign partners, riddled with critical leadership failures, and lacking a credible plan for recovery.
The South African Navy’s four frigates procured under the 1998 Arms Deal, promised to position the Republic as a formidable Blue Water Navy, yet not of these vessels have been fully operational since 2017, which highlights a complete breakdown of South Africa’s naval capacity. For seven years, the four frigates – SAS Amatola, SAS Isandlwana, SAS Spioenkop, and SAS Mendi have been virtually non-operational.
The Auditor-General has declared a serious irregularity in the repair contracts for the Navy’s Valour-class frigates. The projects were grossly mismanaged, breaking procurement rules and causing massive cost overruns. As a result, all four frigates have been non-operational since 2017, causing a complete loss of the Navy’s primary combat readiness. This perpetual procurement irregularities and gross decrease in military readiness must be laid firmly at the doorstep of Minister Angie Motshekga.
This pattern of failure extends to foreign partnerships. Projects Thusano and Kgala, costly “technical assistance” programmes with Cuba, were declared entirely irregular for bypassing Treasury regulations, wasting nearly R2 billion. Alarmingly, Project Zingwisa, involving Chinese technical help at the sensitive De Brug Army Mobilisation Centre, now follows this same clandestine model, operating without transparency or clear Treasury approval. While our Navy rusts, the ANC government funnels billions to foreign allies in shady, unconstitutional deals.
Simultaneously, the DOD’s finances are in a state of complete disarray. The personnel budget overshot by R2.5 billion while critical posts remain vacant yet travel and subsistence costs exploded to R2.37 billion. Despite billions in unauthorised, irregular, and wasteful spending and nine unresolved serious irregularities. The consequence of prioritising luxury travel over the lives of our brave sailors.
We therefore call on the Minister and Chief Admiral of the South African Navy to:
Suspend all Cuban and Chinese-linked projects pending a full financial and security review.
Publicly disclose all contracts for Projects Thusano, Kgala, and Zingwisa.
Refer the frigate irregularities for immediate criminal and disciplinary action.