This article was first published by The Citizen on 20 March 2025
In January 2025, thirteen South African soldiers died fighting Rwandan backed M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They were underequipped, undertrained, and not prepared for combat.
In the 2023/2024 financial year, the Department of Defence squandered R3.33 billion in unauthorised spending, R977.5 million in irregular spending and R50.9 million in fruitless spending. The overall 2024/2025 budget was R51.1 billion, with the final tally being R55.8 billion.
And all the SANDF has to show for it is 18 dead South Africans, since they ill-fatedly deployed in the DRC. Thousands of troops are now trapped in Goma. At time of writing, there is no clear plan on how to get them out.
This is not the first time that South Africa has failed its troops. In 2013, former president Jacob Zuma used the SANDF to guard the business interests of the ANC and his allies in the Central African Republic (CAR) by deploying troops to Bangui, the capital. Thirteen South Africans died, with a further twenty-seven wounded.
Again, soldiers were woefully underequipped, ill-prepared and under trained. Deployed troops were not given adequate resources. In CAR and the DRC, our soldiers live in unhealthy conditions and squalor. All to guard the personal interests of a corrupt president.
In 2014, it was deemed that 62% of SANDF facilities and housing were in unacceptable condition. Of this, 4% were deemed hazardous, and 2% needed to be demolished. Squatters occupied military facilities, and crucial maintenance was not happening, as corruption stole the money needed for repairs.
Reportedly, soldiers in the DRC ran out of ammunition and even food, with supply-lines effectively non-existence. The Air Force has repeatedly struggled with fuel availability due to underfunding. This is while billions just disappear.
If there is any inherent obligation of any government, it is to ensure that the military is capable of defending its country. But as it stands, if South Africa was ever truly attacked, the SANDF would be able to do nothing.
Mozambique is facing violent unrest, while the northern region of our neighbour is controlled by violent, fundamentalist insurgents poised on brutal conquest. In 2021, countless violent protesters brought KwaZulu-Natal to its knees. There is an ever-pressing threat of insurgency and collapse within the country.
And as the global system of peace and stability continues to crumble, giving way to conquest by the mighty over the weak, it is becoming ever more apparent that we need a functional military.
Our mistake wasn’t going into the DRC. Our mistake was not training our troops. Our mistake was not allocating the billions set aside for military matters to actual military matters. Instead, the money was used to furnish the lavish lifestyles of politicians, fund corruption, or just be spent inefficiently.
For South Africa to guarantee its survival, there needs to be a strict audit of military funding. From top to bottom, the military hierarchy needs to be reassessed. Career politicians like Angelina Matsie Motshekga have no business being in charge of the armies of our country. We need professional soldiers and officers, who know what it means to keep an army functioning, in charge.
We don’t need a large army. We don’t need the most powerful army in the world. But ensuring that the money that taxpayers give to the government for their defence actually goes to the military, and is not wasted, would go a long way to ensuring that soldiers’ lives aren’t wasted. And that, if it ever comes to it, we won’t fall to invasion or insurgency.
