SANDF faces mounting funding pressure as Parliament warns that rising personnel costs are squeezing operations, maintenance and long-term military readiness.
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is facing a growing funding crisis that threatens its operational readiness, Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence has warned.
The key concern is that staff salaries consume the bulk of the defence budget, leaving too little money for equipment, operations and maintenance, according to the committee.
It said the situation has become so serious that it poses a potential national security risk.
The warning comes in the wake of a briefing in which Members of Parliament were informed that the Department of Defence accumulated more than R10.1 billion in irregular expenditure between the 2018/19 and 2022/23 financial years.
