Lekgoete criticises General Maphaha for saying that politicians had turned SANDF into a Mickey Mouse defence force

JOHANNESBURG - Chair of Parliament's portfolio committee on defence, Dakota Lekgoete, said that comments by General Ntshavheni Maphaha that politicians had turned the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) into a Mickey Mouse defence force only served to create anxiety and doubt.

He said that such views would widen a trust deficit in government.

The surgeon-general, in an unprecedented move, warned that South Africa remained vulnerable, with its citizens having to contend with porous borders because the SANDF hadn't been well-resourced.

ALSO READ: Several SANDF soldiers who died in the DRC laid to rest

Maphaha was speaking at the funeral of Staff Sergeant Ishmael Molahlehi, one of 14 soldiers who died in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Several others who have been injured in the line of duty are now making their way home.

Lekgoete said that many of the issues raised by the general, including funding, were being attended to, saying that Maphaha was wrong.

"The general must help himself because when you are in uniform, you have taken an oath to defend the public and its people. So, it can't be you who cries when you’re supposed to bring solutions."