Air force crisis leaves South Africa 'vulnerable' - Chair, Portfolio Committee for Defence

702's Bongani Bingwa is joined by Molefi David 'Dakota' Legoete, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for Defence and military veterans and defence expert Helmoed Heitman.

Listen below:

An air force in crisis.

According to a report by News24, the South African Air Force (SAAF) is operating only six of its 330 aircraft, including one helicopter, two fighter jets, and three trainer jets.

The remaining aircraft are grounded but aren't being repaired due to budget limitations. 

In a seemingly contradictory statement, Legoete tells 702, "We are ready for any possibility, for any attack. It is true that we are vulnerable." So, which is it?

Heitman says the situation is bad.

"The reality is that the airforce is not functional at the moment."

- Helmoed Heitman, Military expert

"It's got far too few aircraft to do the job."

- Helmoed Heitman, Military and defence expert

But the crisis goes beyond a lack of aircraft, says Heitman.

There's a lack of weapons as well.

The problems stem from a lack of budget, he explains.

"The money is just too little... [and] a lot of the missions government tosses to the defence force are never funded, so it's got to find the money for those somewhere in its inadequate budget."

- Helmoed Heitman, Military expert

Legoete says the issue as to the capacity of the Air Force was raised by the DA in Parliament back in October 2023.

"We had serious problems in terms of the capacity of our planes, but so far there's a slight improvement, even though the challenge would still be there."

- Molefi David 'Dakota' Legoete, Chairperson - Portfolio Committee for Defence

Legoete says the committee is this week meeting with Denel and Armscor.

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