Holomisa says SANDF not in a fit state to defend the country if it is attacked

JOHANNESBURG - Deputy Defence Minister Bantu Holomisa said that the military was not in a fit state to defend the country if attacked due to outdated equipment and underfunding.

However, Holomisa said the country was currently not under any threat of being attacked.

South Africa's military conducts regular threat analysis to determine whether the country is at risk of attack from foreign or domestic enemies.

Speaking on the Clement Manyathela Show on 702, Holomisa said the July 2021 unrest and the recent floods in the Eastern Cape "embarrassed" the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

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"Soldiers being carried by military buses going to a violent situation, it showed the defence equipment is obsolete. I cannot give another explanation, and if we were to be attacked, yes, we would respond, but I am not that confident about the state of readiness of the SANDF. Let us not mislead the people. I am not here to spin, but I must tell you the truth."

Holomisa said that part of the problem was that the military was not being properly funded.

"Every (defence) minister I can think of, they have been complaining since time immemorial that the defence is declining. How many defence reviews have been produced and the National Treasury has just ignored? They even ignored the president in 2023, who said, the budget of defence must move from 0.57% of the GDP to 1.5% of the GDP."