COSATU urges government to scrap R372 million Defence Force day parade

Trade union federation COSATU has urged the government not to proceed with its planned R372 million budget for the Defence Force Day parade scheduled for the 21st of February in Thohoyandou.

COSATU spokesperson Matthew Parks says government cannot move ahead with the costly parade while South African National Defence Force (SANDF) peacekeeping forces deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo lost lives because of a lack of working air support and armory.

He says the same peacekeeping soldiers also saw the SANDF pocket half of their United Nations’ allowances to make matters even worse. Parks says the R372 million can be far better utilised by the SANDF as part of government’s efforts to rebuild its capacity.

COSATU joins the DA, which has also slammed the decision as a wasteful exercise.

"COSATU urges government to halt the mind-boggling planned R372 million budget for the Defence Force parade and related activities scheduled for 21 February in Thohoyandou. This is a grotesque waste of funds which can be better utilised to address the many pressing needs of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). Blowing R372 million on a one-day parade will take wasteful expenditure to new lows for the SANDF and the nation."