Holomisa confirms significant budget cut for Armed Forces Day

Deputy Minister of Defence, Bantu Holomisa, says the department has managed to slash the budget for the upcoming Armed Forces Day to almost half of the original R370 million.

This follows an outcry by some military commentators and political parties when the budget for the annual event, which takes place on Saturday, was set at R370 million. The defence force was slammed for getting its priorities wrong, as it currently sits with a dwindling budget and stretched and outdated resources.

The defence force came under fire when the details of the R370 million budget for Armed Forces Day came to light last month. The Democratic Alliance (DA) said that with around 7,000 soldiers to be deployed and hundreds of guests, the real cost would be closer to R500 million.

But Deputy Minister Bantu Holomisa tells EWN that they have taken note of the high costs and have now reduced the budget to less than R200 million.

"We budgeted for this. It’s true that at the beginning it was over R300 million, but we cut it to about R178 million as we speak."

On the defence budget, Holomisa said he is hopeful Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will take them into account when he tables his budget next week.

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