‘If World War 3 hits, South Africa is completely unprepared’ - Defence Analyst
In the event of World War 3, South Africa would be incapable of protecting itself, especially its shipping routes, argues defence analyst Ricardo Teixeira.
SANDF army defence force soldiers
Wasanga Mehana (in for Africa Melane on 702 and CapeTalk) speaks with Ricardo Teixeira, Defence Analyst and Junior Editor at ProtectionWeb.
Listen below:
The world is on edge. What would happen if there were a Third World War?
According to Teixeira, South Africa’s current military readiness is terrible and would take at least a decade to turn around.
He adds that the Department of Defence and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) have not even considered the possibility of another World War and, thus, no extra military preparation is being done.
In the event of a global war, he believes the greatest risk to South Africa would be in our waters.
“We are outside of intercontinental ballistic missile range, but submarine-launched ballistic missiles can be anywhere.”
- Ricardo Teixeira, Defence Analyst - ProtectionWeb
With our current military capabilities, we would be unable to protect our shipping routes, which could be economically devastating.
“If ships cannot come around us, ships will not come to us, so we will lose our access to the international markets. It will cause a complete economic collapse for us.”
- Ricardo Teixeira, Defence Analyst - ProtectionWeb
There is also a global network of undersea cables around us that connect Europe and America to the Middle East and India, which could be a target.
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“We are completely unprepared, and our strategic positioning is not going to help us.”
- Ricardo Teixeira, Defence Analyst - ProtectionWeb
“People say World War 3 is coming. In my opinion, we are already there… War comes faster than you realise.”
- Ricardo Teixeira, Defence Analyst - ProtectionWeb
Scroll up to the audio player for more.