EWN reports that the SA National Defence Union (Sandu) has raised concerns about the deployment of troops to KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape amid budget cuts.
The union’s Pikkie Greeff said that the current budget allocated to the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) was much smaller in comparison with the previous financial year. He said that the drop was significant and should be corrected. KwaZulu-Natal is in crisis mode following a week of heavy floods that displaced thousands and claimed 443 lives. Heavy rains wreaked havoc in the Eastern Cape as well. Greeff said that politics and budget cuts were impacting the work of the SANDF: “If one does not maintain and have adequate funds to get your aircraft parts, your tank parts, your vehicle parts, etc., from wherever you need it or to manufacture it yourself, you simply don’t have the budget to do that, then your defence force can feel it, and the politicians need to be alive to this. Maintenance is for a reason. It should be an ongoing issue because if you lack maintenance then a couple years down the road it really does show a lot of negative results.”
- Read the original of the short report in the above regard by Buhle Mbhele at EWN
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