- The insurgency in northern Mozambique had the potential to spill into South Africa, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula warned.
- This while South Africa's defence capabilities are under "extreme stress".
- The department's budget has been cut by R15 billion over the next three years.
The insurgency in Mozambique's northernmost province, Cabo Delgado, has the potential to spill into South Africa, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said when she delivered her departments' budget vote speech on Tuesday.
This while defence capabilities are under "extreme stress" amid budgetary constraints after an R15 billion cut over the next three years.
Mapisa-Nqakula told a mini-plenary of the National Assembly in a virtual sitting the Covid-19 pandemic had "completely changed the future security landscape in SADC [Southern African Development Community] by negatively impacting on human security, economic growth, trade and development".
"Even though the SADC region is relatively stable, this pandemic has served to amplify existing conflict drivers, especially those fuelled by human security issues," she said.
"There will have to be careful and deliberate co-ordination of security efforts between member states to claw back the losses to human security throughout the region. We continue to be concerned by the security developments in the region, in particular the upsurge of insurgency in our neighbouring country.
"This has a potential of spilling over the entire region," Mapisa-Nqakula added.
According to her, the SADC regional leadership was seized with the matter. "And we hope for a speedy resolution."
She said she appreciated that she appeared before the House under conditions of a severely strained fiscus.
"Nonetheless, we must inform this House of the negative impact our declining allocation has had and will continue to have on the Department of Defence in general - our military capabilities in particular - and our ability to meet our operational responsibilities assigned to us as well as our international obligations.
"The reduction of over R15 billion the MTEF [Medium-Term Expenditure Framework] has placed us in a very difficult position. Our capital budget has effectively been reduced to a trickle, and the operating budget is under extreme pressure.
"Under these conditions, we are finding it very difficult to improve the serviceability of our prime mission equipment.
"Whilst we are fully aware of the fiscal challenges that South Africa has, the reduction to our allocation has a devastating impact, not only on the defence force but also our defence industry and defence-related industry and the many SMMEs in the supply chain."
Mapisa-Nqakula added this was a matter she had raised in her budget vote speech in 2019.
She said:
She said this compromised the defence force's ability to maintain its current equipment and its longer-term ability to conduct effective operations.
"Our defence capabilities are under extreme stress. Our ability to equip and train our force appropriately has become progressively more difficult. The current threat manifestations require more boots on the ground, which is contrary to the imposed funding ceiling on personnel."
During the debate on her speech, opposition MPs expressed concern over the department's longstanding underfunding and laid into Mapisa-Nqakula for her administration of the department.
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