The 2006/7 defence Budget has been well received, with one observer calling it realistic and another calling it positive.
Asked for comment, African Armed Forces editor Peter McIntosh said the Budget was realistic.
”It is coming into line with international norms regarding personnel, equipment and operational costs,” he said.
Institute for Security Studies defence analyst Len le Roux said the Budget was an improvement on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework.
He added that the emphasis in the landward Budget, meaning the SA army, was particularly welcome as that service was bearing the brunt of South Africa’s peacekeeping effort but had been left out of the Strategic Defence Package that saw the navy get new ships and submarines and the airforce new planes and helicopters.
Risks identified in the Department of Defence’s strategic business plan addressed in this Budget included more money for the army and the upgrading of ground facilities at several airforce bases.
Le Roux also called on the defence department to speed up the rewriting of the Defence White Paper.
”The Budget still does not address the fundamental problem of the misalignment of the defence funding and defence policy. We know the South African National Defence Force is underfunded in terms of current policy. South Africa has now been waiting two years for the promised redrafting of the white paper. This needs to be finalised so that we can measure the Budget against the new policy, not old, as is now the case.”
According to documentation released by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel as part of his annual Budget on Wednesday, the special defence account, used to buy weapons and equipment for the SANDF, will continue to consume over a third of the country’s defence Budget, although it is set to decline over the next three years.
The account averages 35,6% of the defence department’s total spending, which increases from R24-billion in 2006/07, to R26-billion in 2008/09.
The Budget also makes additional allocations for a variety of initiatives. These include modernising defence equipment, investing in the maintenance and repair of defence infrastructure and facilities, and expanding the department’s anti-retroviral roll-out programme.
Over the medium term, the landward defence programme is projected to comprise, on average, 16,8% of the department’s total spending.
Modernising the vehicle fleet is a major spending item, especially evident in a 35,9% increase in the support capability subprogramme, and a 51,6% increase in goods and services in 2006/07.
Expenditure for air defence increases to R2,9-billion in 2008/09, mainly because of allocations to improve and maintain system integrity at bases.
These funds would also be used to prepare infrastructure and personnel for the integration of new training and fighter aircraft into the SANDF.
Maritime defence comprised 5,6% of the total spending for the department, and will increase to R1,5-billion in 2008/09.
The navy’s most immediate priority was the full acceptance of four frigates, and its first two new submarines in 2006/07.
Spending on the force employment programme was expected to slow down, from an annual average rate of 22,8% between 2002/03 and 2005/06, to 3,3% over the next three years.
More money will be made available for special operations, as part of an incentive scheme to attract and retain Special Forces personnel. – Sapa