The accountants at the Treasury finally seem to have heard the desperate pleas from the Department of Defence.
While the defence budget is set to increase by 6,1% (more or less in line with inflation) in the next three years, the gradual winding down of major equipment acquisitions means slightly more is going to be left over to keep the military functional.
Of key importance is the ramping-up of repair and maintenance costs by nearly half a billion a year for the next three years. It is a welcome, but overdue, response — the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has long complained of a developing infrastructure and equipment crisis because of a lack of spending on upkeep.
The budget also gives an estimate of the final real cost of the infamous arms deal, which will weigh in at R47Â 401-billion, though this does not appear to include the four maritime helicopters to go with the four frigates.
Spending on defence acquisitions is not going to go away, though, holding firm at between R9-billion and R10-billion a year. However, it will decrease as an overall proportion of defence spending as the defence budget rises to R32-billion by 2010/11.
The main reason the acquisition budget will stay high as the costs of the arms deal recede is that South Africa is buying Airbus A400M military transport aircraft, though the budget does not disclose exactly how much is being paid for them.
The A400M, which is being developed jointly by nine countries — including a minor role for South Africa — is already running up to a year behind schedule and is more than â,¬1-billion over budget.
Other points of interest in the defence allocations include the alignment of the medium-term budget with the changed priorities of the Defence Update 2007, the new defence policy document that has yet to be released publicly.
The Defence Update seeks to refocus the SANDF to have a greater capacity for rapid-deployment peacekeeping operations in Africa.
The new policy would make the landward forces — the backbone of South Africa’s peace and stability initiative on the continent — more flexible and mobile by modernising and renewing the main equipment in the next 30 years.
The first priority will be the light and mobile forces, airborne forces, intelligence and engineer elements used mainly in the support of international commitments.
The budget estimates also reveal that South Africa is playing a strategic role in the Central African Republic (CAR), which has some of the continent’s most important uranium reserves. About 300 troops will conduct so-called “capacity building” with the CAR armed forces, while SANDF special force members will protect the CAR’s president.
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