Department of Defence Annual Report 2008-2009

| Department of Defence |
ALIGNMENT WITH CABINET AND
CLUSTER PRIORITIES
MINISTER OF DEFENCE’S PRIORITIES
FOR FY 2008/09
| Strategic Profile and Defence Objectives |
The DOD, in collaboration with other organs of
state, contributed substantially towards the national
priorities, also known as Apex priorities. The DOD’s
signicant contributions towards the achievement
of the Government Programme of Action (POA)
objectives during the year under review were:
• The DOD was strongly represented during
the workshop of the Forum of South African
Director-Generals (FOSAD) to prepare for
the January 2009 Cabinet Lekgotla. During the
FOSAD, all the DOD POA objectives for 2009
were approved by the Director-Generals.
• All progress reports on DOD obligations arising
from Clusters, POA and Apexes were achieved
on time and accordingly reported.
• The White Paper on South Africa’s participation
in International Peace Missions was updated
and tabled to the International Relations,
Peace and Security (IRPS) Cabinet Committee
and approved in November 2008. The DOD
contributed immensely to this process as
a government organ that executes peace
missions.
• In line with Cabinet and Presidential minutes,
the SANDF successfully deployed forces in six
peace mission areas and three general military
assistance operations.
• Substantive progress was made on Presidential
Project 19. The project entails reduction of the
cases backlog by 30%, by August 2009. The
DOD reduced its cases backlog by 28% in the
year under review, which resulted in an optimum
outcome.
• The National Conventional Arms Control
(NCAC) Amendment Bill and the Prohibition
or Restrictions on Certain Conventional
Weapons Bill were processed through Clusters
and Cabinet, and ultimately approved by
Parliament.
Detailed information on contributions towards the
achievement of Cabinet objectives are reported in
the performance reports in Chapters 2 to 10.
DEFENCE OUTCOME
The DOD delivers all output as specied in the
DOD Strategic Business Plan for the FY 2008/09,
to achieve the outcome: “Effective defence for a
democratic South Africa”.
The Minister of Defence’s priorities for the
FY 2008/09 to FY 2010/11 were issued together
with the strategic priorities, and formed the strategies
and plans of the DOD Services and Divisions for
the MTEF. These were issued as follows:
Rejuvenation and Upgrade of the Landward
Programme
The main focus during the period under review
was characterised by the alignment of the Army
Vision 2020 with the DOD’s Medium Expenditure
Framework priorities. The landward forces of
the SANDF are the backbone of South Africa’s
peace and stability initiatives on the Continent, and
perform functions under hugely differing conditions
of climate and terrain, and against a variety of
complex challenges. The reality has necessitated that
the landward forces become more exible and more
mobile through a concerted capital renewal process,
until FY 2031/32.
Infrastructure and DOD Works Regiment
The DOD has drawn up a master plan to deal
with its facilities portfolio. This plan incorporates
priorities, costs and the development of a phased
approach. A DOD Works Regiment, to ensure an
in-house capacity to attend to all our facilities, was
established.
Operationalisation of the Defence Review
Update
On 7 August 2008, the DOD tabled the draft
Defence Update to Cabinet for consideration.
Cabinet decided that the consideration of the draft
Defence Update be delayed until after the general
elections in 2009.
Revitalisation of the SANDF Reserves
Signicant progress has been made in the
revitalisation of Reserves. This is evidenced by the
increased role played by Reserves in internal and
external deployments. The Reserves’ marketing plan
was completed and implemented in the year under
review. The stafng of Regional Ofces and the
establishment of the Business Liaison Forum will
Annual Report FY 2008 - 2009
2