Editor's Foreword

292 The MiliTAry BAlAnce 2010
Table 27 South africa’s Strategic armaments package – Quantities and costs (rm)
cost of 4 MEKO
frigates
cost of 3 Type-209
submarines
to be retained in ‘survival mode with life extension
programmes’.
In July 2009, new Defence Minister Lindiwe
Sisulu used her first budget speech to acknowledge
the impact that the recession was having on the
government’s finances and the pressure that this
may place on defence spending, but argued that
the economic environment should not be used as an
excuse to erode the defence budget, as was the case
in the 1990s. In light of possible budget restraints she
singled out efficiency gains as a major goal, noting
that the strained relationship between the DoD and
SANDF was detrimental in this regard. Her speech
also included a commitment to review South Africa’s
‘outdated defence policy’, which she said would take
account of the new challenges facing the country and
continent. She noted that previous defence policies
had been deliberately designed in a way that did not
intimidate South Africa’s neighbours, but now left
a force that was lacking the strength and capabilities
required for the regional security role that had
emerged.
It remains to be seen whether Sisulu and other
interested parties can garner sufficient support
in the Cabinet to obtain the necessary funding to
recover from this ‘downward spiral’. However,
regardless of the trajectory of future defence
spending, the composition of the spending itself
will need to be addressed. Despite efforts by the
DoD and individual service branches, personnel
costs will have risen from 30% of the budget in 2004
to 38% of spending by 2011. But in spite of higher
cost of 30 A109
utility helicopters
cost of 28 Gripen
aircraft
cost of 24 Hawk
trainer aircraft Total cost
2000 1,643 126 154 228 750 2,901
2001 1,846 755 316 446 861 4,223
2002 1,895 1,528 434 1,104 1,381 6,342
2003 2,100 1,461 213 713 1,376 5,864
2004 1,188 1,303 106 1,460 445 4,502
2005 599 1,254 235 3,199 1,045 6,331
2006 378 820 447 2,599 293 4,537
2007 – 753 201 2,794 767 4,515
2008 41 23 176 3,457 185 3,882
2009 – 130 169 1,447 98 1,843
2010 – – – 1,323 – 1,323
2011 – – – 1,136 – 1,136
Total 9,690 8,152 2,451 19,908 7,200 47,401
salaries and improved benefits, the SANDF is still
failing to attract enough people into the force. The
air force, for example, has experienced a steady
drain of experienced staff, meaning that there is a
shortage of individuals to train and mentor newer
members. In 2008, the SAAF had only 38% of its
target strength in fighter pilots and 60% in technicians;
the helicopter force had 72% of its necessary
pilots and 68% technicians; and the transport
force had 68% of its target pilot quota and 59% of
technicians. Equally troublesome are the rising
costs of operational and training activities due to
improvements in air- and naval-base infrastructure
to accommodate the platforms procured by
the SDPP, as well as the costs of deploying around
4,000 personnel abroad.
With the budget being squeezed by rising
personnel, training, maintenance and operational
costs, the fate of a number of procurement
programmes is uncertain. One immediate concern is
Project Vistula, a R3.2bn programme to acquire more
than 1,200 tactical logistical vehicles that was meant
to have been completed between 2008 and 2011.
Another army programme that has yet to get the
go-ahead is Project Sapula, a new family of armoured
personnel carriers to replace the 30-year old Casspir
and Mamba vehicles, while funding for the groundbased
air-defence system (GBADS) also appears to
have dried up. The first phase of the new GBADS
involves the deployment of multiple batteries of
Starstreak surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), which will
be followed by the development of mobile anti-