Chapter 2 - P rogramme 1 - Department of Defence

| Financial Performance |
Annual Report FY 2007 - 2008 220
| Department of Defence | Vote 20 |
REPORT OF THE ACCOUNTING OFFICER
for the year ended 31 March 2008 (continued)
• Reserves. Significant progress has been made as is evidenced by the increased role played by
Reserves in external and internal deployments. The Defence Reserves assisted in supplementing
force levels for peace support operations, and provided the majority of the landward conventional
capability. More than 8 700 of the 12 264 SA Army Reserves, are from previously disadvantaged
backgrounds. This issue still requires much attention and it is believed that the inflow of MSDS
members into the Reserves, once sufficient MSDS members are released from fulltime service, will
greatly alleviate the human resources situation of the Reserves. The realisation that the MSDS, in
the interim, will not sufficiently rejuvenate the reserves has led to a decisive intervention to utilise
continued education provision to widen the reserves.
• Education, Training and Development (ETD) Management. An Officers’ Learning
Path (OLP) was developed in accordance with approved career models and was approved for
implementation during the year under review. Learning paths for warrant officers and noncommissioned
officers are still under development. The OLP includes the Further Education
and Training Certificate (formative course), Executive National Security Programme and the Joint
Senior Command and Staff Programme. SAQA accreditation for the DOD’s learning providers
and learning programmes is in process, primarily through the Safety and Security Education and
Training Authority. A sharper focus has been put on improving the programme and institutional
accreditation status of the DOD learning institutions as well as the professional development
programmes that have been mobilised during the financial year.
• Defence Related Industry. The Defence-related Industry Strategy has been completed.
DOD, DTI and DPE will jointly develop and implement the Defence-related Industry Strategy.
Further work is continuing to refine the definition, scope and scale of strategic capabilities and
the implications thereof for the defence industry, domestically and globally. The positioning
of the DERI to better service the resource and research base of the country underscored the
developments in this area during the previous financial year.
1.2 Defence Vote: Rm25 922, 255 (Appropriation Act 2007 (Act No 7 of 2007)).
1.2.1 The DOD financial year 2007/2008 budget was compiled on a cash basis per programme and
amounted to Rm25 922, 255. The approved budget covered the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March
2008 and included all entities under control of the Minister of Defence. The budget was approved
through legislative action and specifically the Appropriation Act, 2007 (Act No 7 of 2007). The
budget objectives and policies per main division of the Vote were published in the financial year
2007/2008 Strategic Business Plan and the performance against objectives are in detail reported
on in the department’s Annual Report.
1.2.2 The 2007/2008 Defence Vote increased by Rm1 256, 479 (5,09%) from the 2006 MTEF allocation
for the same year and increased with Rm2 092, 150 (8,78%) from the allocation of the previous
financial year. The Defence Vote amounted to 1,27% of South Africa’s gross domestic product
(GDP) or 4,78% of total government expenditure (GE). These percentages are lower than those
for the financial year 2006/2007 Defence Vote, which is an indication that, although the Defence
Budget is increasing in nominal terms, it does not benefit equally from the country’s economic
growth, both in terms of GDP and GE. The year-on-year increase in the overall defence budget
was mainly due to additional allocations appropriated for military skills development, defence
modernisation, defence infrastructure, increase in the remuneration of health professionals,
foreign exchange rate adjustments on the Strategic Defence Procurement Programme and higher
than average escalation of the property management portfolio.