In her recent Budget speech to Parliament in Cape Town, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula reported progress in the institutionalisation of the relationship between the Department of Defence (DoD) and the local defence industry. “Our plans for the establishment of the National Defence Industry Council are at an advanced stage,” she said. “The launching of the council will usher [in] a new dispensation for the management of our relations with the defence industry and also allow for direct support in this regard.”

The National Defence Industry Council is intended to provide close coordination between the country’s defence companies, research agencies and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). It was formally launched in March 2012.

“The hosting of this year’s edition of the African Aerospace and Defence show in September will also give South African industry another opportunity for marketing and expansion,” she pointed out. “The show will represent a key highlight of our calendar as we celebrate the 20 years of existence of the SANDF.”

She informed the National Assembly that the DoD was examining a 20-year Defence Development Programme that would be split up into four Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) periods, each of five years. The first of these was starting in this financial year (2014/15) and would run to the 2018/19 financial year.

During this first MTSF, the DoD will integrate its Strategic Intent with the government’s planning cycle and ensure that it supports the National Development Plan, the New Growth Path and the Industrial Policy Action Plan (Ipap), as well as incorporating the commitments and missions for the DoD and the SANDF emanating from the new National Security Strategy. “The introduction of this long-term planning brings greater coherence and continuity to our planning system and [contributes] towards the achievement of the vision and goals of the country,” she affirmed.

The Minister made repeated references to the Defence Review, which has now been tabled for consideration by Parliament. “We do hope,” she stated, “that, given its centrality to our planning, Parliament will treat the finalisation of the review as a matter of critical urgency.

“The question crucially posed by the review is: what is it that we want the Defence Force to do at home, in the region and [in] the rest of the continent?” she queried. “Once that question is answered, adequate resources must be allocated to enable the DoD to execute its mandate with the requisite effectiveness and efficiency.”

Mapisa-Nqakula noted that the Defence Review reported that the SANDF was in decline. It suffered from having main operating systems it could afford to operate, obsolescent technologies and imbalances between its capabilities. The review proposed a 25-year plan, divided into five-year “milestones” to turn the SANDF around and transform it into a force capable, if required, of waging a limited war.

The first of these milestones is intended to halt the current decline. To achieve this, the DoD will devote its attention to six strategic areas during the current MTSF period. One of these areas involves the development of the Defence Industry Strategy, the Technology Agenda, innovation plans and the incorporation of the defence industry into Ipap. Another requires the overhaul of the defence capability strategy and of direct defence acquisition to bring them in line with the review’s remaining milestones.

The other four strategic areas are concerned with funding, personnel, renewing the defence organisation and providing for strategic leadership (including succession planning) for the next 20 years. “It is important that the Defence Review should not be premised solely on the need for more money for the SANDF,” she warned. “While this is important, the DoD has a responsibility in preparing its ground for implementation to ensure that it improves its processes to work smarter, eliminate wastage, improve accountability and redeploy current resources.”