The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Friday expressed concern at the accelerating collapse of South Africa’s defence capabilities, calling for urgent action, real investment, and accountability.

DA spokesperson on Defence and Military Veterans Chris Hattingh pointed out that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was facing a full-blown capability crisis, not just being on the sharp end of late maintenance or delayed procurement.

Hattingh explained that this was starkly laid bare in Friday’s Armscor presentation to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence.

“Our Navy is barely seaworthy. The Air Force can hardly get off the ground. And our ability to monitor or defend our vast coastline is close to zero. Years of underfunding, policy paralysis, and absent leadership have brought us here.

“The Navy’s key assets, its submarines and frigates, are mostly dockside relics. Armscor’s Dockyard, once the engine room of naval support, is now a hollowed-out shell. It no longer has the in-house capacity to conduct major refits without outsourcing critical work,” he explained.

He noted that it was the state of the Air Force that truly painted the picture.

“Across all categories - fighters, helicopters, transports, and trainers - aircraft availability has plummeted to near-zero,” he added.

He said the DA wanted a defence force that was “capable, credible, and aligned” with the real needs of the country, not one that performs “ceremonial fly-pasts while operational capacity crumbles”.

The party called for a full audit of the SANDF’s reconnaissance, surveillance, and response capabilities, both in the air and at sea, noting collapse of all the country’s maritime reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities.

“Vast stretches of our coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone are going unpatrolled and unprotected, leaving the door wide open for illegal fishing, piracy, trafficking, and environmental degradation. We are blind in our own backyard,” Hattingh said.

The party also called for immediate investment in “affordable and effective” maritime surveillance platforms, including drones, shore radar, Inshore Patrol Vessels, and long-range patrol aircraft.

Hattingh said a full investigation into the collapse of maintenance and engineering capacity at Armscor Dockyard and in the SAAF technical environment, was also needed.

“This didn’t happen overnight. The 2015 Defence Review clearly warned that the SANDF was heading toward block obsolescence and operational collapse. It offered a roadmap. But it was ignored. No funding. No implementation. No urgency. No accountability,” he explained.

He further pointed out that to make matters worse, the Department of Defence missed a binding deadline to table a formal reassessment of the 2015 Defence Review by 31 October 2024.

“Parliament is still waiting. In its place, the department now punts vague promises of a so-called “Journey to Greatness”, a slogan with no plan, no timeline, and no credibility. South Africa doesn’t need slogans. It needs strategy, structure, and solutions,” he said.

Hattingh said his party was calling for an urgent parliamentary debate on the non-implementation of the 2015 Defence Review, and a firm deadline for its long-overdue reassessment.

“This is not just about rusting ships and grounded aircraft. It is about a defence department that cannot prioritise in a shrinking budget. It’s about an SANDF becoming symbolic instead of functional. And it’s about political leaders who deflect blame instead of fixing what is broken,” he explained.

The DA called for political accountability from Minister of Defence Angie Motshekga and the leadership of the department for presiding over this steady decline.