South Africa’s National Defence Industry Council (NDIC) was formally launched by Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa Nqakula on Thursday. “Today marks an historic day in the existence of the South African defence industry and its relationship with the South African government and the DoD [Department of Defence] as the lead department,” she said in her keynote address.

The NDIC was created, she pointed out, because it was realised that the local defence industry needed the “targetted support and direction” of the government and DoD in order to survive and develop. Consequently, “the NDIC will not only ensure the directed development of the South African defence industry and its support by the government but will also ensure that we align the implementation of the mandates of the various government departments in this regard – hence, the composition of the NDIC will be as inclusive as possible.”

The aim of the NDIC is to facilitate cooperation between the government and particularly the DoD and the country’s defence industry to achieve critical aims. These are: to ensure that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is well-equipped with the best materiel that the country can afford; that the defence industry supports South Africa both socioeconomically and in terms of its national, regional and international interests and obligations; and that the local defence industry is a successful, reliable and credible partner of, and supplier to, local and export customers.

It is also intended to help the government deal with other concerns, including finding new models to fund the country’s defence, as the formal defence budget is constrained and declining, as well as creating jobs and developing technology. Moreover, the NDIC will provide a structured and coordinated capacity to “address the plight of our destitute military veterans, particularly from the previous non-statutory forces [the armed wings/forces of the former liberation movements]”.

Mapisa Nqakula announced the composition of the new council. Its chairperson will be the Secretary of Defence and its other members will be the chief of the SANDF, the director-general of Military Veterans, the chief of the Defence Materiel Division, a high-level representative of the Office of the President, and the directors-general of the State Security Agency and the departments of International Relations and Cooperation, Public Enterprises, Science and Technology and Trade and Industry, as well as the chairperson of the Armscor board, the CEO of Armscor, the CEO of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the CEO of State-owned defence industrial group Denel, the executive director of the Aerospace, Maritime and Defence Industry Association and the “Director Defence Industry Governance” (who will be the secretary of the NDIC). She also announced that it was her intent to include the director-general of the Department of Small Business in the Council.

“This council is an embodiment of who we are and what we want to be in the future and provides us with a platform to direct, support and preserve our defence industry as a national asset and thus to ensure that the partnership between government and industry works towards the preservation of an industrial capability that is dear to us whilst we secure our sovereignty now and in the future,” she affirmed. “The council will also . . . act as a platform through which we can engage the industry to set up special programmes aimed at the broadening of our skills base and the training of our youth as technicians, welders and panel beaters to mention but a few areas.”