Photo by: Dylan Slater
Soldiers from the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF’s) National Ceremonial Guard stand to attention during a fly-past by three Agusta Westland A 109 helicopters before President Cyril Ramaphosa gave his opening address at the 2018 Africa Aerospace and Defence exhibition, which took place at Air Force Base Waterkloof, in Centurion, from September 19 to 23. Ramaphosa hinted at a shift in the financing model of the SANDF, with options being considered to lower dependence on direct State funding. “The leveraging of the economic value of many types of assets of the Defence Force is under development, alongside improvements in the efficiency of the Defence Force and the rejuvenation of the defence human resources component.”