Newscenter Media News The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has become a textbook case of how state institutions can rot from the top. The recent operational failures in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where SANDF forces were under-equipped and inadequately supported, are not isolated incidents but symptomatic of long-term decay.
The current budgetary failures are not sudden developments; they are the result of years of financial mismanagement, poor strategic planning, and political indecision. Yet leadership continues to offer vague reassurances and long-term plans that are divorced from the economic constraints at hand.
Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga recently spoke at the 2025 Rand Show of a capable defence force that is able to defend the nation, and is ethical, agile, and mission-ready. However, critics argue this is aspirational lip service, backed by neither funding nor political will. The disconnect between rhetoric and reality has become the defining feature of SANDF strategic planning.
The “Journey to Greatness” plan, touted as the cornerstone of SANDF’s revival, is referenced throughout the current and previous Annual Performance Plans (APPs), but remains largely theoretical without proper budgeting or implementation capacity. Furthermore, the plan has not been published.
Chief of the SANDF, General Rudzani Maphwanya’s affirmation that he would do his best within the appropriated budget vote fell flat against the backdrop of the SANDF’s worsening performance and growing irrelevance. Even the most basic operational functions, such as maintaining border security or conducting domestic emergency support, are now at risk due to resource gaps and poor planning.
The SANDF’s problems go beyond money. At their core, these challenges stem from a fundamental failure of leadership to articulate a credible, modern vision of what South Africa’s defence posture should look like in the 21st century.
The global security environment is rapidly evolving, shaped by new threats like cyberwarfare, climate-driven instability, and asymmetric conflicts. While it should be defining and pursuing an Irregular Warfare doctrine, the SANDF continues to be structured as if it were still facing Cold War-era conventional threats.
This refusal to evolve has left the force flat-footed, operating on assumptions that are both financially unsustainable and strategically obsolete. The DoD has failed to invest in the capabilities that matter most for modern defence while continuing to fund outdated structures and legacy platforms that deliver little operational value.
If the SANDF is indeed an instrument of sovereignty and national security, then it is a tool left rusting under a layer of indecision and nostalgia. The DoD’s insistence on rehashing outdated strategies while ignoring systemic governance failings is not merely ineffectual, it is dangerous.
The consistent inability to implement meaningful change, curb unsustainable spending, or realign defence posture to modern needs has all but ensured that the SANDF cannot meet its constitutional or regional obligations. South Africa is left with the illusion of security, fronted by a defence apparatus caught in its own shadow.
These views are supported by much of the political opposition. Both the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Democratic Alliance, through their defence representatives Carl Niehaus and Chris Hattingh respectively, who represent vastly different political constituencies, converge on this same point; by being unable to define a strategic purpose and vision, the Department of Defence and SANDF leadership have not earned the confidence or the funding they continue to request, and desperately need. If the promises of transformation are to be believed, the first transformation must be in leadership itself.
There is still time to rescue the SANDF from this trajectory of irrelevance, but it will require more than glossy reports, lengthy slogans and ministerial briefings. It will require a complete break with the past, a reimagining of the defence function, and the kind of courageous leadership that has so far been entirely absent.
The post Opinion: SANDF suffering from a lack of vision appeared first on defenceWeb.