Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has expressed concern about the record of the Department of Defence (DoD) and the Department of Military Veterans, regarding their mishandling of public funds. This followed from the briefing to Scopa by the Auditor-General regarding the outcomes of the 2023/24 financial audit of both departments and of State-owned defence industrial group Denel. Consequently, the committee has decided to call before it Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga, so that these issues can be addressed.

In its media statement, Scopa highlighted that it was especially concerned that the two departments had received consecutive annual audits with adverse outcomes, yet displayed no willingness, or indeed ability, to improve these outcomes. Also, there had been a series of material irregularities, yet those who had been responsible had not been held to account by their superiors, whether for malfeasance, maladministration or failure to meet performance targets.

The committee also pointed to the structural inadequacies of the DoD. The department’s accounting officer was the Secretary of Defence, but he or she had zero disciplinary authority over uniformed members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF); they fell under the authority of the Chief of the SANDF. And, for “multiple years”, uniformed members of the SANDF had failed to comply with the Public Finance Management Act, without suffering any consequences.

Further, there were no comprehensive audit action plans to deal with the issues raised in previous audits; indeed, there were no means of effectively implementing and monitoring such plans. The result was the same audit findings were being recorded, again and again.

Scopa also cited the slow progress of Denel’s turnaround plan, despite the group having received a R3.4-billion bailout during the 2023/24 financial year. “Denel did not submit financial statements on time for the 2023/24 financial year audit,” observed the committee. “Denel has consistently received a disclaimed audit opinion for the past six years since the 2018/19 financial year.”

Another issue was the absence of an information and communications technology database for military veterans and for the benefits owed to them.

The committee further highlighted the lack of funding for the DoD and the consequent deterioration of its assets and capabilities. Lack of funding meant that, in the 2023/24 financial year, the aircraft of the South African Air Force flew for only 6 904.06 hours, instead of the targeted 12 000 hours, while the vessels of the South African Navy spent a mere 2 641.47 hours at sea, instead of the planned 8 000 hours. “The decline in the available budget to make repairs and maintenance on the existing vessels and aircraft is one of the root causes for failure to meet the targets which has resulted in a Navy and Air Force that is hardly operational,” affirmed Scopa.   

The committee planned to meet with the Minister before Parliament’s end-of-year recess, so that she could explain what she was doing, “to improve what is clearly a crisis of accountability and funding”.