chris365:

this is one fact these dull south Africans (especially @patches) have refused to swallow. if you like buy nuclear weapons, you remain the last option when it comes to continental authourity and military power.
you are yet to pay the price, so cannot be trusted to lead militarily.

accept your new boss and pay homage.

26 year border war
Military history that strecthes back 100 years before Nigeria was even a country.

Dont come brag here like chasing the RUF clowns is something impressive.

The USMC, Brits and Executive outcomes achieved in months what you could not acheive in a decade.

What a joke.

And btw, Nuclear weapons are SUPREME POWER. If we had decided to keep our Nukes, we would be gods among monkeys.

Henry120:

"Unfortunately, the SANDF is already sitting with an array of expensive hardware that it cannot deploy, either because it lacks the skilled crews – hence 12 mothballed Gripen aircraft – or because it can’t afford the running costs."

26 - 12 = 14

South Africa: 14 advanced 4th gen fighters
Nigeria: 0 advanced 4th gen fighters

Confirmed by Henry120

btw, i know when I have killed you in a debate, because you start re-posting the same old off topic stuff. Say what you want about the SANDF, but they control 100% of South African sovereign territory, the Nigerian Army does not.

Henry120:

The burden is on you dummy.

No, I provided evidence to support my argument.

You have provided (as usual) no evidence to support your argument.

dragon2:
Concerning loans; we haven't gone for it yet,and even if we did we won't be running debts like the loan force that is SALOANDF.I may not be an accountant but it seems the repaid amount is only 68% of the original drawn loan not including the interests.
And if we decided to go the loan route we would be a far more powerful force than the SALOANDF.

and even if we did we won't be running debts like the loan force that is SALOANDF

Yeah, we have paid off 68% of ours and got more than Nigeria has in the last decade.

I may not be an accountant but it seems the repaid amount is only 68% of the original drawn loan not including the interests.

If you had bothered to read the artical I posted it said quite clearly that it was 68% of ALL OWED MONIES.

Final payment is in 2016 (or 2018)

This is why you shouldent make assumptions. You look a fool when you do.

And if we decided to go the loan route we would be a far more powerful force than the SALOANDF

You are only planning on spending 1 Billion USD. We spent 4 Billion USD

How will 1 Billion buy you more than 4 Billion? Must I list what we acquired?

dragon2: http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/south-africa-military-maintenance-matters-010956/

July 7/14: Review. South Africa’s own 2014 Defense Review process confirms the ongoing thrust of this article, even as it tries to lay out a 4-phase, 20-year plan to restore military effectiveness:

“According to the Review the SANDF is in a critical state of decline, is unsustainable and prime mission equipment, especially in the landward force, faces block obsolescence. “Ammunition stocks are depleted, infrastructure is falling apart, skilled staff is leaving and the arms of the various services operate in silos and are unable to manage basic procurement, which is centralised and run by the deputy director-general in the Defence Secretariat.”

South Africa’s ISS think tank adds an illuminating regional comparison:

“A recent report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) confirms fast-growing Angola, long considered South Africa’s only potential rival in the southern African power stakes, already spends about 50% more on its military than South Africa in absolute terms – and Algeria almost three times…. “Neither country has the political ambitions of South Africa nor its pretences to continental leadership and imposing regional stability.”

Sources: South African government external link, South African Defence Review 2014 | defenceWeb external link, “Defence Review an important first step to SANDF rejuvenation”.

Well done you posted it again.

We know our problems and are fixing them.

The thing you dont understand is that we have higher standards than you. What is unacceptable for us is run of the mill for you.

Just look at your arsenal and look at ours, ours is more advanced, more uniform and better used. Yet we still expect more.

Your random assortment of obsolete junk would not be worth doing a defense review on.

I think its time to do a statistical comparison between the force composition of the Nigerian and South African armies.

It will show that the "giant" is actually the "pauper"

patches689:

26 - 12 = 14

South Africa: 14 advanced 4th gen fighters
Nigeria: 0 advanced 4th gen fighters

Confirmed by Henry120

btw, i know when I have killed you in a debate, because you start re-posting the same old off topic stuff. Say what you want about the SANDF, but they control 100% of South African sovereign territory, the Nigerian Army does not.

The SA National Defence Force (SANDF) is facing a "catastrophic" multi-billion-Rand financial crisis that could force mass retrenchments and the indefinite postponement of the acquisition of essential equipment.

Johannesburg daily The Times reported defence secretary Sam Gulube as saying a R1.1 billion budget shortfall could compel the SANDF into large-scale retrenchments and compulsory early retirement in order to survive and pay salaries.

The budget shortfall also meant the SANDF would have to cut operations and acquisitions.

Gulube was speaking after briefing Parliament's defence portfolio committee.

The defence force's descent into crisis was slammed by the SA National Defence Union (Sandu) and a defence analyst said the proposed cost-saving measures would degrade the SANDF - already "catatonic" - even more.Gulube said the Department of Defence was unable to fill 4 000 posts because of insufficient funding.

Various options were being considered, he said, including cutting employees and extending working hours between now and March 2015.

Henry120:

The SA National Defence Force (SANDF) is facing a "catastrophic" multi-billion-Rand financial crisis that could force mass retrenchments and the indefinite postponement of the acquisition of essential equipment.

Johannesburg daily The Times reported defence secretary Sam Gulube as saying a R1.1 billion budget shortfall could compel the SANDF into large-scale retrenchments and compulsory early retirement in order to survive and pay salaries.

The budget shortfall also meant the SANDF would have to cut operations and acquisitions.

Gulube was speaking after briefing Parliament's defence portfolio committee.

The defence force's descent into crisis was slammed by the SA National Defence Union (Sandu) and a defence analyst said the proposed cost-saving measures would degrade the SANDF - already "catatonic" - even more.Gulube said the Department of Defence was unable to fill 4 000 posts because of insufficient funding.

Various options were being considered, he said, including cutting employees and extending working hours between now and March 2015.

Another off topic post. Yet more proof that you have been soundly beaten.

Stick to the debate.

I can explain why the military have been saying these things if you want.

patches689:

No, I provided evidence to support my argument.

You have provided (as usual) no evidence to support your argument.

Until you're able to provide visual evidence to support this claim, like is the case in Ukraine and Iraq, I'll take this as one of your "33%" rabble rousing.

patches689:

Another off topic post. Yet more proof that you have been soundly beaten.

Stick to the debate.

I can explain why the military have been saying these things if you want.

Dummy, this is the debate.


LMAO = powerful sandf.



"the 2012 Defence Review, says the SANDF is “critically deficient in the skill, motivation, and ethos that is required to operate"


"South Africa has the oldest infantry troops in the world"
. Lol.... The SANDF is a retirement home.


"Unfortunately, the SANDF is already sitting with an array of expensive hardware that it cannot deploy, either because it lacks the skilled crews – hence 12 mothballed Gripen aircraft – or because it can’t afford the running costs."



"The air force, for example, has been reduced to being a flying limousine service for African National Congress politicians"



" However, it’s a fact that while the SAAF’s helicopter squadrons receive a generous allocation for VIP flights – last year the Durban-based 15 Squadron got 300 hours flying time to ferry the Zuma entourage to and from Nkandla – they get very little for training and nothing at all for sea and mountain rescue."

Henry120:

Dummy, this is the debate.


LMAO = powerful sandf.



"the 2012 Defence Review, says the SANDF is “critically deficient in the skill, motivation, and ethos that is required to operate"


"South Africa has the oldest infantry troops in the world"
. Lol.... The SANDF is a retirement home.


"Unfortunately, the SANDF is already sitting with an array of expensive hardware that it cannot deploy, either because it lacks the skilled crews – hence 12 mothballed Gripen aircraft – or because it can’t afford the running costs."



"The air force, for example, has been reduced to being a flying limousine service for African National Congress politicians"



" However, it’s a fact that while the SAAF’s helicopter squadrons receive a generous allocation for VIP flights – last year the Durban-based 15 Squadron got 300 hours flying time to ferry the Zuma entourage to and from Nkandla – they get very little for training and nothing at all for sea and mountain rescue."

All those quotations are from an opinion piece.

The defence reveiw makes no mention of them.

There are no facts to support them.

And even in its current state, the SANDF is far more powerfull than the Nigerian army.

Think for one second.

We have double your budget.

But only 90 000 men compared to your 130 000.

And yet we consider that we cannot maintain the standards we have set for ourselves.

What does that say about the Nigerian military?

Henry120:

Until your able to provide visual evidence to support this claim, like is the case in Ukraine and Iraq, I'll take this as one of your "33%" rabble rousing.

Multiple respected sources are running the story.

I suggest you provide visual evidence to support your claim.


The Wall Street Journal does not lie

patches689:

Multiple respected sources are running the story.

I suggest you provide visual evidence to support your claim.


The Wall Street Journal does not lie

The same multiple respected sources say 70% of nigerians live below the poverty line, when actually only 31% of Nigerians live below the poverty line.


The education in South-Africa is very very poor. If a person makes a claim, the individual should be able to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that his claim is authentic.

"You know who propergated WMDs in Iraq?".......... WSJ

Henry120:

The same multiple respected sources say 70% of nigerians live below the poverty line, when actually only 31% of Nigerians live below the poverty line.


The education in South-Africa is very very poor. If a person makes a claim, the individual should be able to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that his claim is authentic.

"You know who propergated WMDs in Iraq?".......... WSJ

The same multiple respected sources say 70% of nigerians live below the poverty line, when actually only 31% of Nigerians live below the poverty line.

followed by:

If a person makes a claim, the individual should be able to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that his claim is authentic.

you just killed your own argument

Henry120:
"You know who propergated WMDs in Iraq?".......... WSJ

1st: prove it please - that WSJ is responsible for "propergating it"

2nd:

On June 21, 2006 the U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released key points from a classified report from the National Ground Intelligence Center on the recovery of a small number of degraded chemical munitions in Iraq. The report stated that "Coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent." All are thought to be pre-Gulf War munitions.[120]
These munitions meet the technical definition of weapons of mass destruction, according to the commander of the National Ground Intelligence Center. "These are chemical weapons as defined under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and yes ... they do constitute weapons of mass destruction," Army Col. John Chu told the House Armed Services Committee. The munitions addressed in the report were produced in the 1980s, Maples said. Badly corroded, they could not currently be used as originally intended, though agent remaining in the weapons would be very valuable to terrorists and insurgents, Maples said
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction#Chemical_Weapons_Recovered

After Iraq was occupied, reports from the CIA in 2005 concluded they found much of Iraq’s WMD development programs, which included a very limited development nuclear weapons program, 550 metric tons of yellowcake uranium dating from before 1991, maintenance of dual-usage chemical weapons technology, and an unexpected air force buried in the sand, but no large stockpiles of chemical weapons or other major WMDs

Wikileaks revealed in 2010 that during the occupation of Iraq the U.S. military discovered many small caches of chemical weapons, but others claimed that Russia had helped Hussein hide the most dangerous WMD stockpiles in Syria. The plot took a new twist when Syrian rebels began identifying weapons that came from Iraq last year. Then when Russia began to oversee Assad’s supposed disarmament of chemical weapons John A. Shaw, the former Pentagon official who claims to have tracked Iraq’s WMDs being moved out by Russian special forces, claimed that it was possible some of these chemical weapons were being hid back in Iraq.
http://www.inquisitr.com/1309825/isis-in-iraq-find-saddam-husseins-wmd-stockpiles-of-chemical-weapons-george-w-bush-was-right/

Basically: They found plent of WMD's in Iraq - problem most people (most people are idiots) think that WMD means "HUGE NUCLEAR BOMBS"... which is not at all what it means.

So, I guess you are one of those idiots?

patches689:

The same multiple respected sources say 70% of nigerians live below the poverty line, when actually only 31% of Nigerians live below the poverty line.

followed by:

If a person makes a claim, the individual should be able to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that his claim is authentic.

you just killed your own argument

I want to believe you saw the last post made by chris on the nigerian economy.

That is my citation.

Henry120:

I want to believe you saw the last post made by chris on the nigerian economy.

Facts are facts buddy.

Independant 3rd parties tell us that over half (60%) of Nigerians live in poverty

61% in poverty
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17015873

As Nigeria gets richer, more Nigerians live in poverty. That’s the paradox of growth in Africa’s biggest oil producer

Yet the most recent poverty survey by the Nigerian statistics agency, published in 2012, shows that 61 percent of Nigerians were living on less than a dollar a day in 2010, up from 52 percent in 2004.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-17/nigeria-overtaking-south-africa-s-economy-masks-poverty-trap.html

only the World Bank lists yours lower than 50%
http://data.worldbank.org/country/nigeria

and thats because the World Bank has a ridiculous definition for "poverty"

World Bank: Poverty is pronounced deprivation in well-being, and comprises many dimensions. It includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity. Poverty also encompasses low levels of health and education, poor access to clean water and sanitation, inadequate physical security, lack of voice, and insufficient capacity and opportunity to better one’s life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty

Their definition of "poverty" means that a rural subsistence farmer who lives on $1 a week could be deemed as "living above the poverty line" if he has access to basic sanitation (a long drop and a stream) and is literate (which means he can read at the Gr 2 level)
http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/2012/04/art-569952/

Boom.

Argument destroyed. You need to read more bruh.

patches689:

1st: prove it please - that WSJ is responsible for "propergating it"


Basically: They found plent of WMD's in Iraq - problem most people (most people are idiots) think that WMD means "HUGE NUCLEAR BOMBS"... which is not at all what it means.

So, I guess you are one of those idiots?

Most times you make very long and very meaningless posts.

Did they get to see the nuclear weapons which was the pretex for the invasion?

The saddam government had mostly destroyed all his stockpile of chemical/biological agents even before the Americans ever contemplated invading.

In the Mideast, multiple countries posses chemical agents, not just the iraqis. The syrians, turks, saudis, iranians, and isrealis posses chemical agents.

The 9/11 attackers were also mostly saudis.


The claim that WSJ which was primarily the tool used in committing mass murder, "cannot lie", shows how stup1d you south-africans are.

Henry120:

Most times you make very long and very meaningless posts.

Did they get to see the nuclear weapons which was the pretex for the invasion?

The saddam government had mostly destroyed all his stockpile of chemical/biological agents even before the Americans ever contemplated invading.

In the Mideast, multiple countries posses chemical agents, not just the iraqis. The syrians, turks, saudis, iranians, and isrealis posses chemical agents.

The 9/11 attackers were also mostly saudis.


The claim that WSJ which was primarily the tool used in committing mass murder, "cannot lie", shows how stup1d you south-africans are.

Did they get to see the nuclear weapons which was the pretex for the invasion?

No, WMD's were the pretext for the invasion. Do you know what a WMD is?

Basically: They found plent of WMD's in Iraq - problem most people (most people are idiots) think that WMD means "HUGE NUCLEAR BOMBS"... which is not at all what it means.


The saddam government had mostly destroyed all his stockpile of chemical/biological agents even before the Americans ever contemplated invading.

False. Please read my citations.

In the Mideast, multiple countries posses chemical agents, not just the iraqis. The syrians, turks, saudis, iranians, and isrealis posses chemical agents.

Syrians - gave them up
Turks - NATO allies
Saudis - US allies
Iranians - could get their sh1t kicked in at any second
Isrealis - MASSIVE FREAKING AMERICAN ALLIES

O my gosh, its like speaking to a child. What did you even think you were saying in that sentence?

The 9/11 attackers were also mostly saudis.

Completely irrelevant.

So, basically, you are just randomly posting unrelated sentences now?

Let me remind you what we are talking about: According to the most respected Media House in the world: BOKO HARAM HOLDS NIGERIAN SOVEREIGN TERRITORY

Provide proof to show otherwise, or stop wasting my time.

These attached photos are really not 3D drawings and Ratels are operated by no less than 10 countries world over unlike your pig looking ugly and sub standard which is not yet operationally....Hence @AUGUSTUS was proudly displaying Chinese vehicles.....Until now most of your photos shown indicates an army using soft skin Hi lux pick ups. A sure sign of lacking proper and secure transport for troops.

patches689:

Facts are facts buddy.

Independant 3rd parties tell us that over half (60%) of Nigerians live in poverty

61% in poverty
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17015873

As Nigeria gets richer, more Nigerians live in poverty. That’s the paradox of growth in Africa’s biggest oil producer

Yet the most recent poverty survey by the Nigerian statistics agency, published in 2012, shows that 61 percent of Nigerians were living on less than a dollar a day in 2010, up from 52 percent in 2004.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-17/nigeria-overtaking-south-africa-s-economy-masks-poverty-trap.html

only the World Bank lists yours lower than 50%
http://data.worldbank.org/country/nigeria

and thats because the World Bank has a ridiculous definition for "poverty"

World Bank: Poverty is pronounced deprivation in well-being, and comprises many dimensions. It includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity. Poverty also encompasses low levels of health and education, poor access to clean water and sanitation, inadequate physical security, lack of voice, and insufficient capacity and opportunity to better one’s life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty

Their definition of "poverty" means that a rural subsistence farmer who lives on $1 a week could be deemed as "living above the poverty line" if he has access to basic sanitation (a long drop and a stream) and is literate (which means he can read at the Gr 2 level)
http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/2012/04/art-569952/

Boom.

Argument destroyed. You need to read more bruh.

World Bank Cuts Nigeria's Poverty Rate to 33.1%, Says North is Poorer

Quote:
Predicts 7.4% growth in 2014
James Emejo

The World Bank Tuesday said there had been positive economic trend as well as significant progress made towards poverty eradication in the country.

It said in its second edition of the Nigeria Economic Report (NER) which was launched in Abuja that going by the recent rebasing of the economy as well as analysis from the new General Household Surveys (GHS) conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) with the support of the Bank, new poverty estimates in 2010/2011 and 2012/2013 should be within the range of 35.2 per cent and 33.1 per cent respectively.

Although the previous NBS Harmonised Nigeria Living Standards Survey (HNLSS) 2009/2010, which took a larger study sample into account had estimated poverty rate at 62.6 percent, the Breton woods institution said it had strong reasons to believe that "consumption was seriously underestimated in the large HNLSS household survey in 2009/2010."


It stated that an analysis of a panel survey data (GHS) of 5000 households for 2010/2011 and 2012/2013 provided "evidence that consumption is likely higher than previously estimated from the HNLSS survey."


Furthermore, the new GHS analysis put rural poverty at 46.3 per cent and 44.9 per cent in 2010/2011 and 2012/2013 respectively compared to 69.1 per cent and 51.2 per cent respectively in the HNLSS 2009/2010 estimates by the NBS.

The World Bank estimates further suggested that the number of poor Nigerians remained at 58 million adding that more than half of the figure are located in the North- east or North- west.

Specifically, it noted:" Poverty rates range from 16 per cent in the South- West to 52 per cent in the North-East. While the South and North central experienced declines in the poverty rate between 2010/2011 and 2012/2013, the poverty rate increased almost unchanged in the North West."
Details to

Tags: Featuered, News, Nigeria
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/...-33-1-/184259/

South African designed, built, Tested and Manufactured

patches689:

Did they get to see the nuclear weapons which was the pretex for the invasion?

No, WMD's were the pretext for the invasion. Do you know what a WMD is?

Basically: They found plent of WMD's in Iraq - problem most people (most people are idiots) think that WMD means "HUGE NUCLEAR BOMBS"... which is not at all what it means.


The saddam government had mostly destroyed all his stockpile of chemical/biological agents even before the Americans ever contemplated invading.

False. Please read my citations.

In the Mideast, multiple countries posses chemical agents, not just the iraqis. The syrians, turks, saudis, iranians, and isrealis posses chemical agents.

Syrians - gave them up
Turks - NATO allies
Saudis - US allies
Iranians - could get their sh1t kicked in at any second
Isrealis - MASSIVE FREAKING AMERICAN ALLIES

O my gosh, its like speaking to a child. What did you even think you were saying in that sentence?

The 9/11 attackers were also mostly saudis.

Completely irrelevant.

So, basically, you are just randomly posting unrelated sentences now?

Let me remind you what we are talking about: According to the most respected Media House in the world: BOKO HARAM HOLDS NIGERIAN SOVEREIGN TERRITORY

Provide proof to show otherwise, or stop wasting my time.

Again another long meaningless post.

When did the syrians give up their chemical weapons you fool? Was it in 2003?

I listed the number of countries with chemical weapons before the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The essence of the post was to show that WSJ are a freaking propaganda machine.

Henry120:

World Bank Cuts Nigeria's Poverty Rate to 33.1%, Says North is Poorer

Quote:
Predicts 7.4% growth in 2014
James Emejo

The World Bank Tuesday said there had been positive economic trend as well as significant progress made towards poverty eradication in the country.

It said in its second edition of the Nigeria Economic Report (NER) which was launched in Abuja that going by the recent rebasing of the economy as well as analysis from the new General Household Surveys (GHS) conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) with the support of the Bank, new poverty estimates in 2010/2011 and 2012/2013 should be within the range of 35.2 per cent and 33.1 per cent respectively.

Although the previous NBS Harmonised Nigeria Living Standards Survey (HNLSS) 2009/2010, which took a larger study sample into account had estimated poverty rate at 62.6 percent, the Breton woods institution said it had strong reasons to believe that "consumption was seriously underestimated in the large HNLSS household survey in 2009/2010."


It stated that an analysis of a panel survey data (GHS) of 5000 households for 2010/2011 and 2012/2013 provided "evidence that consumption is likely higher than previously estimated from the HNLSS survey."


Furthermore, the new GHS analysis put rural poverty at 46.3 per cent and 44.9 per cent in 2010/2011 and 2012/2013 respectively compared to 69.1 per cent and 51.2 per cent respectively in the HNLSS 2009/2010 estimates by the NBS.

The World Bank estimates further suggested that the number of poor Nigerians remained at 58 million adding that more than half of the figure are located in the North- east or North- west.

Specifically, it noted:" Poverty rates range from 16 per cent in the South- West to 52 per cent in the North-East. While the South and North central experienced declines in the poverty rate between 2010/2011 and 2012/2013, the poverty rate increased almost unchanged in the North West."
Details to

Tags: Featuered, News, Nigeria
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/...-33-1-/184259/

So i just explained to you why no one takes the World Bank definition of poverty seriously... and you go and post a world bank source?

Did your mother drink while you were in the womb?

Here, take a post from THE UNITED NATIONS

62% in povertty
http://www.ng.undp.org/content/nigeria/en/home.html

$1 a day is the definition of poverty
http://www.visionofearth.org/news/how-do-we-define-poverty/

Lol lol lol lol lol all the way to the bank

Henry120:

Again another long meaningless post.

When did the syrians give up their chemical weapons you fool? Was it in 2003?

I listed the number of countries with chemical weapons before the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The essence of the post was to show that WSJ are a freaking propaganda machine.

No the essence of your post is that you have no idea what you are talking about.

http://news.yahoo.com/blast-rocks-bus-station-north-nigerian-city-kano-160801385.html. Ai ai ai Nigeria!!

Not a mickey mouse army

Troop101: http://news.yahoo.com/blast-rocks-bus-station-north-nigerian-city-kano-160801385.html. Ai ai ai Nigeria!!

LOL , go count how many Hamas terrorist r.ockets e.xplode inside Israel and how many Israeli civilians d.ie, LOL, mumu.

Reason why African Union chose Nigerian army general to command South African army in new standby force 2015.

SANDF has NEVER been tested in any real war since 20 years ago, and your army is now full of grey haired weak men being forced to retire....old peoples infantry...cannot run to pursue enemy....SANDF will faint and go into coma on harsh battlefield.

LOL !!!

It would take Nigeria 50 Years to be in par with current standard of the SANDF

SANDF

he South African National Defence Force (SANDF), which should be saving lives, is becoming an "armed welfare service which is saving jobs," according to the Democratic Alliance, which was reacting to defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula's budget speech yesterday.


Mapisa-Nqakula told Parliamentarians they have to apply their minds to assist in righting the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) when she introduced her budget vote this week by ensuring the Defence Review had their full support.

That the country's military is not well was also stressed by opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party shadow defence and military veterans minister, David Maynier, who told the house the SANDF was "in deep trouble".

Responding to the Minister, the former submariner said it was not in fact a defence budget vote debate - "It is political farce dressed up as debate. We know very little about what is really going on in the SANDF".

As an example he said to date Parliament had still not been briefed on South Africa's involvement in the UN Mission in the DRC.

"We are spending too much on personnel, we are spending too little on operations and we are spending much too little on capital acquisition," Maynier said. This was evidenced by more than half the defence budget (R20.4 billion) going to personnel costs.

Mapisa-Nqakula said the Defence Review -- now before Parliament -- stated unambiguously that the SANDF was in a state of decline characterised by force imbalance between capabilities, ageing technology, and unaffordability of many of its main operating systems.




We all knew this now, didn't we.