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The Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) has welcomed what it says were fruitful round-table discussions with academic experts from the University of Stellenbosch’s Faculty of Military Science, including the Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa and the Centre for Military Studies, on measures to improve defence oversight.
The presentations from academia focused on defence policy...
Violent extremist organizations from northern Benin and Burkina Faso are increasingly targeting northern Togo as conflicts from the Sahel spill into coastal countries.
Four people on a tricycle in the north-central town of Bonzougou were killed June 18 after riding over an improvised explosive device (IED). Several terror groups operate in the Savannahs region, although none claimed responsibility for the...
The ability to move military materiel speedily and cost effectively is as essential to the smooth functioning of a defence force as is the quality of people in the force with two new Department of Defence (DoD) division chiefs taking on these crucial tasks effective 1 October.
Vice Admiral David Mkhonto, previously Chief Director Maritime Strategy at SA Navy (SAN)...
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) maintains South Africa’s security and stability faces “a significant threat” if underfunding of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) continues.
This conclusion comes from a statement following a National Treasury (NT) briefing this week (Wednesday, 9 October).
The statement, on one hand, calls for “a strong defence force” as being “critical”...
The Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) exhibition was this year recognised by Cabinet as “a national event of strategic importance”.
The exhibition at Air Force Base (AFB) Waterkloof in Centurion ran from 18 to 22 September and was number 12, dating back to 2000 when DEXSA (Defence Exhibition of SA) merged with Aviation Africa, first staged at what is now...
DCD Protected Mobility has launched a new Springbuck double cap weapons platform vehicle, which has been fitted with a 120 mm Aselsan Alkar automated mortar system.
Officially unveiled at the recent Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) exhibition in September, the new vehicle is a double cab version of the Springbuck SD weapons platform, which debuted in single cab format in...
The western Indian Ocean's Chagos Archipelago, with the exception of Diego Garcia, is no longer part of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) and is legally and constitutionally part of Mauritius as of late September.
The agreement to hand the seven atoll, 60 plus island archipelago back to Mauritius follows 13 rounds of talks going back to 2022 between the...
Fuchs Electronics is celebrating its 60th anniversary as a global leader in the manufacturing of electronic fuzes, primarily for heavy munitions and aircraft weapons.
From humble beginnings, Fuchs Electronics has evolved into a key player in the South African as well as global defence industry, with a range of advanced electronic fuzes for aerial weapons, mortars, artillery rounds, rockets, naval...
The Ghana Navy has received two Defender class boats and a storage facility provided by the United States to bolster the Navy’s capacity to combat maritime threats and enhance regional maritime security.
The boats were delivered in a ceremony at the Naval Training Command (NAVTRAC) on 27 September, attended by US Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer, Chief of the Naval...
The fifth Exercise Shared Accord with the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and the United States military will be staged in South Africa next year on an as yet unspecified date at a venue still to be decided.
September saw a concept development conference for next year’s combined joint inter-departmental, inter-agency and multi-national peace support operation and humanitarian relief exercise...
An African National Congress (ANC) National Council of Provinces (NCOP) public representative was informed, as part of a response to a Parliamentary question, that “adequate funding” has to be allocated for the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) to renew its prime mission equipment (PME).
Phiroene Phala, who sits on the NCOP Select Committee on Security and Justice (SCSJ), wanted detail...
More than four years after it was completed, the South African government has implemented 64% of the recommendations in the High-Level Review Panel Report on the State Security Agency (SSA) according to Minister in The Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni.
All told, she informed Democratic Alliance (DA) National Assembly (NA) public representative Nicholas Myburgh when answering a Parliamentary question, the panel, chaired...
Details are emerging about the new peacekeeping mission that will succeed the African Union’s current multilateral force in Somalia known as ATMIS when it concludes operations at the end of this year.
On 1 August, the AU adopted a strategic concept of operations for its Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) and forwarded it to the United Nations Security...
The Chinese satellite tracking vessel, Yuan Wang 7, called at Cape Town on 18 September following a tracking cruise that took the sophisticated vessel into the South Atlantic.
Back in late March 2023 a Chinese ballistic missile and space satellite tracking vessel, Yuan Wang 5, called into Durban en route to the South Atlantic and the monitoring of the re-entry...
A breakdown of September Operation Corona successes shows a decrease in the number of illegal immigrants intercepted by soldiers as well as a substantial drop in value of contraband seized.
Statistics provided by the Joint Operations Division of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) show soldiers put paid to the intentions of 312 foreigners hoping to enter South Africa without...
Following this week’s Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) meeting there’s been another call for “urgent intervention” in the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) without which South Africa “will be defenceless”.
To prevent this Democratic Alliance (DA) defence and military veterans spokesman Chris Hattingh wants “a comprehensive review of our military”.
And, it’s not only the SANDF he wants...
A Memorial Wall in memory of those who died while lecturing, studying or researching at the SA Military Academy at Saldanha was unveiled by the institution’s Commandant, Brigadier General Cassie de Castro.
The wall, Major Engela Meintjes writes, is a lasting tribute to those no longer with us. “Each name etched into the stone of the wall represents a life...
The eighth edition of Exercise Ibsamar, the multinational maritime exercise involving the navies of South Africa, Brazil and India, has commenced, marking another milestone in the trilateral collaboration between these maritime nations.
Held every two years, the exercise rotates leadership among the three participating nations, with South Africa serving as the permanent host due to its strategic geographical location.
Exercise Ibsamar...
The weekend’s Navy Festival in Simon’s Town, in addition to giving Mr and Mrs John Citizen some idea of what a previous SA Navy (SAN) chief called the people’s navy, also provided a platform for traditions.
Top of the tradition list was the maritime service exercising its right of entry into Simon’s Town, home of the fleet. The parade saw...
Friday’s SA Air Force (SAAF) Colour Parade was brought on – literally – by the ravages of age.
Brigadier General Donavan Chetty, Director Corporate Staff Services, told defenceWeb the Mobile Deployment Wing (MDW) parade was necessitated because the current SAAF Colour has been in service since 1994. Frequency of use along with wear and tear as well as adverse weather...
The military veteran component of Minister Angie Motshekga’s portfolio and specifically its lack of leadership is now on record in an effort to spur action at an under-performing Department of Military Veterans (DMV).
Maliyakhe Shelembe who, along with Chris Hattingh, forms the Democratic Alliance (DA) defence and military veterans’ oversight team, put pen to paper – as it were –...
Limited funding for maintenance combined with budget cuts has left the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) with no money to maintain the equipment acquired through the Strategic Defence Procurement (SDP) of the late nineties.
This is according to Defence and Military Veterans Minister, Angie Motshekga, who was answering a written question by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) National Assembly (NA)...
Durban-based Sandock Austral Shipyards (SAS) is rapidly expanding its footprint in the global shipbuilding industry, positioning itself as a key player in the African market. The company has recently entered into strategic partnerships with leading international firms, invested in infrastructure upgrades and secured significant contracts.
One of the most notable developments for SAS is its exclusive product partnership with Italian...
SAS Amatola (F145), the first Valour Class frigate to be taken into SA Navy (SAN) service, is said to be at “a constabulary level of capability” and will take part in the tri-nation Exercise Ibsamar off the Cape coast starting this week.
Prior to transiting from Simon’s Town to Saldanha Bay for the exercise, she underwent mission readiness training (MRT),...
Operation Lake Sanity has had some success against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin, but the insurgents will soon adapt to the new military tactics. To sustain the gains made, the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) leading the operation must stay ahead of these dynamics.
For more than 15 years, the Boko Haram insurgency has inflicted an unprecedented security...
The African Union (AU) African Standby Force (ASF) has been part of the continental bloc peace and security architecture for 20 years, growing in scope, capacity and effectiveness, its Director Conflict Management told a commemorative webinar in September.
The actual anniversary of the continental peacekeeping force was marked in May, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the AU Peace and...
Chief of the South African Air Force (SAAF), Lieutenant General Wiseman Mbambo, presided over a Colour Parade at Air Force Mobile Deployment Wing (AF MDW) on Friday 4 October, highlighting the achievements of the SAAF, including the recent establishment of the Space Command Section.
The presentation of Colour Parade is a military tradition wherein base or unit colours (flags) are...
The South African Navy Festival made its highly anticipated return to Simon's Town for the first time since 2017, and was held over the weekend of Friday 4 October to Sunday 6 October 2024.
Set in the historic East Dockyard, the festival kicked off with a special Dry Dock Concert on Thursday evening and was officially opened by Vice Admiral...
The SA Army Combat Training Centre (CTC) is presently home to an assortment of SA National Defence Force (SANDF) components for combat readiness verification ahead of peace support deployment.
Training objectives for Exercise Phirima, according to Rear Admiral (JG) Prince Tshabalala, Defence Corporate Communication (DCC) Director, include command and control (C2), planning, offensive operations, protection of civilians, civil/military co-operation (CIMIC)...
The Deputy Director of the Warsaw Rising Museum in Poland, Dr Pawel Ukielski, recently opened a new permanent exhibit at the Ditsong National Museum of Military History in Johannesburg following the 80th anniversary memorial service of the 1944 rising.
Following his opening remarks and those of Poland’s Ambassador to South Africa during the opening ceremony on 7 September, Adam Burakowski,...
The South African Navy (SA Navy) is in crisis due to years of underfunding, a situation Vice Admiral Monde Lobese, Chief of the Navy, highlighted in a recent briefing ahead of the Navy Festival.
Despite these challenges, the Navy remains committed to protecting South Africa’s maritime interests, but the Admiral’s frank assessment laid bare the extent of the problems caused...
The ever-evolving threat posed by ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) was a key focus of the recent Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Ministerial (D-ISIS Ministerial) meeting, with US officials spotlighting Somalia as a critical node in the group’s global operations.
Special Envoy for the Global Engagement Centre, James Rubin, took time out of a packed agenda to stress that ISIS-K's external operations have...
During the past week Houthis managed a successful waterborne drone attack on the Liberian-flagged, UK-connected tanker, Cordelia Moon (IMO 90297888).
An unmanned surface vessel (USV), filled with high explosives, was observed heading for the 275 metre by 50 metre tanker and, despite security personnel on board on board the tanker opening fire at close range with automatic weapons, the USV...
Africa, Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2024 was, according to the exhibition organisers, “a resounding success”.
Hosted from 18 to 22 September at Air Force Base (AFB) Waterkloof, the home of AAD apart from a two-event sojourn at AFB Ysterplaat in Cape Town, AAD 2024 was the 12th of type. Relocation to Ysterplaat was necessitated by a major upgrade to runways...
As its prime customer, the SA Navy (SAN) has twice “registered its concerns with the chronic under-performance of Armscor dockyard”.
In a nutshell, that sums up the situation the maritime service of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) finds itself in, as responded to in a lengthy Parliamentary question reply by Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga. Her...
The much-delayed delivery of Denel’s fifth-generation Denel V3E Agile-Darter (A-Darter) short-range air-to-air missile (SRAAM) to the South African Air Force (SAAF) will begin in October with training missiles, while operational A-Darters are expected in March or April of next year.
The A-Darter is a short-range dogfighting weapon (some seven kilometres range) but with some outstanding features. The missile has a...
Delegates to the recent 16th International Conference of Ombuds Institutions for the Armed Forces (ICOAF) heard the South African military Ombud expound on the problems many old soldiers endure.
Addressing the Berlin conference that ran from 30 September to 2 October, Vusimusi Masondo said his office “identified that a great number of military veterans who fought for liberation of the...
Work is underway in Mogadishu on mission design and funding for the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) that will replace ATMIS (AU Transition Mission in Somalia) three months from now.
“Engagements”, an ATMIS statement has it, started on 24 September when a joint AU/UN (African Union/United Nations) delegation arrived in the Somali capital. Assisted and supported...
The Russian Navy frigate Neustrashimy, accompanied by the replenishment vessel Akademik Pashin, arrived in Cape Town on Thursday 3 October, in time for the SA Navy Festival this weekend.
The two vessels were seen south of Sharm el Sheikh on 4 September and had left the Red Sea on 6 September, according to ship spotters. Their destination was not clear...
It was not much longer than 12 hours after the British Military Sealift Vessel Hurst Point had sailed from Durban when, on 21 September at 10:00 in the morning, the Danish Military Sealift Vessel Ark Germania (IMO 9609952) arrived off the Durban Bluff, from Kochi in India.
She was kept off port limits for just under two hours, and at...
Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) believes South Africa’s maritime and shipbuilding industry is on the cusp of exponential growth, and says it is leading the charge by spotlighting the sector’s potential at key global forums like the African Aerospace and Defence Expo (AAD).
The biennial event, which brings together global aerospace and defence experts, saw DSCT emphasising the importance of...
With the first anniversary of its formal establishment just days away, South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) faces a three-year medium term budget shortfall of R4.3 billion and needs to fill more than three thousand posts in the same period a Parliamentary questioner was told.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber was asked by fellow Democratic Alliance (DA) National Assembly (NA)...
With the tagline of ‘The bullet stops here’, Krugersdorp-based Bullet Proofing Technology (BPT) has supplied more than 1.3 million body armour plates and over 2 000 armoured vehicle kits to customers around the world. At the recent Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2024 exhibition it showcased a range of new products, including neutral buoyance armour, ultralight body armour plates,...
Defence Minister Angie Motshekga's failure to provide a report on the state of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is a clear indication that the Force is in crisis, the Democratic Alliance’s Member on the Select Committee on Security and Justice Nicholas Gotsell maintains.
“The report, due on 17 September, has not materialised, and the Auditor-General's recent revelation of...
“Advancing relationships with our African partners requires a unified, three-dimensional approach,” said US Africa Command (AFRICOM) commander, US Marine Corps General Michael Langley, during a recent engagement with military students—including students from Africa— at Marine Corps University.
His remarks came as the United States prepares for President Joe Biden's historic visit to Angola—a country benefiting significantly from the International Military...
Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga this week made it to the headquarters of the fourth SA National Defence Force (SANDF) arm of service – the SA Military Health Service (SAMHS) in Pretoria’s Erasmusrand.
Stop number one on her familiarisation tour was SA Army headquarters on the western side of the Pretoria central business district (CBD) on 26 August....
Exploitation of mineral resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by rebel groups has reached the point where they can be called “militarised entrepreneurs”, the senior United Nations (UN) executive in the central African country told the Security Council (SC).
Bintou Keita wears the hat of MONUSCO Head and that of Special Representative of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Earlier...
After an absence of several years the popular SA Navy Festival in the East Dockyard at Simon’s Town will return this year.
The event, to be held between 4-6 October 2024, offers the public a unique opportunity to engage with the SA Navy’s fleet, personnel and rich maritime heritage.
According to the SA Navy, this year’s festival promises to be bigger...
Denel’s big reveal at this year’s Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) exhibition was the mating of its RG41 eight-wheeled combat vehicle to a modified version of its G7 105 mm gun, which could provide excellent fire support for mechanised or motorised infantry.
Business Development Manager Isaac Karelse said the origin of the RG41 platform went back to the beginning of...
Amongst the many voices calling for military reform and a new defence review is former Democratic Alliance (DA) Shadow Minister for Defence and Military Veterans, Kobus Marais. Speaking at a recent African Dialogue series event hosted by the University of the Free State, Marais was clear that to address the many issues facing the South African National Defence Force...
