Fine words by CNavy – hopefully action follows
While eminently laudable the view offered by South Africa’s new senior sailor that finance, more correctly the lack of it, will not stand in...
Minister Modise stoops to “Heunis speak”
In a shining example of what not to say Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise proved she can be up there “with the...
AAD Quo Vadis?
Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2022 is history and while pats on backs are in order the state of what is termed the “premier”...
SA military is in deadly tailspin
A number of the SA Air Force’s (SAAF’s) front-line aircraft and helicopters are equipped with dispensers which can fire off flares as a way...
SANDF should be red-faced after CNavy didn’t exit as announced
At best it can be described as a failure to communicate. At worst, it’s an indictment of poor management and succession planning showing all...
Call for C-47TP spares shows SAAF cutting its coat to suit cloth available
When C-47TP (tail number 6840) crashed in the Drakensberg in December 2012, then Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula expressed unhappiness about “her...
CSANDF “pride” in the Reserves diminished by manday cuts and fewer volunteers
The “immense pride” SA National Defence Force (SANDF) Chief, General Rudzani Maphwanya, has in South Africa’s part-time soldiers would be worth more if similar...
Technical Service Corps skills loss taints the SANDF
The amount and range of work done by Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces personnel for the four SA National Defence Force (SANDF) services is a...
Sad and sorry state of the SAAF
Twenty-eight years ago the SA Air Force (SAAF) earned the accolade “Pride of the Nation” for an impressive flypast over the Union Buildings to...
SANDF job scam an indictment of education in SA
That the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) has yet again had to warn jobseekers it is not currently recruiting is – in itself –...
SA’s top soldier right on decline upon a decline in the SANDF
South Africa’s senior soldier – SA National Defence Force (SANDF) Chief – General Rudzani Maphwanya has it spot on in that the decline upon...
Heads must roll and not only for Cuban drug acquisition
Grounding aircraft, especially super sophisticated fighter jets, because maintenance and service contracts apparently weren’t timeously renewed, is nothing but dereliction of duty.
SA Air Force...
SANDF missing the communication target
Former defence and military veterans minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on a number of occasions said words to the effect South Africans have to decide what...
Communicate don’t abrogate!
The senior officer cadre of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) communications component, officially the Directorate: Corporate Communication (DCC), employed a barely plausible excuse...
Misleading SANDF post removed after defenceWeb intervention
One imagines at least a handful of the more than seven thousand followers of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) LinkedIn social media account...
Mapisa-Nqakula – not the best but not the worst defence minister
The departure of Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula as Defence and Military Veterans Minister is a welcome change and the appointment of ANC heavyweight Thandi Modise bodes...
Additional troop deployment is welcome and shows the need for a strong SANDF
The announcement on Wednesday 14 July that 25 000 members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will be deployed to help counter...
2 500 soldiers not enough to curb unrest and looting
The Monday 12 July announcement that 2 500 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers would be deployed to assist police in quelling looting...
Unemployed youth are the biggest threat to South Africa’s security
Terrorists from Mozambique and instability in eSwatini are not the biggest national security threats facing South Africa. What is most threatening to South Africa’s...
Mapisa-Nqakula continues to use “security” to evade Parliamentary questions
The free flow of information on border protection successes from military provincial tactical headquarters continues unabated in contrast with answers to Parliamentary questions where...
SANDF youth employment commitment increasingly hamstrung
With an official youth unemployment rate of 46% for the first quarter of 2021, it’s not surprising two published pieces about military recruitment on...
Public service pay increase – and gratuity – add up to bigger headache for...
At nation/state level South Africa faces no major current and medium term threat. This is an indicator of why those in charge of the...
Joint Standing Committee on Defence shows short memory span
Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) publicly acknowledged the “exceptional leadership” of outgoing SA National Defence Force (SANDF) Chief General Solly Shoke last...
Defence Directorate Corporate Communications mum on Shoke retirement tour
The communicators in the national defence force have done it again, shooting themselves in the proverbial foot, just over a month after defenceWeb asked...
Are SANDF communicators losing the plot?
Apart from somewhat poor communication with its various external audiences, there also appears to be a lack of communication internally at the SA National...
Armscor in-house expertise can generate revenue
Sweating Armscor assets, mainly property, was at one stage trumpeted as the way to eventually ensuring financial independence for the State-owned defence and security...
2020 – COVID-19’s year
Looking back as the sun goes down on 2020, the most obvious memory of the year will be the coronavirus and what it did...
Question for Public Works and Infrastructure Minister uses defenceWeb information
Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille’s R37 million Beit Bridge fence upgrade as part of government efforts to prevent the spread of...
Coronavirus shows why the SANDF needs to be adequately funded
The deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to help fight the COVID-19 novel coronavirus yet again demonstrates the need for a...
Presidential pep talk on Armed Forces Day
President Cyril Ramaphosa had his Commander-in-Chief cap on when he addressed the country’s airmen, military medics, sailors and soldiers in Polokwane last Friday.
Sadly, he...
SONA doesn’t do defence
The SA National Defence Force (SANDF) was much in evidence ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).
This high visibility did...
CAF goes diplomatic in his Prestige Day address
The Air Force Prestige Day address by Lieutenant General Zakes Msimang on 31 January was widely anticipated to shed some light on probably the...
Check before you speak, Minister!
South African Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula needs to verify her facts before she speaks, or risk further embarrassment to the South...
Raw deal for defence in SONA
Last week’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) by President Cyril Ramaphosa, also Commander-in-Chief of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), sadly did...
SA defence industry’s poor relation status must change
More proof – if needed – that the South African defence industry is the poor relation in the national industrial sector comes from the...
Lessons learnt from latest Op Copper deployment
The most recent Operation Copper deployment in the Mozambique Channel, in addition to providing valuable "on-the-job" training for both sailors and airmen,...
SA Defence Inc. not in a good place
SA Defence Inc. – the colloquial name military watchers have given to the country's armed forces and its defence industry – looks...
Defence Minister needs a hearts and mind campaign and a retrenchment plan that works
When she delivered her budget vote address in Parliament last month, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula certainly drew a line...
Is the Defence Review dead?
The South African Defence Review appears to be dead and buried, with the latest information from the Department of Defence indicating the...
Real action needed or the SANDF might just as well shut up shop
"The over-riding impression I have of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) is that it's marking time," was the comment of an...
Defence allocation from National Treasury again down on previous year
The budget unveiled by former Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba showed again defence is a poor relation in the government family. In real...
What is happening to SANDF public events and community relations?
The decision to scrap the annual Navy Festival for this year seems strange given the SA National Defence Force's (SANDF) oft-stated commitment...
Still no confirmation on future management of the Simon’s Town dockyard
It's been a year since the announcement that new Denel division – Denel ISM (Integrated Systems and Maritime) – will be the...
It’s time SANDF management acts on personnel spending
While the dictum of 40:30:30 spending regarding personnel, operating costs and capital renewal is not cast in stone, the SA National Defence...
SANDF personnel numbers – time for action!
Last week's parade in Simon's Town, where close on 200 medals were presented for long service in the national defence force, is...
Defence budget allocation – will the DoD/National Treasury task team make a difference?
Over the past few years a number of SA National Defence Force (SANDF) service chiefs have pointedly warned of the dangers to...
DoD and SANDF must educate to get Parliament thinking defence
When delivering her budget vote in the National Assembly late last month, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula asked for Parliament's...
Sad SAAF Museum media briefing another example of poor communication
The SA Air Force (SAAF) Museum is without doubt the most publicly visible component of the airborne arm of the SA National...
Government progress doesn’t include the defence force
Embattled South African president Jacob Zuma had his spin doctoring machine in top gear this week issuing a more than three thousand...
Is Defence intelligence aiming to sabotage South Africa’s good military relations?
On one hand the Defence Minister is building bridges – the latest being with Pakistan – that will see personnel exchanges and...
