Tag: JSCD
Denel is in crisis – Gigaba
Denel is a shadow of its former self and if it fails, it will paralyse South Africa’s entire defence ecosystem, Chairperson of the Joint...
Follow-up oversight visit to Thaba Tshwane shows no progress
On Monday 14 April, Carl Niehaus, Member of Parliament for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) serving on both the Joint Standing Committee on Defence...
Parliamentary committee raises alarms over SANDF budget cuts, security readiness
Chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence, Malusi Gigaba, has delivered a candid assessment of the state of South Africa’s defence capability, warning...
Thaba Tshwane an example of military neglect and mismanagement – Niehaus
During last month’s oversight visit to Thaba Tshwane, Parliamentary defence committee members inspected the military “suburb” in Pretoria and found its condition “deplorable,” with...
Defence committee unhappy with President’s SANDF deployment letters
Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) has expressed concern over the lateness and content of Presidential authorisation letters, particularly for the deployment of...
South Africa’s defence policy is misaligned and needs reform, Parliament told
South Africa’s defence policy is at a critical crossroads. Academic experts and policymakers alike raised their growing concerns during a recent sitting of the...
Angie Motshegka must resign, say JSCD members
After initially being postponed, the Joint Standing Committee on Defence held a hearing on the situation unfolding in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),...
Defence committee calls for proper engagement with Minister, SANDF on DRC
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) Dakota Legoete has apologised for the cancellation of a meeting on Wednesday to...
Opposition parties seek answers from government on DRC fiasco
South African opposition parties are demanding answers and clarity on the SA National Defence Force’s (SANDF’s) deployment to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)...
Gigaba named Joint Standing Committee on Defence co-chair
Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD), the third committee tasked with oversight of defence and military veterans, is constituted for the seventh administration...
Defence portfolio committee up and running, still no word on standing...
One of two Parliamentary oversight committees specifically tasked with defence and military veterans is up and running with, as yet, no sign of the...
JSCD to have representatives from five political parties
If proposals set by Parliament’s Joint Rules Committee (JRC) are accepted, the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) will see the African National Congress...
Joint Standing Committee on Defence composition not yet known
One of the three parliamentary defence oversight committees is up and running, a chair has been named for another and the third awaits direction...
Parliamentary defence oversight in SA – Looking back on the 6th...
Parliamentary oversight is an important practice in democracies as it prevents dominance by the executive branch of government and ensures accountability. Oversight of the...
Procurement issues hamper Military Ombud
South Africa’s Military Ombud is seemingly hampered in finding “workable solutions” to spending its goods and services budget as these have to be procured...
Defence committees provide recommendations to SA defence sector after German study...
Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) and Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) recently conducted a study tour to Germany, and...
Minister Modise MIA for Defence Force Service Commission
At the centre of its raison d’etre for the Defence Force Service Commission (DFSC), a ministerial advisory body is supposed to provide expert advice...
Joint Standing Committee on Defence gets up close and personal with...
Since its maiden flight in September, the Milkor 380 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has been attracting significant amounts of interest from all quarters, and...
Parliament wants to know what’s happening with Chief Defence Reserves
The non-appearance of Major General Stephen Marumo, the last permanent Chief Defence Reserves, at last week’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) meeting raised...
SA Military Bargaining Council to be operational in January
Come January, men and women in the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) will have another avenue for service-related grievances.
The Military Bargaining Council (MBC), Parliament’s...
Conditions of service top complaints list to Military Ombud
Dissatisfaction with and unhappiness about conditions of service in the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) topped the list of complaints – by far –...
Funding shortfall means military health patients face complications and possibly death
A presentation by the Director: Military Health Planning of the SA Military Health Service (SAMHS) left Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) under...
SANDF not satisfied with Denel’s ability to maintain prime mission equipment
Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) is “concerned by the return on investment (ROI)” the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) receives for its...
Top SANDF council informed and educated on Denel “mysteries”
Three weeks after the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) urged Denel and the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) to ‘thrash out concerns’, it...
Denel and SANDF advised to “thrash out” equipment issues
One Parliament defence oversight committee – the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) – maintains it’s time for management of the national defence force...
Thumbs up for SANDF national stay-away deployment
Operation Prosper is an encompassing SA National Defence Force (SANDF) tasking which sees the military support government in efforts to ensure, among others, the...
SANDF faces paralysis if recruitment not addressed – JSCD
That South Africa needs a defence force is not in question. However, what is worrying to Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) is...
Parliamentary defence committee concerned about SANDF spares
Funding, more specifically a lack of it, has again been cited as hobbling the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) particularly as far as its...
Ad-hoc deployments affect SANDF cash flow and impact operational efficiency
The financial hole the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) finds itself in is not solely due to its disproportionally high salary bill but also...
National defence force divorcing Public Works and Infrastructure
South Africa’s military facilities are the grounds for divorce proceedings currently underway between the Department of Defence (DoD) and Minister Patricia de Lille’s Department...
Treasury funding not the only mountain SA defence industry has to...
It is common knowledge the South African defence industry is, to use a nautical term, in the doldrums, with a lack of government funding...
Technology needed as border protection force multiplier
Technological innovation is needed if the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) border protection tasking is to “enhance” work executed under the Operation Corona mandate.
Parliament’s...
Hoefyster’s future in the hands of control board and steering committee
Next in line for the seemingly never-ending saga that is the SA Army’s new infantry combat vehicle (ICV) to replace the ageing Ratel is...
Parliament oversight committee wants fiscus to boost local defence industry
The lack of funding for defence in South Africa means the local defence industry is reliant on exports, notwithstanding the “world class military equipment...
JSCD wants DoD “weaned off” Public Works and Infrastructure
Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD), mindful of apparent shortcomings in Minister Patricia de Lille’s Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), wants...
SA arms and ammunition worth R1.4 billion plus exported in first...
A Parliamentary oversight committee heard the South African defence industry (SADI) exported military hardware and munitions to 70 plus countries with a monetary value...
Defence Minister to elaborate on spoiled rations in Mozambique
Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise has been granted time to study the Military Ombud report on bad and spoilt military rations in...
Save Denel to ensure local defence industry’s future
If Denel goes down, Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) is concerned that South African defence technology development could grind to a halt.
After...
1 Military Hospital now “a white elephant”
A forensic report into an apparently flawed and – to date - failed repair and maintenance project (RAMP) at the SA Military Health Service...
Call for “senior government authorities” to help with defence exports
A R3.5 billion backlog of South African defence industry exports to particularly the Gulf region should receive attention from “senior government authorities” in the...
Collaboration and technology will boost border protection
One Parliamentary defence oversight committee – the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) – maintains better collaboration between all components of Cabinet’s “justice and...
Military discipline not properly enforced says DFSC
Pillars in defence forces and militaries worldwide are command, control and discipline with all three to a greater or lesser extent under the microscope...
Conditions of service top complaints list to Military Ombud
The Military Ombud received almost four times as many complaints about conditions of service in the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) than bad and...
SANDF told to spend election allocation prudently
One of Parliament’s two defence oversight committees, while approving the “employment” of soldiers to assist in keeping the peace during local government elections, called...
Holomisa seeking another oversight committee investigation
Retired general and sitting parliamentarian Bantu Holomisa wants one of Parliament’s two defence oversight committees to investigate what he alleges is abuse of office...
Mapisa-Nqakula financial abuse allegations not going away
A pair of parliamentarians are not ready to accept an explanation of being sent “from pillar to post” and want the Joint Standing Committee...
Backlog of NCACC approvals for two Gulf States
The South African defence industry is deeply dependent on exports to the Gulf Region but exports to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates...
Time the NCACC is treated as the “crucial entity” it should...
The National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) is seen by at least one respected military analyst and observer as “a crucial entity whose decisions...
Cuban drug task team report not available for Parliamentary oversight meeting
New Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise did not have to face hostile questions on the apparently illegal acquisition of an unregistered Cuban...
JSCD updated on Op Vikela, South Africa’s commitment to SADC Mission...
Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s final contribution as defence minister was informing the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) that President Cyril Ramaphosa was asked to reduce...
