TRANSFORMING THE DEFENCE INDUSTRY

THE OPPORTUNITIES…. AS STATED BY THE DEFENCE MINISTER NOSIVIWE MAPISA-NQAKULA

ONE of the least celebrated achievements of our transition from apartheid to democracy is the creation of the new Defence Force.

Few people really appreciate the complex and difficult circumstances that prevailed when we merged former arch enemies to create the new National Defence Force.

For the record, the post apartheid Defence Force was formed by soldiers from the former South African Defence Force (SADF), those from the so-called independent homeland armies – the Transkei Defence Force, the Venda Defence Force, the Bophuthatswana Defence Force and the Ciskei Defence Force – and the freedom fighters from the liberation armies, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and the Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA).

It is tempting to take the integration process of these armies for granted. After all, the new Defence Force is now a solid force that shows no traces of what it was before integration.

The South African National Defence Force is a truly transformed entity that serves South Africa and its people without regard to any political affiliation or race.

It is truly the embodiment of the ideals of the rainbow nation as articulated by our founding father, Nelson Mandela.

The transition has been a miraculous metamorphosis. The caterpillar of yesteryear that devoured and fed on its neighbours has been transformed into a beautiful butterfly that exports peace to the rest of the African continent.

We are proud to state, without fear of contradiction, that the political transformation of the Defence Force has been a huge success.

The Defence Force has become a home of patriots who owe their total allegiance to the national flag and the Constitution.

They serve their country and its people with honour, dignity and great pride.

But as it is the case with the economy, transformation in the process of the procurement of goods and services in the Defence industry has been less than impressive.

Too few historically disadvantaged individuals are benefiting from businesses related to the Defence industry. This is of a major concern to us as the Defence Force.

As clearly articulated in the National Development Plan (NDP), we have triple challenges of inequality, unemployment and poverty in the country.

If we are to create a stable democracy and an economically prosperous country, we need to tackle these challenges head-on. It is in the interest of all of us – rich and poor, black and white to address these challenges.

This is why we need to radically implement the various government policies that seek to promote active economic participation of those who were previously marginalised from the mainstream of the economy during apartheid.

For our part, we in the Defence space are firm in encouraging our agencies such as DENEL, Armscor and the Department of Defence itself to really accelerate the process of creating business opportunities to those who were excluded in the past.

There are countless business opportunities in the Defence industry. One of the major problems for the new entrants into this space is lack of information about these opportunities.

This means that we need to increase communication of these opportunities. It also means we must use various methods to profile pioneers in the Defence industry, those who are venturing into new vistas.

We must provide space to share with ordinary members of the public the success stories of those individuals who are exploiting opportunities in the Defence industry.

And when we do that, the economics of the Defence industry will experience the same peaceful yet radical transformation that the political component of the Defence Force underwent.

And that is a recipe for peace, stability and prosperity.