Parliament can’t shut its eyes as military rots away

On Friday our digital platform, TimesLIVE, broke the news that President Cyril Ramaphosa used an SAA jet to travel to Kinshasa on government business, instead of using an air force VIP plane. It turned out that none of the VIP fleet was available because the air force had failed to pay its subscription fees for the relevant flight software, rendering the planes unairworthy.

There were 12 passengers on the 320-seater plane to attend the Southern African Development Community summit in the Congolese capital. The wastage incurred is staggering. While it would have cost taxpayers R800,000 if Ramaphosa was transported in the presidential jet Inkwazi, the state coughed up about R340,000 an hour for the eight-hour round trip.

A military spokesperson confirmed the VIP planes could not be flown because a flight software contract had been allowed to expire five months ago. The spokesperson said this was because “the processing forums were not functioning for some time”.

This failure to perform a routine responsibility is indicative of the rot that has gradually set in at our defence force. From being one of the more efficient military establishments, it has become a shadow of its former self, with many examples of mismanagement reported in recent times.

Defence minister Thandi Modise has indicated that the military is short of working combat vehicles, working submarines and fighter aircraft. The military is short of welltrained operational soldiers who can be deployed to regional hotspots and local crisis situations. All of these are essential to the maintenance of the military’s capability to perform its task of protecting the country and its citizens and contributing to regional peacekeeping, among other roles.

That the military is now not able to transport the No 1 citizen safely and reliably without relying on outside operators is an indictment of its leadership.

Parliament, which is responsible for overseeing the executive, cannot look the other way while our military descends into terminal decay.