By Umamah Bakharia

The South African National Defence Force may soon see its ranks reduced if the Department of Defence go ahead with plans to reduce what it calls its human strength to 73 000.

It further plans to reduce reserve man-days in an effort to save costs.

The SANDF is expected to save around R1.1 billion in the 2022/23 financial year.

SANDF to reduce ‘human strength’

These plans were revealed during a parliamentary briefing by the Secretary of defence, Sonto Kudjoe and senior leaders on funding models and cost containment plans for the SANDF.

Radio Islam speaks to defence expert, Helmoed Heitman on what this means for the force.

“The issue is not that we got to many people, it is that the budget is too low,” says Heitman.

Currently, the defence force will have to heavily rely on the very few reserves, experts say this is being cut as well which means that some tasks will not get done.

Military analyst, Helmoed-Römer Heitman

“Cutting down on personal numbers is not going to solve anything but make the treasury happy,” says Heitman.

He adds: at this stage- there is a mismatch between what the government wants the defence force to do and the funding it provides.

According to Heitman, the SANDF is paying people by taking money from other avenues that is why their equipment acquisitions aren’t moving forward and maintenance logistic equipment are being delayed.

African Defence Review director, Darren Olivier, said the cuts would have a negative effect on the SANDF’s capabilities, which include its ability to conduct effective border patrols.

With budget cuts, there is uncertainty on whether this decision will impact soldier’s skills and experiences.