Ramaphosa to increase SANDF funding to boost its capacity

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has been forced tooperate on a shoe-string budgetfor too long and the government will increase its funding to boost their capacity. “Funding for the SANDF has been going down. They have been operating on a very thin budget which has limited their capabilities.

This can no longer continue, we will take funding even from other departments to ensure we reprioritise the SANDF funding, and boost their capacity,” said Ramaphosa. The president was speaking on Saturday when hundreds of people descended on Thohoyandou’s Punda Maria Road in Venda to observe the annual SANDF Armed Forces Day. The day commemorates February 21 1917 when 646 black South African soldiers who were members of the South African Native Labour Corps died at sea while travelling on theSS Mendi.

The ship was struck by the British Cargo ship SS Darro in thick fog in the English Channel en route to France during World War I. Other notable people who attended the parade include the defence minister Angie Motshekga and her deputy Bantu Holomisa, Limpopo premier Phophi Ramathuba and leaders of the Zion Christian Church Dr Barnabas Lekganyane and Bishop Joseph Lekganyane. Ramaphosa also emphasised his commitment to ending gang violence and crime in Cape Town, curbing illegal mining in Gauteng and eradicating gangs in the northern areas of Gqeberha.

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“From the Cape Flats to Gauteng our message is clear. The rule of law will be enforced and the safety of our citizens will be ensured. “This deployment is a shield for the vulnerable so that a child in Nyanga, in Eldorado Park or New Brighton and in the northern areas of Port Elizabeth can walk to school without the shadow of a bullet,” said Ramaphosa.

In his speech, Ramaphosa also raised alarm over some government officials who were against the commemoration of the day. “The SS Mendi matters because it talks about what we define as heroism and African contribution to global history. It symbolises dignity even under oppression. “Given the opposition by some in our country to commemorate this day, we need to ask ourselves: how does a society or a nation properly recognise sacrifice, when recognition was historically denied?” asked Ramaphosa.

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