Motshekga warns Defence Department at risk of collapse over R3.3bn over-expenditure

Defence Minister Angie Motshekga has warned that the SANDF faces a projected R3.3 billion employee compensation shortfall, saying recruitment cuts and early retirement cannot close a funding gap that could deepen to R4.6 billion by 2028/29.

Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga has warned that her department is facing a projected R3.3 billion over-expenditure on employee compensation, saying the funding shortfall is one of the department's biggest threats and could put it at risk of collapse.

Motshekga was answering oral questions from MPs in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Wednesday about the department’s projected expenditure on compensation of employees.

She said the department had already overspent by about R3 billion in the previous financial year and expected the over-expenditure to reach R4 billion in 2027/28 and R4.6 billion in 2028/29 if there was no intervention.

The department had identified measures to reduce expenditure, including encouraging employees who are able to retire to take early retirement and offering incentives to employees to leave.

However, these measures would not resolve the underlying problem, which she attributed to years of underfunding.

She said the compensation bill had become a major concern because the department’s human resources budget had not kept pace with salary increases, inflation and other costs.

Motshekga said the department had repeatedly raised the issue of underfunding with Treasury, Cabinet and Parliament.

Reducing the number of employees would not necessarily solve the problem, as the SANDF still needed younger personnel to maintain its capabilities.

“We're not recruiting at the rate which we would have wished to recruit.”

Motshekga said the department was currently recruiting about 5,000 people every two years, which was not enough for the demands placed on the defence force.

The department was therefore considering a combination of measures, including limiting recruitment and encouraging employees to leave at the appropriate time.

However, the ultimate solution depended on Parliament and Cabinet allocating sufficient funding to the Defence Department.

“We don't appropriate monies for ourselves. We live with what we get.”