The general overseeing the South African National Defence Force’s KwaZulu-Natal deployment has admitted that the military does not have all the equipment it needs. He also could not give Parliament a clear account of whether the 510 soldiers sent to the province were properly prepared.
Lieutenant General Siphiwe Lucky Sangweni, Chief of Joint Operations, made the admission during a tense meeting of Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence on Friday.
DA MP Chris Hattingh had asked whether the soldiers were adequately equipped and prepared for the deployment. Sangweni initially requested seven days to provide written answers.
When MPs insisted that he respond during the meeting, he said: “My response remains. It’s detailed. The honourable member wanted a breakdown. We did not prepare for that, because it is not the normal practice. This presentation, the narrative says, is a shortened version.
“On the issue of the readiness of the soldiers: they are deployed and they’ve made a difference in the city of Durban but there are possibilities of expanding. So the soldiers are deployed. It’s quite difficult for members of Parliament needing detail of readiness. We have said many times before, and many of you do understand, that the Defence Force does not have all the necessary tools of trade. But does that require that soldiers must not deploy or do their work? No. We sacrifice ourselves.
“This committee has promised that it is going to attend to the challenges for our Defence Force to be able to be successful. But in the meantime, we cannot throw away people who are dying, and we do go there and sacrifice ourselves. It’s a person’s interpretation whether they are ready or not ready. But the output shows that we are ready.”
The response prompted DA MP Emma Powell to accuse the department of disrespecting the committee and treating parliamentary oversight as a formality.
“I am concerned about the disrespect that’s being shown to this committee. This committee has powers in law. We received a briefing this morning. This is not a one-way flow of information. We are conducting our constitutional oversight duties in this committee. We have asked some very basic questions. We have also made proposals for recommendations. We have asked the Honourable Minister to explain to us how the retrospective deployment took place.
“We have asked questions around compensation of employees. We have asked questions around operational details and whether we can receive a briefing on that. We have asked questions in regard to the preparedness of the forces. Now, Chairperson, with respect to the General and the Honourable Minister, and through your office, this committee is not a rubber-stamping forum. When we ask questions, the officials are required to answer us in this meeting. We are not going to accept a seven-day written response on matters that the Minister and the General should be able to answer now. These are basic questions,” fumed Powell.
She also wanted to know whether soldiers would be deployed at voting stations during next Wednesday’s local government elections and what orders would govern their conduct.
“Will they be deployed to voting stations next Wednesday? What will the standing orders of the SANDF be? If we can please receive operational details about which locations they will be deployed to, I understand there’s obviously sensitivity around that, even a redacted, generalised operational plan would assist us in our oversight duties,” she asked.
No answer was provided.
“I asked very simple questions, such as whether the defence force will be deployed to voting stations. It is astonishing that the individuals responsible for managing this can’t answer those questions. They’ve been on the ground since 9 October. I’m astonished that the General can’t answer us on basic operational matters,” she said.
EFF MP Carl Niehaus had earlier called for the committee to receive the operational plan, rules of engagement and a clear account of the respective responsibilities of the police and the military.
“The delayed notification already weakens our ability as Parliament to insist on those parameters in advance. We therefore require an immediate briefing on the operational plan, the rules of engagement and the division of responsibilities since 9 October. This is exactly where Operation Prosper falters in other areas of the country, and it needs to be addressed. Regular reports to this committee must take place, there must be a clear exit strategy, and we need a full breakdown of the expenditure,” Niehaus said.
Defence Minister Angie Motshekga defended the deployment, saying the soldiers were trained and expected to be ready to respond to emergencies.
She also argued that the department needed more time to answer the committee’s questions because of preparations for the elections.
“I’m quite surprised that the General is asking for seven days. I must tell you we’re in elections for the next four days. Member Powell is right that our joint operations are being kept busy with the elections, which has even been making it difficult for us as Defence to attend to our usual work. There are ongoing meetings around how we support the police during elections. So I hear he says seven days. I was going to ask for 10 to 14 days, because from now there’s nothing else we can do except focus on the elections, dry runs and doing all the necessary things. So I was going to ask if you agree to allow us 10 days so that we can get past the elections,” she said.
Motshekga insisted that the soldiers were combat-ready and had not been recruited off the street to respond to the crisis.
“Member Hattingh is right in what he raised. We don’t pick up people in the streets. These are trained soldiers who are combat ready, who are ready to go and do different activities. So it’s unfortunate that we have to answer the question of whether they are ready or not ready, as if we go and recruit people, saying there’s a crisis, jump in and please go and assist. These are soldiers who are combat ready, who are supposed to be on standby. That’s why, overnight, in 24 hours, they should be able to be called when there’s a crisis,” she explained.
She added: “The readiness you can trust that trained soldiers should be combat ready. So were they ready? Yes, they should have been ready. I would have been surprised if the answer was different.”
Motshekga left the meeting before it concluded, saying she had to attend a meeting in Soweto.
The committee eventually agreed to give the department 14 days to respond to the outstanding questions. ANC MP MDD Legoete supported the longer deadline, arguing that seven days would interfere with election preparations and operational duties.
Powell had requested answers within seven days.
The committee also adopted a report noting the deployment, while raising concerns about the late notification to Parliament, the conflicting cost estimates, troop preparedness and the need for a redacted operational plan. It did not recommend that Parliament amend, substitute or terminate the deployment.