As the IFP, we welcome the swearing in of the Military Ombudsman and we hope he will be instrumental in bringing back discipline in the National Defence Force. His office is supposed to improve conditions of service and streamline processes in the military. The ombudsman is said to be independent and impartial, an attitude we hope he maintains even in the face of possible political influence over the discharge of his duties.

The launch of the office of the ombudsman has given us hope that unions in the defence force will be dismantled, as they are an undesirable entity in the Defence Force because they undermine the purpose of the military. Because of the union's actions, there are over 1000 soldiers who have been on suspension for almost 3 years, with full pay, for storming the Union buildings during a strike in 2009. This has resulted in the department spending over R150 million on salaries; what makes it worse is that the department has allowed this situation to drag on for this long without resolution, opting to embark on expensive legal battles that were lost. So the department is paying these soldiers to stay at home instead of taking steps engage with them on the situation and deal with the disruptive union in the military. Pinning our hopes on the Ombudsman does not in any way guarantee the resolution of this problem and this situation needs to be a high priority on the department's agenda.

Honourable Chairperson, the Honourable Minister has recently stated that allowances need to be made for the military, specifically to do with loosening the constraints of the Public Finance Management Act (PMFA) on the
department. The logic behind it revolves around the idea that the military has special working conditions. If the department is given this exemption, it would mean that they have an endorsement to function outside the Act, even though they have shown they are incapable of complying with the Treasury procurement rules. How much more fruitless and irregular expenditure does the department need? How many more costly Airbus contracts
need to be cancelled? With the introduction of an exemption, the department wouldn't need to subject itself to any procurement procedures and there would be no limit to the billions that would be spent on unnecessary
military weapons that take money away from more urgent needs in our society.

Honourable Chairperson, we have discovered recently that the department owes R26 million to its fuel supplier, affecting operations at both the Zimbabwe and Mozambique border. This situation is unacceptable because it cripples our ability to secure our borders and restrain foreign nationals from coming to our country illegally, stretching the limits of our resources. And instead of spending money on covering such a vital role, the department spends money on submarines that do nothing for the country but cost R89 million a year in upkeep. Our people lack so much yet the department is content in spending money on equipment it does not need and stating that the budget it has is not sufficient. The department really needs to reassess its priorities.

Honourable Chairperson, the Defence Force is vital to the security of our country and our soldiers need to be treated with dignity. Yet it does not excuse the military from acting responsibly with the budget given to them
and not allowing wasteful expenditure to exist in the department. Unnecessary spending should be avoided and strict control needs to be applied to the finances, so that the department does not need special circumstances to fulfill its mandate.

The IFP supports the budget vote

I thank you.