The DA has condemned the inhumane treatment of about 130 naval recruits who have been stranded at SAS Saldanha since July.
News reports said the recruits were surviving on minimal food rations and living without proper accommodation as a result of ongoing construction delays at the Simon’s Town Naval Base.
The DA said that for nearly three months the young recruits, who have completed their basic military training, have endured conditions that families have described as “inhumane”.
The DA said confined to the base without day passes, denied sufficient food and prohibited from receiving parcels from home, they have effectively been punished for the department of defence’s own logistical failures.
The DA said this was not an isolated incident.
“Earlier this year, SANDF members deployed to the DRC faced chronic ration shortages and delayed deployment allowances, forcing soldiers to buy their own food in a foreign operational theatre,” DA National Council of Province’s member on defence and military Nicholas Gotsell said.
He said in both cases, whether on home soil or in active deployment, the pattern was clear that budgetary and logistical failures lead to rationing and deprivation. Command and leadership deflected responsibility by blaming discipline rather than fixing the system.
Gotsell said action was taken only after media exposure, not through proactive leadership or internal accountability.
“The military’s rank and file are being forced to shoulder the cost of institutional neglect. This is a disgraceful betrayal of the very people who volunteered to serve their country - all while the top brass are constantly playing golf at SANDF-hosted golf days.”
He said the DA would submit urgent parliamentary questions to defence minister Angie Motshekga to establish why proper accommodation and provisioning were not secured before recruiting and training the naval members.
“The DA will also want an answer as to why no contingency plan was put in place when construction delays at Simonstown became known. It also wants to know how much has been budgeted, and actually spent, on rations and accommodation for these recruits.
“The defence force is meant to embody discipline, professionalism and service to the nation. It cannot do so while starving its own personnel and relying on newspaper headlines to take action,” Gotsell said.
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