The National Treasury says it is not responsible for any budget challenges experienced by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
The Treasury said it was concerned by remarks made by the head of the navy, Adm Monde Lobese, who accused it of compromising national security by not providing the defence force with resources.
Lobese made the comments during a joint standing committee on defence meeting in parliament on Friday.
In response, the Treasury said in line with the constitution, withdrawing funds from the National Revenue Fund can only be done through an act of parliament.
“Final approval is by parliament and the National Treasury is then entrusted to ensure the implementation of parliament’s decisions. It is therefore incorrect to suggest the National Treasury is responsible for budget challenges experienced by the SANDF,” it said.
Lobese told the committee it needs to take a stand against what he called the “sabotage” of the defence force due to years of defunding.
“National Treasury for a change needs to be patriotic in how they address the funding of the SANDF. National Treasury can’t be allowed to be a super department,” he said.
However, the Treasury said in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, the Treasury is responsible for managing the budget process and exercising control over the implementation of the national budget.
According to the Treasury, the 2025/2026 proposed defence allocation of R57.2bn in the Appropriation Bill was informed by the government’s broader fiscal strategy, which aimed to stabilise public finances, reduce debt service costs and create space to invest in critical infrastructure and frontline services in support of higher growth.
“In this constrained fiscal environment, the department of defence has been allocated an additional R4.3bn over the 2025 medium-term expenditure framework to support priority needs — most notably, the orderly and safe withdrawal of troops and mission equipment from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with other essential operational requirements.”
TimesLIVE previously reported that defence and military veterans minister Angie Motshekga said better funding could have allowed the defence force to handle the repatriation of troops deployed to the eastern DRC as part of the Sadc Mission in the DRC, avoiding trauma and logistical chaos.
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