Military parades related to the State of the Nation Address have cost the fiscus almost R60m in the past five years, while another R42m has been spent on military parades during the annual Armed Forces Day.
Defence minister Angie Motshekga lifted the lid on the expenditure while responding to a written parliamentary question from EFF MP Nqobile Mhlongo.
Mhlongo wanted to know “whether, considering the decline in the South African National Defence Force’s capabilities to provide security and defence, she has found it that the specific public relations events are worthwhile”.
DA MP Chris Hattingh in February also criticised the costs associated with the SANDF’s military and other parades, given the dire state of the national defence force and the severe budgets it had faced in the last few years, which he argued was detrimental to its defence capability.
Responding to the parliamentary question, Motshekga indicated that military parades conducted each February in Cape Town during the Sona, had cost R59,768,045 since 2019, or at least R11m per year.
The show of South Africa’s military might during the Sona consists of a 21-gun salute, a military police motorcycle escort for VIPs and a battalion-strength parade comprising four services of the SANDF, which include the air force, the army, military health services and the navy.
Turning to Armed Forces Day, Motshekga told the national legislature that it cost just over R8.5m per year, or R42,610,082 to host these between 2019 and 2021.
Responding to Mhlongo, the defence minister said: “Yes, it was worthwhile through educating citizens about defence as well as partnering with other departments to celebrate national events.”
According to DefenceWeb, Armed Forces Day has morphed into a week-long event from humble beginnings of a parade at the Thaba Tshwane sports grounds in 2010 to a combined parade and services at the SS Mendi Memorial in Atteridgeville near Pretoria in 2013.
Motshekga added that other “military displays” have cost R4.6m in the last five years, while military gala dinners cost just over R1m in the same period.
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