SANDF on Human Resource requirements amid current fiscal constraints and how Force Design and Force structure may need to be adjusted; DoD on Utilisation and plans for Reserves; with Deputy Minister

Meeting report

Deputy Minister’s opening remarks

Mr Thabang Makwetla, Deputy Minister, Department of Defence and Military Veterans (DODMV), said that Brigadier General Zoleka Niyabo-Mana, Director: Defence Reserves, would present to the Committee on the utilisation and plans for the reserves in the context of the reduced man-hour allocation, as discussed previously. This was an area of the DOD which had been under scrutiny.

In the middle of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department had thought it would have the second leg of the dialogue of the comments in 2019, around a review of the reserve force system, but had not been able to get this done. There were a number of aspects which had to be addressed as far as the reserves were concerned.

Today’s discussion would focus on the impact of cuts on the Department's budget, where the cuts had affected the human resources (HR) division, and by implication the availability of the reserves. As this matter was being discussed, it should be borne in mind that the reserves were a component of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), in the context of the "One Force" concept, which was meant for South Africa to keep lower force-levels, i.e., a permanent force which had limited numbers. The point of the reduction of the man-hours of the reserves also challenged the concept of the One Force practice of having lower force levels by bringing in the reserves when the need arises.

How SANDF reserves are affected by budget cuts

Brig Gen Niyabo-Mana presented the status of the SANDF Reserve Force, and how it was affected by the 25% reduction in man-days.

Addressing the role of the Defence Reserves Division, she said the Chief Defence Reserves (Defence Reserves Division):

• provides advice to the Chief: South African National Defence Force (C SANDF) on reserve force matters;
• provides strategic direction to the development of the Reserve Force Service System through the development of strategies and plans for the DOD;
• provides specialist policy and related advice on all aspects of the Reserve Force Service System to the DOD, C SANDF and all services and divisions;
• promotes and markets the Reserve Force Service System to all stakeholders, and especially the business sector, in order to engender community, employer and labour support for service in the Reserves; and
• the Division forms part of the command line of the SANDF.

The role of the Reserve Force Council (RFC) was to advise the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans on Reserve Force matters. The RFC did not fall in the command line of the SANDF.

The SANDF Reserves were not paid when not called up; did not accrue pension benefits; had medical cover only when on call-up; and 6.5% of the SA Army budget produced about 50% of OPERATION CORONA deployments.

There were 19 937 reserves as at 30 November 2021. These included reserve members in the SA Army, SA Air Force (SAAF), SA Navy, SA Military Health Service (SAMHS), and others. In the 2020/21 financial year, 3 355 353 man-days were used, and in 2021/22 there were 2 613 600 budgeted man-days. The man-day budget for the 2022/2023 financial year had been cut by 25% to 1.9 million man-days – a saving of R500 million.

The mandate of the Joint Operations (J Ops) Division was to plan, conduct and monitor operations at the military strategic level in order to enhance and contribute to peace, security and stability in the South Africa, the region, Africa and the world, through appropriately resourced and sustained defence capabilities. J Ops was mandated to employ forces in pursuit of national and regional security as instructed by the Commander- in-Chief through:

• Effective border safeguarding operations.
• Execution of national obligations.
• Co-operation with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to effect law and order.
• Support to other government departments.
• Humanitarian and disaster relief operations.

The Chief of J Ops was reliant on the arms of services -- SA Army, SAAF, SA Navy and SAMHS -- to provide combat-ready forces to them to be utilised in the Joint Force Employment commitments.

Due to the lack of an appropriate internal support structure for the J Ops Division, it was reliant on utilising Reserve Force members in order to sustain joint force employment, ordered tasks and joint interdepartmental, interagency and multinational (JIIM) commitments. 604 469 man-days had been allocated for the 2021/22 financial year, and 225 254 had been used in the first quarter. The projected full-year usage was 901 547 man-days, resulting in an estimated over-expenditure of R296 547. The reason for the over expenditure were additional requirements in Operation CORONA and Operation PROSPER, while Operation VIKELA would put more pressure on the required manpower. In addition, structural problems required more support personnel, i.e. adjutants, administration, protection, procurement, and a comprehensive transport section.

Brig Gen Niyabo-Mana described the planned actions to accommodate the cut in J Ops, and said all call-ups would be done for shorter periods of time, except for members manning the Ops rooms on 24hr shifts and protection and security personnel, while key positions identified in the Division and J TAC headquarters would be limited to the minimum. All call-ups for force employment and ordered operations would be for three months at a time, and reviewed quarterly.

The reduction in man-days would include administrative and operational impacts. It would come with risks including border safeguarding, which would be compromised, and J Ops might not be able to meet its international operational requirements, since the Regular Force would have to fill the gaps internally as well, among other risks.

The SA Army’s mandate was to “provide combat ready land forces for the pursuance of national defence and the prevention of war in order to achieve national security goals, jointly and preferably multinational, swiftly and decisively.” The army provided forces to Chief of Joint Operations for force employment and ordered tasks and operations. The current man-day allocation of 1 281 665 would be reduced to 926 000, coupled to funding of R636 million. An average of 10 500 reserves would be called up, compared to the previous average of 12 946. There would be a realignment of call ups of members for administrative duty and guard duty. Call ups for guard duty by other divisions would be closely monitored.

Brig Gen Niyabo-Mana reiterated that 1 281 665 referred to man-days, and not members of the reserves. The army would decide how this would be distributed to members. It had been reduced by 25% to 926 000. It was not allocated to a budget. This was the amount of money that would be paid for those man-days.

The implications were that combat readiness would be affected. as the army provided the majority of manpower for the joint force employment requirements of J Ops. Seven out of 15 companies were reserve force companies. To be combat ready, companies had to do regular continuation training and pre-deployment training. With limited man-days, no continuation training would be possible for the internal Operation CORONA and the external Operation MISTRAL, and possibly for operations in Mozambique. The socio-economic conditions of the army reserve would be impacted. An average 140 days were currently allocated, and the decrease in man-days would affect more people than just the Reserve Force member -- it would create a very large “unemployed” group of well-trained soldiers, amongst other implications.

The utilisation of man-days for the SAAF included 88 602 allocated man-days for the 2021/22 financial year and 64 068 for 2022/23. The impact of the reduction in man-days included chaplains. SAAF reserve force office personnel would receive additional man-days as prioritised, and a provision had been made for emergency call-ups if the situation arose, among other implications. The risks include six chaplains being called up in the SAAF, and with the reduction in man-days, SAAF personnel would not have the full service and support of the Chaplaincy. The majority of the Reserve Force members being called up were previous instructors and trainers who were experts in the fields of avionics and technical services.  The capacity in the Regular Force was non-existent, and it would be a loss for the SAAF if the man-days for these subject matter experts were being reduced.

The strategic direction for the Navy was to provide combat readiness and support maritime defence capabilities in order to capacitate the SA Navy to deliver on its mandated objective, which was to be unchallenged at sea. The initial man-day allocation for the financial year 2021/22 was 73 788, and the reduced allocation was 53 000. The planned man-days for the 2022/23financial year was 50 800.

The SAMHS had the mandate to provide health care to all DOD members (including their dependants) and approved clientele. This included primary health care, tertiary health care and operational health Care that addresses pre-hospitalisation emergency care and evacuation of patients. In all of these environments, the Reserve Force component played a pivotal role, with specific reference to nursing and operational emergency care and emergency care technicians. The initial allocation was 166 000 man-days, with a budget of R117 370 166.

In summary, reserves were deployed in Operation CORONA and recently in Operation PROSPER to augment the regular force deployments in support of the SAPS. They also supplement the regular force in various other fields -- for example, guard duties in units which were away on deployment, administrative duties for the deployed units, chefs, medical personnel, etc. The number of reserve companies to be deployed in 2021/22 was 14, with 2 100 members. Furthermore, reserves were needed -- especially group leaders, instructors and administrative personnel -- to maintain and sustain 11 000 reserves in the SA Army in 67 units across South Africa. A limited number of reserves were deployed externally, but an increase might happen with Operation VIKELA.

The combat readiness of forces provided to J Ops by the SA Army, SAAF, SA Navy and SAMHS would not be appropriately trained and constituted, with the constant reduction of man-days and budget. The constant reduction would lead to a huge unemployed resource which could pose a risk to national security. No rejuvenation was taking place, leaving an ageing force with average age of 42 years. The continued budget cuts applied to the utilisation of reserves was only solving a short-term problem, with major long-term consequences.

Discussion

Mr S Marais (DA) said that the presentation had been depressing. The Committee needed to have an urgent discussion in the new year. The presentation had emphasised what was in the 2015 Defence Review, and that was a bigger reliance on a larger reserve force, and a lesser reliance on a regular force. The reliance on a reserve force had been high and had increased, while the regular force had not been reduced. This was a challenge that the Committee had to deal with. This presentation had spoken to the Constitutional obligation of the Defence Force, and that of the Committee.

He asked for clarity regarding the expected utilisation of man-days -- how many man-days did the Department foresee using during this financial year? This would give an indication of the problems it faced this year.

The Chairperson asked Mr Marais whether he was referring to man-days in the current financial year, as the cut relates to the next financial year.

Mr Marais said that the Reserve Force had a predicament, as there was a budget, but when there was authorisation for deployment, they had to be called up. He asked what the expectation was that the budget would end up with. What was the expenditure to date?

He noted that there were 14 companies being deployed. What companies were being referred to? He asked if CJ Ops had been allocated 900 000 man-days, as it sounded strange that less than 50% was going to CJ Ops. Clarification was needed on this matter.

He referred to the situation regarding Reserve Force council members not being reappointed. When would they be appointed? How much of the Reserve Force was being used on Operation Corona, which was over 53%, and other operations? The Committee needed an indication on how heavily South Africa depended on its reserve force.

The Chairperson noted that the senior leadership of the Department were not present in the Committee meeting. He suggested that the Committee permit questions for clarity in preparation for discussion with the leadership of the Department.

Mr Marais agreed with the Chairperson, and commented that the Committee was very concerned about the current situation.

Mr T Mmutle (ANC) agreed with the Chairperson and Mr Marais, in that the presentation presented to the Committee was depressing. Reserve Force members relied on the Force as a form of employment. He asked for clarity on the recruitment of regular forces.

Mr W Mafanya (EFF) shared the same concern as the Chairperson, and commented that the Committee was well aware that there had been a decline in the services rendered.

Mr M Shelembe (DA) said that the presentation had highlighted the issue of the Reserve Force affecting international operational requirements. What were the consequences if the international operational requirement was compromised?

DOD's response

Brig Gen Niyabo-Mana thanked the Committee for their questions posed. She noted that this financial year the allocation for man-days was 2.6 million, but as indicated by more services, the ceiling was expected to be around 2.9 million. There might be an over expenditure of R300 000, as Operation PROPSER had not been planned for at the beginning of the financial year.

Regarding translating reserve force members to regular force members, Admiral Asiel Kubu, Chief of Human Resources, SANDF, encouraged the recruiting from the services before recruiting outside, as this was the cheaper option because reserve force members were already trained as soldiers.

Last year, General Roy Anderson had presented to the Military Command Council (MCC) and explained the need to have reserve force members also supplementing external operations, which the Chief of the Army had agreed to. 20% of the reserve forces were involved in Operation VIKELA.

Mr Marais thanked the Brigadier General for her responses. He asked for clarification about the 14 companies.

Brig Gen Niyabo-Mana confirmed that there were 15 companies involved in Operation CORONA. It was supposed to be 22, but due to vacancies those companies were not fully staffed. The information given in the presentation was a typo regarding the number of companies -- not 14, but rather 15 companies.

The current contract of the Reserve Force Council (RFC) had expired on 25 November. The decision was up to the Minister on the way forward.

Mr Marais asked if there was any indication if the Border Management Authority (BMA) would contribute from their own budget to the cost of deploying soldiers, or whether the reserve or regular forces would assist them in doing their job on their behalf.

Brig Gen Niyabo-Mana responded that when the BMA had presented and stated their plan was to have 3 000 reserve force members called up on their behalf to assist as guards, they had said it would be at their own cost. However, one of the SANDF's finance representatives had looked at their budget, and she did not think it was practical to have 3 000 reserve force members called up with the amount of budget they had.

In the past, the Defence Force had been called to assist different departments, with the commitment that it would be paid. However, the funds go to the B7 account, and do not come back to the Defence Force, so the budget struggles. National Treasury had recommended that they must have a model that would enable them to receive funds from other departments when providing a service.

The Chief of the SANDF had constituted a tactical team to see how the SANDF could assist the BMA going forward, as currently no one had sufficient man-days to call up reserve force members and for 3 000 of them to be utilised externally. The BMA had said they had the funds to pay for the Reserve Force members, but their financial representative had looked into the amount that they claimed to have, and did not think it was sufficient for a call-up.

Admiral Kubu confirmed that this issue had been raised with the BMA. It had to do with the budget for the compensation of employees. If the money went to the B7 account, it did not come back to the DOD and did not address irregular expenditure. 3 000 was a large number which would add to the irregular expenditure involving the compensation of employees. This would be an issue. If they went through the National Treasury, and the Department of Defence had to call up reserves on behalf of the BMA, it would be reimbursed and the funds would not go through the B7 account.

He said there were two categories of call-ups. There were unplanned man-days, where the Commander in Chief or Minister of Defence deployed the defence force, and the other was a planned man-day call-up. Operation CORONA call-ups were not planned. However, fortunately there was no problem with Treasury for now regarding these missions. Treasury would say they must reprioritise if there were no funds. They did not really have a problem regarding unplanned activities because of the deployment authorised outside their normal planned operations. From an HR perspective, they did not see this as irregular. They did have a problem regarding the planned man-days, because if one exceeded them it was irregular, because one needed to plan better.

The Chairperson thanked the DOD for their presentation, and Admiral Kubu and Brig Gen Niyabo-Mana for their responses. He said the Committee had not concluded on the matter as yet, as the situation was serious and required serious reflection. They were dealing with a sinking ship. It would add value when the top brass was present in the meeting. He requested that Admiral Kubu and Brig Gen Niyabo-Mana remain present in the Committee’s meeting so that they could see the Committee’s program for 2022, so that they could plan accordingly.

Committee's first term programme 2022

Reviewing the Committee's programme for the January to March quarter, the Chairperson noted that the meeting on 23 March would need to be changed to be a briefing by the DOD on their discussion with National Treasury. It was at this meeting where the Committee would decide if it was still necessary to engage National Treasury.

Mr Marais proposed the amendments made to the Programme, which was seconded by the Committee.

Committee minutes

The minutes of the Committee's meeting on 1 December 2021 was moved for adoption by Mr Mmutle, and was seconded by Mr Mafanya.

The meeting was adjourned.