Speaker, the hon Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Lindiwe Sisulu, seemed to blow a political gasket last week. [Interjections.] This followed revelations about the state of the Defence Force read out in this Parliament.
The Minister switched to rapid fire and released two press statements trying to persuade us that all is well in the Defence Force. However, the interim report of the National Defence Force Service Commission paints a different picture.
On combat readiness, the interim report found that it is possible that the level of combat readiness in the SANDF is not quite as good as it should be. On service conditions, the interim report found that salaries of junior members are totally inadequate and force them to live in informal settlements far from their place of work; and that the effects of transport costs significantly dilute their income, leading to social, psychological and family crises.
The salary situation is so poor that some members state that they would rather have their right to vote revoked in lieu of nonpayment of personal income tax. The housing allowance at R500 per month is regarded as ridiculous because it cannot cover bond repayments and members are not able to get bonds through the commercial banks, given their poor salary levels.
There have been improvements in the SANDF and some of these improvements are a credit to the Minister, but we have a long way to go. [Time expired.] [Applause.]