Department of defence spends over R1 billion on Cuban service providers 

21 May 2021

A written reply to a DA parliamentary question has revealed that the Department of Defence and Military Veterans (DDMV) has spent over R1 billion, in the past 10 years, paying Cuban service providers to maintain and repair its defence equipment under Project Thusano.

With South Africa’s local defence industry caught in a death spiral and job losses an ever present concern, it is inexplicably curious why the ANC government has been outsourcing defence contracts to Cuban companies at the expense of local defence contractors.

The DA will be submitting follow-up questions to ascertain whether there are any steps that the Department is taking to ensure that most of its Prime Mission Defence Equipment repair and maintenance budget is spent locally. We cannot afford to have the wilful decapitation of our defence industry by shifting the defence equipment maintenance budget offshore.

Over the years, our men and women in uniform have watched the force’s operational capabilities decline due to relentless budget cuts. Meanwhile, allocations to defence contractors have remain steady or even increased, confirming that the ANC government will rather subsidise its Cuban friends than build our defence capabilities.

This R1 billion spend by the DDMV on Cubans is just but one of the many instances where the government has been splurging scant taxpayer money on services that can be procured locally. The time has come for South Africa to have a genuine national conversation about how the ANC government is forcing taxpayers to bankroll its ideological friendship with Cuba.

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE & MILITARY VETERANS

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY

1050. Mr S J F Marais (DA) to ask the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans:

With reference to the various agreements with the Republic of Cuba, what are the (a) full relevant details, (b) reasons and (c) total amounts of all payments made to any Cuban entity in each year over the past 10 years by (i) her department and/or (ii) any entity reporting to her?

NW1234E

REPLY:

(1) (a) and (b) The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) implemented Milestone 1 of the Defence Review 2015, which directs that the SANDF must halt the client decline of its core capability. This implies that in this context, the SANDF must develop an Integrated Technical Service Capability that will enable the SANDF to self-sustain with regards to the maintenance and repair of its Prime Mission Equipment. Project Thusano relates to this, and the project and its activities in South Africa commenced in 2014.

(c) The amounts paid as from 2014 when the project commenced, are as reflected in the Table below.

ENDS

Issued by Kobus Marais, DA Shadow Minister of Defence, 21 May 2021