The importance of increasing funding for cutting-edge technological interventions as force multipliers to support the efforts of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to protect South Africa’s borders has been emphasized by the Joint Standing Committee on Defense.
Following an update on the execution of Operation Corona, which is tasked with safeguarding South Africa’s territorial integrity, the committee made its comments.
The committee is entirely in favor of the plan to gradually use sensors and radars as a force multiplier in the longer term, according to co-chair Cyril Xaba, despite being acutely aware of the major capacity issues adversely hurting the operation. According to Xaba, one major obstacle to the SANDF’s operations has been identified as the difficulty of drawn-out procurement.
“The committee recommended that the senior leadership of the SANDF collaborate with the National Treasury to identify remedies to guarantee the resolution of this persistent issue and the provision of resources to place soldiers on the ground,” Xaba stated.
The committee also emphasized that in order to address the deficiencies in border infrastructure, such as inadequate patrol roads, access routes, and fence, the SANDF must collaborate with relevant government agencies at all levels.
“To remove the obstacles that make it impossible to protect our borders, cooperation is required. The morale of deployed personnel must also be properly attended to, as this has a detrimental effect on operations.
“The committee called for improved facilities within the deployment area to enhance morale in line with this and in full awareness of funding shortcomings,” Xaba stated.
We encourage the signing and application of operational protocols.
In order to control efficient collaboration at borders, the Department of Defense and the Border Management Authority signed and put into place operational protocols, which the committee has also applauded.
The committee also applauded the confirmation that the collaboration has been successful thus far and encouraged more of it.
Because of the porous nature of our boundaries, success depends on collaboration from all parties involved. Committee Chairperson Elleck Nchabeleng stated, “The committee has called for enhanced cooperation within the security cluster to find solutions and ensure efficiencies at the borderline.”
The committee emphasized the necessity for ongoing improvements to safeguard South Africa’s territorial integrity on land, air, and sea borderlines while also acknowledging the work done by the security cluster at the borderline in spite of a variety of obstacles.
