Dear Editor
The DA condemns in the strongest terms the inhumane treatment of approximately 130 naval recruits who have, according to media reports, been stranded at SAS Saldanha since July, surviving on minimal food rations and living without proper accommodation as a result of ongoing construction delays at the Simon’s Town Naval Base.
For nearly three months the young recruits, who have completed their basic military training, have endured conditions that families have rightly described as “inhumane”. Confined to the base without day passes, denied sufficient food and prohibited from receiving parcels from home, they have effectively been punished for the Department of Defence’s own logistical failures.
This is not an isolated incident. Earlier this year, SANDF members deployed to the DRC faced chronic ration shortages and delayed deployment allowances, forcing soldiers to buy their own food in a foreign operational theatre.
In both cases, whether on home soil or in active deployment, the pattern is clear:
- Budgetary and logistical failures lead to rationing and deprivation;
- Command and leadership deflect responsibility by blaming discipline rather than fixing the system;
- Action is only taken after media exposure, not through proactive leadership or internal accountability.
The military’s rank and file are being forced to shoulder the cost of institutional neglect. This is a disgraceful betrayal of the very people who volunteered to serve their country – all whilst the top brass are constantly playing golf at SANDF hosted golf days.
The DA will be submitting urgent parliamentary questions to Minister Angie Motshekga to establish:
- Why proper accommodation and provisioning were not secured before recruiting and training these naval members;
- Why no contingency plan was put in place when construction delays at Simonstown became known;
- How much has been budgeted – and actually spent – on rations and accommodation for these recruits.
The Defence Force is meant to embody discipline, professionalism and service to the nation. It cannot do so while starving its own personnel and relying on newspaper headlines to take action.
Regards
Nicholas Gotsell MP
DA NCOP Member on Defense & Military Veterans