The South African National Defense Force (SANDF) is in tatters.

The SA Navy is also in the hazard. One glaring example is the MTU 1163 propulsion engine. Grimms was paid R55 million for a W6 engine overhaul, yet the engine has still not undergone a dyno test or no measure reports are made available as per OEM specifications. Ironically, Grimms claims to operate the largest dyno testing facility in Sub-Saharan Africa. The engine, sarcastically dubbed the “22-ton anchor,” is prominently displayed on their shop floor. For context, a brand-new 1163 engine at that time would have cost just R32 million.

Why hasn’t Grimms been investigated for such blatant corruption? The answer seems clear: the issue is being suppressed at the highest levels, and Grimms continues to secure lucrative contracts. For example, Grimms is poised to win the submarine contract, having earlier this year accompanied Armscor Dockyard and senior Navy officials on a trip to Turkey, where they were hosted by the Turks and who paid for this trip and was it approved by the DOD? If this isn’t corruption at the highest level, then what is?

“Whether on ground, in the air or at sea, the SANDF sits helpless,” is National Council of Provinces (NCOP) member of the Select Committee on Security and Justice (SCSJ) Nicholas Gotsell’s summary of the current state of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF).

He notes in a statement that the Department of Defence (DoD), home to the SANDF, spends over 68% of its R51 billion budget on salaries and wages “yet sits with aged and unskilled personnel”.

According to him the SA Air Force (SAAF) cannot defend South Africa’s skies as only two of 26 Gripens are operational and none of its C-130BZ Hercules are airworthy. (Four Gripens were, however, operational at the September Africa Aerospace and Defence exhibition.) In the wake of last week’s oversight visit to Simons Town “our maritime defence capacity is also shocking”. The SA Navy, he maintains, has one frigate and a lone MMIPV (multi-mission inshore patrol vessel) operational with none of the three Heroine Class Type 209 submarines functional. (Two MMIPVs have been accepted by the Navy, and a third is due for handover this year.)

SANDF fleet at ‘all-time low’ as the military ‘sits helpless’