Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga has faced a backlash for her remarks scolding the South African Navy chief Vice-Admiral Monde Lobese for his fiery statement on the state of the navy.
Motshekga said Lobese’s remarks at the SA Navy gala dinner last weekend were unfortunate and cast aspersions on the leadership of government.
Frankly decrying the defunding of the navy and its repercussions, Lobese asked whether those responsible for defence funding were influenced by drug cartels, illegal traders, maritime criminals and human traffickers.
Motshekga’s reprimand of Navy chief Lobese
Motshekga said the remarks were inappropriate, disingenuous and unfortunate on a matter Lobese was fully aware that was receiving attention at all levels, starting from within the department to parliament.
She also vowed that “appropriate steps to deal with this unfortunate outburst” will be taken.
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However, the Forum for South Africa said it was deeply perturbed by the minister’s reaction Lobese’s statement.
The forum’s leader, Tebogo Mashilompane, said Motshekga’s rebuke was not only misplaced, but raised serious questions.
“The issues raised by the vice-admiral; shortages of resources, lack of operational support and the continued failure to protect our soldiers and sailors, are not new,” he said.
Serious questions raised
“These concerns have been raised repeatedly over the years, yet government has done nothing meaningful to address them.”
Mashilompane said instead of fixing the crisis, the department continued to place an unbearable burden on men and women who must execute operations without the tools they need.
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He lamented that when things go wrong, individuals are blamed, while those responsible for providing resources remain silent and unaccountable.
According to Mashilompane, Lobese told the truth courageously and called on the minister not to suspend or take punitive action against the Navy chief.
“We stand with him, we support him and we reject any attempt to silence or punish him for exposing realities that government has ignored,” he said.
Dire consequences of the defunding of the navy
Defence analyst Dean Wingrin said the fact that Lobese has been this outspoken shows how frustrated he must be at the inability of the minister to convince President Cyril Ramaphosa, Cabinet and Treasury of the dire consequences of the defunding of the navy.
“Talk of doing more with less is just that: talk. The South African National Defence Force has tipped over the precipice. I suppose the minister had no option but to comment,” he added.
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