SANDF on verge of collapse.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota has endorsed a plea from ANC parliamentarians for more money to be spent on his beleaguered defence force.

While Lekota begged for more money, the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) had spent almost R11-million paying the salaries of suspended members.

There are currently 42 SANDF members suspended with full pay, with a significant number having already been away from work for longer than a year.

Minister of Defence, Mosiuoa Lekota hands the submarine protocol over to
Chief of the SA National Defence Force, Gen Godfrey Ngwenya.

"The SANDF has spent a total of R10 907 429 on suspended members' salaries over the past three financial years - an average of R3.6m each year," the DA's defence MP, Rafeek Shah, said.

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However, ANC MP Gerhard Koornhof, who sits on the defence portfolio committee, warned parliamentarians in the National Assembly on Thursday that the SANDF was on the verge of collapse.

"It's a fact that what is expected from the SANDF... and what is being provided in monetary terms to the SANDF - namely 1,2 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) - it's becoming impossible to execute. Something has to give," he said.

He said the shortage of funds was putting the well-being of soldiers at risk, causing experienced staff to leave in their droves and equipment to become obsolete.

Koornhof said defence spending must be increased to 1,7 percent of GDP over the next three years.

"Only then will we be able to create a proud SANDF capable of executing what government and our country are expecting of them," he said to applause from the House.

Responding to Koornhof's plea, Lekota told MPs that they would be well advised to heed the warning.

"I would hope that members of the House would take serious account of that statement. It is in the interest of our country to reflect along the lines of what he suggested on the question of the defence of our country," he said.

According to South Africa's leading defence analyst, Helmoed-Roemer Heitman, the military's crippling cash crisis has already led to the early retirement of the country's fighter jets, the Cheetahs, earlier this year - nearly four years before they were due to be decommissioned.

Cheetah C 362 of 2 Sqn at AFB Overberg in 2007

The Cheetahs were meant to be retired between 2010 and 2012 to avoid any gap that could be created before the arrival of the Gripen fighter aircraft.

SA Air Force chief Lieutenant-General Carlos Gagiano has admitted publicly that the current lack of funding did not allow for both the Cheetah and Gripen programmes to be operated simultaneously.

Last year Finance Minister Trevor Manuel told the House that South Africa spent more on providing water than it did on defence.