With his eye firmly on the pomp and ceremony ahead of Thursday’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), Democratic Alliance (DA) Member of Parliament Chris Hattingh doesn’t want the SA Air Force (SAAF) involved in what he calls “grand military displays”.
In support of his call he penned a letter to National Assembly (NA) Speaker Thoko Didiza urging “the immediate scaling down of military parade arrangements” for SONA. Top of the Hattingh list is cancelling a planned flypast by SAAF assets.
According to him, this is “inappropriate given the dire situation facing SA National Defence Force (SANDF) troops deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)”.
He maintains “It is inappropriate for government officials and dignitaries to be entertained by grand military displays while our soldiers, under-equipped and lacking critical support, are dying on foreign soil. The DA firmly believes that proceeding with a patronising presentation of military capability, while our troops face hardship abroad, is not only tone deaf but also a gross disservice to those who have sacrificed for this country”.
“We urge Parliament to act with the necessary respect and urgency by cancelling the flypast and scaling down the military display in recognition of the challenges faced by our armed forces.”
The show of military power ahead of the annual Presidential address includes a 21 gun salute, military police motorcycle escort for VIPs, a battalion strength parade made up of elements from the four services – SAAF, SA Army, SA Military Health and SA Navy (SAN) – as well as the National Ceremonial Guard (NCG) and military bands.
The SAAF component of the display, not made public ahead of the event, has in past years seen Air Force Base (AFB) Makhado-based Gripen and Hawk combat jets swoop over the Cape Town central business district (CBD) with PC-7 Mk II trainers from AFB Langebaanweg also taking part.
