South Africa’s defence budget has increased by just R400 million from 2024/25 to R55.94 billion for the 2025/26 financial year, representing a below inflation increase in what some defence experts have said is a disaster for the SA National Defence Force (SANDF).
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Wednesday 12 March delivered his Budget Speech, announcing that of the R2.59 trillion budget, R266.1 billion is allocated for peace and security, including R133.4 billion for the police, R60.8 billion for defence and state security, R58.1 billion towards law courts and prisons, and R13.9 billion for home affairs, meaning .8% of GDP is allocated to the SANDF.
“Over the medium term, R5 billion has been allocated to the Department of Defence to support South Africa’s participation in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to supplement existing peace keeping activities,” Godongwana said.
“We will continue working with the Department of Defence on ways to change the composition of expenditure to modernise the defence force,” he added.
The extra R5 billion will be allocated over the next three years and is believed to amount to R1.8 billion for the 2025/2026 financial year, R1.7 billion in 2027 and R1.4 billion in 2028. However, there still remains a shortfall as the 2025 calendar year deployment, in support of the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), is estimated to cost R2.371 billion.
President Cyril Ramaphosa in December last year authorised the deployment of up to 2 900 troops to the DRC to “support the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo in its efforts to neutralise illegal armed groups and negative forces in the conflict-affected areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
South Africa also has over 1 000 troops committed to the United Nations peace mission in the DRC, Monusco. The South African presence in the DRC has been a source of controversy after 14 soldiers were killed and dozens more wounded in fighting M23 rebels in late January. The rebels subsequently captured Sake and Goma in North Kivu province, and have now taken Bukavu in South Kivu.
Border security a priority
In addition to peacekeeping, “border security remains a priority for the South African National Defence Force. Accordingly, over the [three year Medium Term Expenditure Framework] MTEF period, the department plans to continue to deploy 15 landward sub-units to patrol 4 471 km of South Africa’s land borders with Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe,” the defence budget vote read.
“The department will continue to prioritise the acquisition of vehicles and advanced technologies that serve as a force multiplier to enhance border protection and prevent illegal activities. It will also continue to support the South African Police Service to tackle internal security threats as they arise. These activities are carried out in the Support to the People subprogramme in the Force Employment programme, which has a budget of R4.1 billion over the period ahead. An additional R150 million is allocated in 2026/27 in the same subprogramme for the deployment of South African National Defence Force members to support the South African Police Service during the 2026 local government elections.”
Below inflation increase
The Defence portion of the budget vote stated that expenditure is set to increase at an average annual rate of 3%, from R55.5 billion in 2024/25 to R58.179 billion in 2026/27, and R60.662 billion in 2027/28. This is below the average core inflation rate of 4.65% measured from 2009 until 2025, meaning the defence budget has declined again in real terms.
Pressure on the budget means that the use of Reserve Force members has to be curtailed. In 2023/24, the SANDF made use of 3.2 million reserve man days, but has allocated 1.9 million for each of the next three financial years.
Hours flown by the Air Force and hours spent by the Navy at sea have also been affected by budget cuts. The Air Force has a target of 12 000 hours a year over each of the next three years, but it is unlikely to achieve that, as it only flew 6 904 hours in 2023/24.
Similarly, the Navy has a target of 8 000 hours at sea over each of the next three years, but only achieved 2 641 hours in 2023/24 due to a lack of serviceable vessels.
Head count reduction
Just over 65% of the budget (R115.1 billion over the next three years) is going to salaries, aka the compensation of employees, “As the department’s work is labour intensive.”
As the budget for compensation of employees remains constrained, to lessen the impact of this over the next three years, “the department will continue to manage commuted overtime within the South African Military Health Service by ensuring that it does not exceed 30% of each employee’s total annual salary package and allow natural attrition to ensure that personnel numbers do not exceed 73 000.
“To further manage personnel costs over the next two years, the department will facilitate the participation of a targeted 4 000 eligible members of the South African National Defence Force in the government-wide early retirement programme, which allows retirement without penalties on pension benefits,” the budget document stated.
In 2024/25 there were 71 051 personnel in the defence force, and this is set to rise to 71 654 in 2025/26, 73 069 in 2026/26, and 74 492 in 2027/28. The majority are employed within the Landward Defence division (35 063 personnel in 2024/25).
Additional spending for deputy minister
A further R34.7 million is allocated to the department of defence over the next three years to cover expenses associated with the appointment of the second deputy minister of defence and military veterans. After the 2024 election, Ramaphosa added a second deputy defence and military veterans minister to his seventh administration cabinet. Richard Mkhungo and Bantu Holomisa serve as deputies under Minister Angie Motshekga.
Budget a ‘disaster’
Defence expert Dean Wingrin said the defence budget has increased nominally by .78%, which is an “absolute disaster for the SANDF. With an inflation rate of 4.4% in 2024, this increase falls well below inflation, effectively reducing the real purchasing power of the budget. This is bad.”
He pointed out the defence budget equates to .80% of GDP, considered very low for military spending relative to international benchmarks. “This can still be viewed as a disaster for the SANDF and its abilities to carry out its missions. The Deputy Minister had constantly stated it would be increased to 1.5%.”
To maintain its real value, the budget should have increased to at least R57.94 billion (R55.51 billion + 4.4%), Wingrin maintains. Instead, the shortfall of approximately R2 billion means that, in real terms, the SANDF has less money than previous years to cover operational costs, salaries, maintenance, and procurement.
“Air and Maritime Defence remain underfunded, affecting operational readiness. Personnel costs dominate the budget, leaving little room for modernisation. Force Employment sees a cut, which could reduce South Africa’s peacekeeping and border security effectiveness. Overall, the budget prioritises maintaining existing forces rather than upgrading them,” Wingrin stated.
With a lack of funding for new and upgraded equipment and systems to support SANDF troops, “the South African soldier must be severely disappointed by their Commander in Chief, as is every citizen concerned with the state of the SANDF,” Wingrin said.
