Draft South African Defence Review 2012: The dichotomy between ambition and reality

This policy brief provides an analysis of the draft South African Defence Review 2012 released for public comment on 12 April 2012.

This policy brief provides an analysis of the draft South African Defence Review 2012 released for public comment on 12 April 2012. It finds that this document does not meet the requirements of a comprehensive defence policy and in particular does not provide guidance on the resolution of the impasse between policy and funding in which the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) finds itself.

The draft pronounces on a long-term vision for the capabilities of the SANDF without any clear reasoning on how it got there, and fails to address the SANDF’s short- to medium-term force development and employment priorities. It also fails to mainstream gender as a matter of high priority for the SANDF.

The policy brief ends with recommendations about how these shortcomings should be corrected.

About the author

Maj. Gen (retd) Len le Roux served in the SANDF, was an ISS office director and is now an independent security analyst.