Inside the assessment of the SANDF's capacity to fulfil its constitutional mandate

IN A FEW weeks, Cosatu along with many other South Africans celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Freedom Charter drafted at the historic Congress of the People in Kliptown by the African National Congress led Alliance.

- Solly Phetoe is the general secretary of Cosatu.

This visionary document, that declared boldy, that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, provided the foundation for our internationally respected Constitution and much of what government seeks to achieve.

A discussion needs to be held on whether the South African National Defence Force is able to fulfill its constitutionally mandated role today of defending the Constitution?

The worrying answer that has been appearing over many years is that it may struggle.

All nations require the capacity to defend themselves not only from other nations' governments' adventurism but increasingly from non-state threats.

These may come in the form of foreign terrorists using South Africa as a training base as was seen with some Libyans in Mpumalanga or Isis or Al-Shabab elements utilising South Africa for money laundering, to foreign vessels looting fishing stock from South African waters.

It takes years to build a coherent defence capacity. Having an internationally respected defence capability is equally key to deterring such threats to our sovereignty.

South Africa has a long history of being one of the most formidable military powers in the continent, including playing its role in defeating Nazi Germany in North Africa and Italy in World War Two to since the democratic breakthrough playing a leading role in peace keeping missions in Africa.

It was natural for government since 1994 to drastically reduce funding spent on defence. Military conscription ended for white men and there was a new democratic state committed to peace with the region and the brutal apartheid regime was over. Equally there were pressing socioeconomic challenges inherited from three and a half centuries of systemic neglect of 90% of the population that needed to be prioritised.