The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) must make use of technology-based interventions to safeguard SA’s borders.
This is the word of the joint-standing committee on defence in Parliament, emphasising the significance of investing more in innovative technological interventions as force multipliers to enhance the SANDF’s work.
The committee’s comments follow an update on the defence force’s implementation of Operation Corona, whose mandate is to defend SA’s territorial integrity.
“The committee is acutely aware of the serious capacity challenges impacting the operation negatively, but supports fully the intention to incrementally bring into play sensors and radars as a force multiplier in the medium-term,” says committee co-chairperson Cyril Xaba.
The committee also encouraged the SANDF to work with related government departments at all levels, to find solutions to the infrastructure challenges on the border, such as poor fencing, patrol roads and access routes.
“A collaborative effort is necessary to remove the impediments that make it difficult to safeguard our borders,” it says in a statement.
While the committee didn’t specify the type of tech interventions that must be utilised, former defence and military veterans minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula previously indicated the defence force’s decision to begin to use drones and rely more on technology.
At the time, Mapisa-Nqakula said government would deploy surveillance drones along parts of the Beitbridge border post, to safeguard the border and address security challenges posed by border-jumpers and smugglers.
DefenceWeb also reported that representatives from the SAPS and Johannesburg Metro Police Department stated that unmanned aerial vehicles will be used in the future for law enforcement, public safety and disaster management.
In the statement, the joint-standing committee also notes the challenge of lengthy procurement processes, which were highlighted as a general impediment to the SANDF’s work.
It urged SANDF’s senior leadership to work with the National Treasury, to find solutions to ensure the ongoing problem is resolved and that capabilities are made available to deploy soldiers on the ground.
The committee acknowledged the work done by the security cluster at the borderline despite varied challenges, emphasising the need for continuous improvements to ensure SA’s territorial integrity on land, air and maritime borderlines.
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