Treasury rebukes navy chief over budget criticism

By Johnathan Paoli

The National Treasury has clarified its constitutional and legal role in managing the national budget, stressing that it was incorrect to accuse it of budget challenges the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), specifically the Navy, may be experiencing.

This follows comments by the Chief of the South African Navy, Admiral Monde Lobese, who accused the National Treasury of sabotaging the SANDF through chronic underfunding.

Lobese warned that this was placing national security and maritime sovereignty at risk in the face of what he called “forces of doom”.

“The National Treasury is responsible for the planning process that results in a Cabinet decision reflecting trade-offs between various policy priorities. Final approval is by Parliament, and the National Treasury is then entrusted to ensure the implementation of Parliament’s decisions,” the department said in a statement on Sunday.

Treasury highlighted that the proposed R57.2 billion allocation to the department