The South African defence industry is “at a critical crossroads”, says Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

Speaking at the fourth iteration of the Aerospace, Maritime and Defence (AMD) Conference, in Pretoria, she said this was the result of the many challenges facing the industry, including a reduced defence force budget.

Further, reduced spending on research and development, which Mapisa-Nqakula said was a “critical enabler for future capabilities and competitiveness”, also impacted negatively on the industry.

In addition, the Minister pointed out that an increase in market competition had resulted in reduced market access, as well as an erosion of capabilities, as some South African engineers had migrated to serve the defence and industrial aspirations of other nations.

These challenges were likely to be further exacerbated by the fact that the country had entered into a technical recession, the Minister stated, adding that meaningful and impactful interventions needed to be found to help resolve these challenges.

Mapisa-Nqakula pointed out that the defence industry would need to “better manage [its] resources and processes to optimally ensure localisation, industrialisation and the retention of capabilities within the [industry]”, adding that full government support was required to make these endeavours successful.

To further assist the industry, the Minister told delegates that the Department of Defence had compiled a South African Defence Industry Strategy, which was in the process of being finalised, and was expected to be adopted before the end of this year.

Implementation, she said, would follow soon thereafter.

In addition to this, the Armaments Corporation of South Africa, or Armscor, and the AMD had overseen the development of an industrywide broad-based black economic empowerment charter, as well as the creation of the South African Industry Fund.

Both initiatives, Mapisa-Nqakula averred, were in the final stages of being gazetted.

She also encouraged the industry to highlight measures that it believes government will need to consider implementing to improve industry support.

She further reassured delegates that the South African government was aware of the key contribution of exports to the economy, as well as the continued existence of the defence industry.

To this end, Mapisa-Nqakula said the department “remains committed to providing the industry with the necessary political support in all of its future export endeavours”.

A downside to this, she highlighted, was a lack of follow-through from industry members and companies when participating in bilateral engagements, which subjected South Africa to criticism and “tarnishes the image of the country’s capability in this industry”.

To resolve this situation, Mapisa-Nqakula called on industry members to follow up with bilateral engagements, while also focusing on problem solving, particularly for faulty products.

Notwithstanding these areas of concern, government remained committed to continue working with industry members and other departments to ensure a governmentwide approach to providing support for the defence industry.

“Associated with this is the need for us to improve the performance and intricacy of the Arms Control Authority to ensure that our interactions with them are not characterised by delays and inexplicable lapses that compromise [industry’s] ability to competitively export out of South Africa,” Mapisa-Nqakula elaborated.