The Department of Defence has begged the public for mercy over the R2.5-billion it spent on consultants.
At the same time, it has emerged the department will spend another R200-million on Cuban consultants to help maintain military vehicles.
Grilled by parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) yesterday, secretary of defence Sam Gulube strongly defended the R2.5-billion spent on consultants in the 2013-14 financial year.
Gulube said the cost was unavoidable because his soldiers did not have expertise in areas like aircraft and ship maintenance, while some of the money covered medical bills.
“When we are cited in the media as the biggest user of consultants, it hurts a little bit. Maybe not a little bit. It hurts. It gives the impression that we in the Department of Defence don’t do our work and pay a consultant to advise us,” he said.
“I don’t know how to fix an aircraft. I don’t think I have a soldier who knows how to fix an aircraft.”
ANC MP Vincent Smith, who took a hard line against the department, said he was against the use of consultants by government.
Smith argued that some of the money – R1.3-billion for aircraft maintenance, R345-million on ships and navy vessel maintenance and R328-million for vehicle maintenance – could have been better spent on programmes that ensure skills were available inside the defence force.
Gulube was also slated for turning to Cubans rather than local suppliers for military vehicle maintenance.
But Gulube alleged that local suppliers had previously “ripped off” his department.
On Monday, the SANDF said the Cubans had been placed at centres in South Africa.
Smith also raised concerns about the cost of legal consultants – with R26-million being paid in the past financial year, and a further R14-million being written off.
“The right hand is paying lots of money and the left hand is writing off lots of money,” he said.
He questioned whether the legal fees had been paid to lawyers involved in the international arbitration of a cancelled R1-billion aviation medicine contract, which saw the department forking out R300-million in penalties and returning “with their tails between their legs”.
Gulube said that 80% of the R26-million had been legal fees associated with the Seriti Commission.