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ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has strongly criticised the Chief of the South African Navy, Vice Admiral Monde Lobese, who questioned whether Cabinet officials behind budget cuts to the defence force were \u201cin the pockets of drug dealers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mbalula said the thorny issue of funding the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the broader security apparatus must be addressed through proper channels.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouth Africa is faced with a difficult situation of outbursts by people in security positions. This general was not speaking in the army, he was speaking at a party or something. I saw him in a very nice suit at a gala dinner. It\u2019s unheard of that generals address gala dinners and talk big things. No man, it should be worrisome,\u201d Mbalula told journalists in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis country has a president, who is the commander-in-chief. We have the National Security Council in this country \u2026 you have generals outburst. You (journalists) and I can make those comments in a party, we are not securocrats. We also have a Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mbalula said Lobese\u2019s remarks bordered on revealing state secrets.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that not gross violation of state secrets and security? I can imagine an admiral of an army in a small country I won\u2019t mention by name, going on TV and saying we are naked. Those things are supposed to be said by civilians who do not know anything, and then generals would quickly come in and say, you are making a mistake. Are these people fermenting tendencies of coup de tat? They start like this, when generals become politicians overnight.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne day we are going to be woken up in our rooms, naked, are arrested by these people who are addressing us in parties and all of that with state secrets. This is worrisome. It\u2019s a problem. Is South Africa under any threat? It is not. We are a democratic state and we have survived because of who we are. But if our army generals just do as they wish, with due respect, you can\u2019t have generals of the army speaking like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mbalula emphasised: \u201cWe must step in now in terms of discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former minister of police said what Lobese did was the opposite of how countries are run and protected.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, reported that the national Department of Defence had distanced itself from comments made by Vice Admiral Lobese.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the department said it had \u201cnoted with concern\u201d the remarks made by Lobese during the Navy Gala Dinner over the past weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the delivery of his speech, Vice Admiral Lobese made an unfortunate statement that cast aspersions at the leadership of government,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n
The statement added that Defence Minister Angie Motshekga regarded the comments \u201cas inappropriate, disingenuous and unfortunate\u201d on a matter \u201creceiving attention at all levels, starting from within the department to Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe minister will be taking appropriate steps to deal with this unfortunate outburst, worse still from a senior person at his level,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n
It further emphasised that Lobese\u2019s comments \u201cdo not reflect the official position of the department.\u201d<\/p>\n
The controversy stems from Lobese\u2019s weekend address, in which he warned that Cabinet\u2019s approval of SANDF workforce cuts was tantamount to asking the Defence Force to implement \u201ca Defence version\u201d of what SAPS KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, once revealed to the Madlanga Commission regarding the closure of the Political Killings Task Team.<\/p>\n
He went on to question whether decision-makers responsible for defunding the SANDF \u201cmay be directly or indirectly influenced by drug cartels, illegal traders, maritime criminals or human traffickers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lobese\u2019s comments have sparked widespread discussion in defence and political circles, with many observers noting that his public criticism is rare for a serving senior officer.<\/p>\n
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za<\/strong><\/p>\n News<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has strongly criticised the Chief of the South African Navy, Vice Admiral Monde Lobese, who questioned whether Cabinet officials behind budget cuts to the defence force were \u201cin the pockets of drug dealers.\u201d Mbalula said the thorny issue of funding the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the broader security […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":262061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[19725,335,344,357,19717,1558,166,19724,298],"class_list":["post-262060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics","tag-admiral","tag-arrested","tag-day","tag-fikile","tag-lobese","tag-mbalula","tag-naked","tag-navy039s","tag-people"],"yoast_head":"\nGet your news on the go. Download the latest App for <\/span>Android <\/span>and <\/span>IOS <\/span>now.<\/em><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"