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The Army Day spectacle, reported as costing about R370 million, has become a symbol of how defence priorities have gone wrong at a time of tight budgets, falling readiness and stretched resources.

That figure alone is shocking. And once the usual hidden costs are added, it simply does not hold.

While the Department of Defence tells soldiers to do more with less, it somehow found the money, people and effort for an expensive, flashy showpiece.

With around 7 000 soldiers deployed, hundreds of VIPs ferried and housed, and costs spread across fuel, overtime, logistics, security, catering, staging, communications and support programmes, the real bill will be far closer to R500 million. South Africans deserve the full picture, not a public relations headline.

The optics are made even worse by the fact that this probable half-billion-rand spectacle coincided with the departure of the Chief of the SANDF and is being staged in his area of origin. In those circumstances, it risks looking less like a national Army Day and more like a publicly funded farewell.

All of this comes while the SANDF itself admits that aircraft are stuck on the ground because of maintenance delays, ships are tied up due to refit backlogs, and key upgrades are being pushed out.

Flying-hour and sea-hour targets are being missed, long-delayed projects like Badger remain failures, and facilities such as 1 Military Hospital are under serious strain.

Even more troubling is the collapse of military healthcare. Critical medical care for soldiers and military veterans, including life-saving procedures, is being cancelled or delayed as the South African Military Health Service continues to fail.

As internal capacity disappears, services are increasingly outsourced at exorbitant cost, draining scarce defence funds while soldiers and veterans are left waiting for urgent treatment.

This is not about marking an occasion. It is about priorities. South Africa’s national focus must be on economic growth, job creation and reliable basic services — not half-billion-rand military parade days.

Every rand spent on image is a rand taken away from readiness and care. Every soldier pulled into ceremony is one less focused on training, repairs, deployments or healing.

South Africa does not need a defence force that looks impressive for one day. It needs a defence force that is well maintained, properly equipped and ready to do its job every day.

The Democratic Alliance will demand full disclosure of the true cost of this event, including all hidden expenses, man-days used and whether government austerity rules were followed. If those rules were violated, the DA will ensure that there is real accountability and consequences for those responsible. Defence spending must shift back to substance, not spectacle.

Issued by Chris Hattingh MP - DA Spokesperson on Defence & Military Veterans