Pretoria - Government has launched the National Defence Industry Council (NDIC), which will help support and preserve the country’s defence industry as a national asset.
The formation of the NDIC is based on government’s stated objective of assisting the local defence industry to develop a footprint in the global defence market, while creating jobs and growing the economy. The NDIC will also help to build a strong skills base in the sector locally.
Speaking at the launch on Thursday, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said the NDIC will ensure the directed development of the South African defence industry (SADI).
She said the NDIC originates from an appreciation that the local defence industry cannot exist and develop effectively on its own without the targeted support and direction of government.
“This is especially relevant in an environment where local industry has to rely heavily on export sales to foreign governmental clients for sustainability due to the limited local defence spending potential,” said the Minister.
The council will ensure that SADI is optimally used in all defence capital acquisition programmes of the South African National Defence Force and other security agencies.
“This would be in support of the national imperatives of localisation as well as some form of strategic independence, particularly in the maintenance of equipment as well as its future upgrades,” said Minister Mapisa-Nqakula.
Defence Secretary Sam Gulube has been named as chair of the newly formed 15-member NDIC, which will kick-start a complete overhaul of the SANDF -- from organisational matters and training, to hardware, as well as ageing equipment, which is a major problem. - SAnews.gov.za
