South Africa needs to recognise the economic importance of its defence sector

The South African defence sector needs to bring home to the country the importance of defence for the technological, innovation and economic development of the country. So affirmed Armscor CEO Kevin Wakeford in his address to the fourth annual Aerospace, Maritime and Defence Conference in Pretoria on Thursday. Armscor is the Department of Defence's acquisitions, disposals and research and development agency. "We are confronted with a fiscal crunch: a R5-billion reduction in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, a budget that should actually grow," he highlighted. Growth is needed to fulfill the requirements of the Parliament-approved Defence Review. "Truth be told, there is not a cent available to implement the Defence Review."