It will cost nearly R3 billion to fix South Africa’s ships and submarines

It will cost South Africa’s Department of Defence billions of rands to bring the country’s naval frigates and submarines back into operation, with some official estimates as high as R8.5 billion.

However, with only 0.7% of the country’s GDP allocated to the defence budget, the Navy doesn’t appear to be receiving the funding to bring its much-needed vessels back into operation anytime soon.

The country’s defence budget is currently R57 billion, the overwhelming majority of which goes to personnel salaries.

South Africa’s Navy currently has three frigates and four submarines that require mid-life maintenance programmes, known as refits.

This involves structural repairs such as replacing rusted or degraded sections of the hull, installing new engines, and upgrading other key systems to ensure the vessel remains modern and capable.

South Africa has four Valour-class frigates, a type of warship built for speed and agility. These are the South African Ship (SAS) Amatola, SAS Isandlwana, SAS Spioenkop, and SAS Mendi.

According to DefenceWeb, the oldest of these is SAS Amatola, which was launched in June 2002 and built by German company Blohm+Voss. However, it was only commissioned by the SA Navy in February 2006.

The rest of the ships followed a similar timeline. However, the SAS Isandlwana and SAS Mendi were built by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft. The last of the vessels was commissioned in March 2007.

This puts the age of these vessels at over 18 years each, with the average lifespan of a frigate being between 30 and 40 years.

The SAS Amatola received a partial refit in 2015, making it the only one of the four ships to obtain the necessary maintenance work.

SAS Isandlwana, on the other hand, is currently undergoing a refit, which is due for completion in early 2026.

This process is reportedly costing just over R600 million, putting the cost of refitting the other two at roughly R1.8 billion, if they need to undergo the same process.

However, in 2023, Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence stated that R8.5 billion would be required to upgrade all frigates and submarines “to avert a disaster.”

At the time, the National Treasury had ring-fenced R1.4 billion for the refitting of South Africa’s two submarines, the SAS Charlotte Maxeke and SAS Queen Modjadji 1.

Currently, only the SAS Amatola is in operation.

The Auditor-General of South Africa recently reported that the Navy’s hours at sea have dropped from 7,338 in 2012/13 to 3,717 in 2024/25 — a 49% decrease.

Navy chief voices frustration

Navy Chief Vice Admiral Monde Lobese recently voiced his frustrations about the lack of funding received by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

Speaking at the SA Navy gala in Pretoria in November, he appealed to attendees to take the situation seriously.

“All I’m putting to you this evening is that we cannot continue to be silent observers while our country is being taken to the dogs,” he said.

“We need to advocate for a stronger, well-resourced defence force; we need to think about what is at stake for not having the Navy present at sea.”

Dr Moses Khanyile, director of the Centre for Military Studies at Stellenbosch University, said that this budget is inadequate to maintain a modern military capable of effectively addressing both internal and external threats.

Khanyile is calling for increased investment in research and development within local defence industries to ensure that the country does not remain vulnerable.

Lobese went on to say that while attending the recent Indo-Pacific International Maritime Conference in Australia, he was told by the head of Kenya’s navy about a ship transporting drugs to Mozambique that had been intercepted in Kenyan waters.

He argued that South Africa should be doing the same to protect its waters.

However, the Navy Chief’s statements received backlash from the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, Dakota Legoete, who said he should not express his funding frustrations on public platforms.

Defence Minister Angie Motshekga took a similar stance, saying that she regards these remarks as “not only inappropriate, disingenuous and unfortunate on a matter he is fully aware is receiving attention at all levels, from her department to Parliament.”

“The Minister will be taking appropriate steps to deal with this unfortunate outburst, worse still from a senior person at his level,” her department said in a statement.