Written by Wendell Roelf | From Reuters

South Africa’s cash-strapped armed forces are in a “critical state of decline” that will take at least a decade to fix even with urgent action, according to a military strategy review seen by Reuters.

It said “neglect” of defense capability could impact everything from border security to trade and constrain Pretoria’s continental peace-keeping and diplomatic ambitions.

A regular contributor to United Nations peace missions in Africa, South Africa currently has troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan, and its ships and frigates support anti-piracy efforts off Mozambique.

However, the 2014 South African Defense Review, seen by Reuters on Tuesday, says such deployments are under threat.

“Even with an immediate intervention, it could take at least five years to arrest the decline and another five years to develop a limited and sustainable defense capability,” the review said.

The long-term strategy document, which was approved this month by cabinet, is the first major assessment of the military capability of Africa’s biggest economy since one in 1998.

“The longer the neglect is perpetuated, the greater the effort, time and cost that would be necessary to arrest the decline and restore the minimum capabilities required to safeguard South Africa’s borders, protect its maritime trade routes, conduct peace missions and humanitarian interventions,” it added.

As specific examples, the report cited a lack of proper ammunition, ageing military transport planes and “block obsolescence” of the army’s prime mission equipment, such as infantry trucks.

Read more at Reuters