The SA Navy is unable to protect the country’s coastline or patrol international waters effectively because of problems in the dockyard in Simon’s Town, navy officers admitted on Thursday.

In a briefing on the state of the Navy on Thursday, Navy Chief Refiloe Mudimu said control of the dockyard had passed to Armscor in 2006 – but he wanted the dockyard back because they “can do a better job” than Armscor.

Director of Fleet Logistics Monde Lobese said ineffectiveness in the dockyard had a “100 percent direct impact on the navy business of protecting the country”.

“We need to be able to produce, otherwise we won’t be able to meet our national and international obligations,” he said. Ships were spending time tied up instead of being at sea.

During the briefing Chief Director Maritime Strategy Hanno Teuteberg said:

* One of the four frigates was operational. The SAS Amatola was in operation but the other three, SAS Spioenkop, Isandlwana and Mendi, were undergoing maintenance work.

* Of eight patrol ships only three were available. The SAS Galeshwe, Umhloti and Umzimkulu were operationally available but the other five were being refitted or maintenance was being done on them.

* Of four submarines, only one was operational. The SAS Charlotte Maxeke was available but work was being done on the other three.

Lobese said the submarine, SAS Manthatisi, had spent more than two years in the dockyard since it were delivered in 2005.

The navy had to contract out the delivery and instalment of 480 battery cells, worth R30 million, to German company Exide.

Lobese said the ship was brought to the dockyard in February 2010 but due to lack of capacity in the dockyard Armscor was unable to finish the refitment at the end of 2012.

The ship is suppose to be operational at the end of July.

Mudimu said the navy had a vessel in the Mozambique Channel 99 percent of the time to protect against piracy and may expand its patrols up the West Coast towards Angola and upstream to the Democratic Republic of Congo next year.

Lobese said the dockyard personnel had to work 900 000 man-hours a year to make sure the required number of vessels were at sea to patrol South African waters and the Mozambique Channel.

The dockyard only clocked 250 000 man-hours last year and needed electricians, welders, mechanics and boilermakers.

“The navy gave R35m to Armscor to help employ more people to get the work done,” said Lobese.

Armscor had budgeted to spend R159m on the dockyard for the current financial year.

Lobese said top-heavy management, lack of artisans and poor funding all had an effect on the navy’s operations.

“The extent of the problem is the dockyard has one welder, but needs five. The electrical workshop is operating under capacity, as is the mechanical workshop,” Lobese said.

“And the engine repair capability is not there.”

He said Armscor had a recruitment drive last year to hire 100 personnel but he didn’t know how effective it was.

The navy took four of its patrols vessels to Durban and appointed a company, SA Shipyards, for R60m to refit them.

“If we didn’t take them to Durban they would have still been here in the dockyard and affected our ability to patrol the coast,” he said.

Mudimu and Lobese said the decision as to who controls the dockyard was now with Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

“The navy wanted the dockyard yesterday. We are waiting for the minister to give the green light,” said Lobese.

Armscor dockyard manager Themba Goduka could not be reached for comment.

With acknowledgement to Cobus Coetzee and Cape Times. 

No, this article and none of the posted comments touch on the real problem why the frigates and submarines are mostly unfit for duty.

It is because they were acquired for reasons other than maritime defence.

They were acquired so that the regime could milk off the R2,5 odd billion paid by the supplier companies as commissions.

So important was this factor, that the government forgot to factor in lifetime support.

The initial warranty periods and interim spares holdings are now complete. Everything is now failing from ship systems to mission systems to combat systems, but there is no money in the medium-term budgets to purchase replacement spares and consumables.

The performance of the Naval Dockyard, managed for some years now by Armscor after it was taken away from the navy because it too could not manage it properly, is part of the problem, but not the main problem. That is a red herring.