defenceWeb Written by Guy Martin - 2617 The South African defence budget for 2021/22 is just .86% of GDP, down from .97%, causing experts to caution that the reduction will have far-reaching implications for the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). The 2020/21 defence budget is R54.2 billion, but for 2021/22 it falls to R46.2 billion, representing a 14% decrease. Much of this decrease comes from the shrinkage of the Special Defence Account, which goes from R5.2 billion in 2020/21 to R1.005 billion in 2021/22. Dr Wilhelm Janse van Rensburg, researcher for the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD), gave a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV) on the analysis of the defence budget on 4 May. He said it was concerning that there is a significant curtailing of ‘sharp-end’ expenditure, with major reductions in the allocation to Infantry, Air Defence Artillery, Air Combat, Maritime combat and Special Operations. “That is really problematic in the maintenance of a professional military force,” he told MPs as prime mission equipment becomes obsolete and research and development and industry capacity diminish.