Chief of Defence General, Solly Shoke, will bid farewell to the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) after more than two-and-a-half decades of service.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will witness Shoke’s farewell during a Change of Command parade at the Pretoria Military Sports Ground in Thaba Tshwane later on Friday morning.
General Shoke will retire on Monday and hand over the command of the SANDF to Lieutenant-General Rhudzani Maphwanya.
Earlier, President Ramaphosa praised General Shoke saying the SANDF had achieved a lot under his leadership.
President @CyrilRamaphosa to officiate the swearing-in of the new Chief of the SANDF https://t.co/Dz8P9h6ATl
— Presidency | South Africa ?? (@PresidencyZA) May 26, 2021
The Outgoing Chief of the SA National Defence Force, General Solly Shoke End-Of-Tour-Of-Duty | SA Navy | Western Cape | 19 May 2021.https://t.co/Ds517TFAl2
Footage | Courtesy by SA Navy TV.
YouTube Channel | SA Defence News.#SANDF#SADefenceNews#SANavy
— SA National Defence Force (@SANDF_ZA) May 25, 2021
Shoke warns against budget cuts
Meanwhile, the outgoing Chief warned of the dangers of budget cuts for the army.
Shoke delivered his farewell address last Wednesday to the army at the Young’s Field and Simon’s Town Military Bases in Cape Town.
Estimates put the budget cuts for the SANDF at over R15 billion in the medium-term expenditure framework.
Shoke says the country cannot grow its economy if there’s no security.
In a last salute for the outgoing General, he says he’s leaving behind an army with personnel who are highly committed to the protection of the country.
However, he says the dwindling resources allocation poses a serious risk to security.
“South Africans should have to begin to start to have an appreciation for security because you cannot grow the economy without an environment that is secured, and I think we need to take a step backwards and ask ourselves whether we really prioritise security because it will be too late when people start putting money when there’s already danger.”
Outgoing SANDF General Solly Shoke delivers farewell address – the final salute:
