Underfunding has resulted in the South African Navy being unable to do repairs and maintenance to their combat vessels and achieving its target of hours at sea for the 2023/2024 financial year. The situation was dire and has severely compromised the Navy’s ability to “fight and win” at sea. On the other hand, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has expressed concern about the record of the Department of Defence (DoD) and the Department of Military Veterans, regarding their mishandling of public funds. Lerato was in conversation with Chairperson of Parliament's Standing Committee On Public Accounts - Songezo Zibi and Senior Professor Department of History [military history], at UFS – Professor André Wessels.