Speaking at a memorial service for three submariners, the chief of the South African Navy on Wednesday decried the ongoing maritime defence force budget cuts by the government, saying that should they continue, he feared 'tragedies such as these will become more commonplace'.

At Wednesday's memorial service for the three SAS 'Manthatisi submariners who died at sea off Kommetjie, Cape Town, last week, chief of the South African Navy Vice-Admiral Monde Lobese made a clarion call to the government to cease continual maritime defence budget cuts.

"I am also strongly of the opinion that this tragedy must be a wake-up call to not only us in the SA Navy and SA National Defence Force [SANDF], but to government as a whole.

"The SANDF, and the SA Navy, has for too long suffered with constant reductions in our budget. Although our budget is cut every year, our constitutional mandate is not reduced in any way. We are still expected to make miracles with the little money that we have," he said.

Lobese was speaking at the memorial service on Wednesday morning for deceased SA Navy submariners Master Warrant Officer William Mathipa (48), Warrant Officer Class One Mmokwapa Mojela (43) and Lieutenant Commander Gillian Hector (33), at the Wynberg Military Base Sports Complex in Cape Town.

Mathipa, Mojela and Hector died when high waves swept seven crew members of the SAS 'Manthatisi submarine out to sea on Wednesday, 20 September. The submariners were conducting a...