At the centre of its raison d’etre for the Defence Force Service Commission (DFSC), a ministerial advisory body is supposed to provide expert advice to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans regarding conditions of service for South African military personnel. This is not happening because the DFSC is unable to meet Minister Thandi Modise, a Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) meeting heard. The absence of Modise during the virtual meeting was noted by PMG. “The JSCD was also supposed to receive feedback from the Minister of Defence on engagements with the Commission and the way forward. This was due to “difficulty” in conducting consultation visits put down to “challenges experienced with the Department of Defence (DoD)/SANDF”.