Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) raised its new symbols, which include a national emblem, flags, logos and medals in Pretoria today.

The new SANDF emblem incorporates a nine-pointed Star representing the warm sun of Africa and the nine provinces, a set of two horns, two swords and four spears.

The defence force said the introduction of the new symbols signalled its commitment to the upholding of high defence standards and the promotion of peace and stability in the country. The SANDF last week lowered all its old flags bearing the old symbols.

Speaking at the occasion to raise the new flags, SANDF Chief, General Siphiwe Nyanda said tremendous progress towards establishing a new identity, and a rich military culture reflecting complete unity and shared values and traditions had been achieved.

General Nyanda said the SANDF would build on its values of professionalism, leadership, patriotism, human dignity, loyalty, integrity and accountability.

'The new emblem and [new] honours represent a final and irrevocable break with the past. It introduces a new era in which we will execute the department's mission with pride and honour,' said General Nyanda.

'The SANDF, is continuing with its process of renewal and transformation, the new decorations and medals will reflect an image of a Defence Force which is representative of the cultures of its citizens,' he said.

General Nyanda said the new symbols had taken into account the cultural diversity of South Africa and they also reflected the country's diversity, its fauna and flora and particularly its people.

A TARGET-shooting coach sobbed when South African National Defence Force members removed a total of 16 target-shooting rifles from her school, as part of the government's policy to make schools nationwide gun-free zones.

Education Minister Kader Asmal earlier this month backtracked on his decision to allow guns at schools after it emerged that a shocking 6 000 rifles at schools were not recorded on the police's licensing system.

Asmal has recommended that air guns be used to replace the .22 rifles which were given to schools by the former South African Defence Force.

Already the army has begun confiscating guns from 266 schools countrywide that offered target shooting as a sport.

Janice Wright, target-shooting coach at Glenwood High School in Durban, said she could not hold back her tears when an army official arrived at her school last week to collect the rifles. "I just broke down. Glenwood was one of the oldest shooting schools in the country and now the sport is dead. The guns were ripped away from us just when my pupils were getting really good at it."

She said she was at a loss to explain to her shottists why the sport was considered dangerous now when they had not had a single accident.

Mahomed Sader, a Grade 11 pupil at Glenwood High, said he was horrified that target shooting had been banned at schools. "For three years the sport has been an important part of my life and now, suddenly, people who don't do the sport have decided to stop it forever."

Tony Knox, musketry master at Tugela High on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast, said his pupils, who have special learning needs, were devastated. "I have a boy who suffered with polio and can barely walk. But when he had a gun in his hand, he felt on top of the world.

"One of my girls started crying hysterically when the army arrived at our school recently to remove our 18 rifles. She is very heavily built and cannot participate in any other sport. Shooting has given her confidence. "

Knox said target shooting was one of the few sports where his pupils could compete with children from mainstream schools. "It meant so much to them that they were not classified as pupils with special needs at shooting competitions. " he said. "I had a large lump in my throat when I saw the guns being taken away and I nearly cried when I saw the look on my kids' faces."

Leon du Preez, chairman of the Mpumalanga Shooting Club, said only three schools in the province still had the .22 rifles on their property.

"These rifles will be removed by the end of next week.

"The sport is dead in this province. Out of the 16 schools in the province that have taken part in .22 rifle shooting, only five have indicated that they may continue with air rifles."

Du Preez said the removal of the guns had been emotional for both the teachers and the pupils.

"Some teachers have spent thousands of man hours teaching the sport they feel lost now," he said.

Colonel John Rolt, spokesman for the SANDF, said the removal of the rifles from the schools had to be completed by May. "The guns will be stored at the army's general support bases. The plan is to eventually destroy them," he said.

President Thabo Mbeki began his three-day visit to the North West this morning by assuring farmers and farm-workers of government's commitment to eradicating violent crimes on farms.

During his state of the nation address early this year, President Mbeki stated that: 'Measures will be taken to ensure that the structures meant to support the security agencies, such as the SANDF Commandos and police reservists are properly regulated to ...ensure security for all in the rural areas including the farmers...'

President Mbeki was speaking during his visit to Basha-Balemirui farm near Lichtenburg in North West today.

The farm breeds cattle and produces crops and was jointly initiated by the land affairs department, the National Youth Commission and was financed by the Land Bank.

It is one of four farms in the country that are independently owned by young people venturing into the farming sector.

The young farmers and representatives of Agri-SA, a union representing the majority of white farmers in the country, as well as the National African Farmers Union, attended the event.

The President said government was seriously concerned about safety and progress of both emerging and seasoned farmers.

He said the sector, which has a direct working relation with government through the presidential agricultural working group, was crucial to the country's economy and the well being of the nation.

The President praised the youth farm as a significant step forward in bringing young people in to mainstream farming.

He however called on role players to continue throwing their support behind such projects.

'We should respond to the development and success of this project with the necessary enthusiasm and sustained commitment. If we succeed here it will open up space for us to do other things elsewhere,' he said.

The president is currently visiting a housing project at Mokgola near Zeerust. He will also attend an Imbizo in Montsiua in Mafikeng. The Imbizo will culminate in a Freedom Day celebration rally in Orkney on Sunday.

 The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has introduced new symbols as part ongoing transformation within the force.

The new symbols include a new flag, logo and a series of medals.

The symbols will be officially raised at a parade at the South African Air Force Gymnasium on Tuesday and will be hoisted by SANDF general Siphiwe Nyanda.

The SANDF will today lower all the old flags with old symbols of the defence force and that of all the Arms of Services (SA Air Force, SA Army, SA Military Health Services and that of the SA Navy).

Major Niko Allie of the defence force said the SA National Flag would be the only flag flying at military installations over the weekend.

The new SANDF emblem incorporates a nine-pointed Star representing the warm sun of Africa and the nine provinces.

Last year, the SANDF unveiled new rank insignia for all its army personnel, irrespective of their rank.

The new rank insignia sports the national Coat of Arms.

The defence force said introduction of the new rank insignia was a symbol of its transformation within the defence force and that also signaled their commitment to the promotion of peace and stability in the country.

The government announced on Thursday that it had terminated discussions with Britain's BAE Systems to sell it a 30 percent stake in state-owned arms and technology group Denel.

Department of Public Enterprises Director-general Sivi Gounden said in a statement that BAE Systems had been selected as the preferred partner for Denel in 2000, as part of government's policy of restructuring in the defence industrial sector.

He said a "thorough and complex" series of negotiations began.

"Despite recording significant progress in a complicated process, agreement could not be reached on a number of commercial and contractual arrangements to the satisfaction of the South African government."

Gounden said since 2000, government had successfully concluded the formation of Turbomeca Africa, a new aerospace engine and maintenance facility, comprised of 51 percent of Turbomeca France, and 49 percent of Denel Airmotive.

The company was operating comfortably and to schedule within the terms of its business plan.

"Denel itself has also shed some of its loss making, non-core, entities during this period.

"It has improved its order book from less than R1 billion in 1998 to over R10 billion today. Denel continues to generate technology transfers into the company through its participation in the Strategic Defence Package acquisition by the SANDF."

However, Gounden said, Denel and BAE Systems would continue to participate in joint production ventures and programmes where possible, and the relationship between the two companies remained amicable and healthy, particularly in relation to co-operation with the offset packages of the Hawk and Gripen programmes in the multi-billion rand arms deal.

He said government would continue to seek international partners for Denel as the company continued to grow and develop its product and technology ranges.

BAE Systems also confirmed that it had received a letter from Gounden advising them that the department had decided not to pursue the Denel Strategic Equity Partnership that has been under negotiation for several months.

"BAE Systems fully accepts government's decision," BAE spokesman Linden Birns said in a statement.

"We remain firmly committed to South Africa as a long-term strategic business partner both in the context of the Strategic Defence Procurement and beyond."

"We will continue to develop our already strong partnerships with the South African National Defence Force and the local aerospace and defence industries, including Denel," Birns said.

Cabinet has expressed concern at the recent incidents of gang violence in the Western Cape particularly on the Cape Flats.

The latter has been the centre of senseless killings involving the death of children.

Cabinet said in a statement yesterday that national police commissioner Jackie Selebi and provincial commissioner Lennit Max were looking at ways of ending the gang violence in the Western Cape.

The latest victim to fall prey to the violence in the province was an eight-year old Cape Peninsula boy who was caught in the crossfire as two armed men opened fire on a 21-year old state witness, earlier this month.

Alfonso Valentyn (8) and Rochelle Davids (21) were sitting outside a flat in Robinvale when two armed men opened fire on Rochelle, who was a key witness in the murder of a member of the 28's gang.

Cabinet has also requested that the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) develop joint campaigns to curb the scourge of gang violence in the province.

As part of efforts to curb gang violence in the area, police and defence force members in the province confiscated 48 illegal firearms, drugs and recovered stolen vehicles during a joint pre-dawn raid on the Cape Flats earlier this month.

Operation Sethunya (guns) aims to minimise gang-related violence in the province.

During the national Imbizo Focus week, safety and security minister Charles Nqakula visited the area and witnessed the success of the operation.

Defence chief Siphiwe Nyanda is expected to launch in Pretoria today, a gender-based programme aimed at educating the military about HIV/AIDS prevention.

Known as the Gender Equity Programme, the training programme is set to address critical gender issues that reinforce behaviours such as violence, alcohol and substance abuse and unsafe sex practices.

In a statement, the SA Defence Force (SANDF) said the programme's main objectives were to create a cadre of trainers (social work officers) within the defence force.

The social workers would be expected to address gender issues that compromised HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, and to mobilise the entire military community to become involved, including spouses.

'The second task will be to train peer educators, who through peer training at unit level, will implement programmes together with defence members to address gender inequity, sexual rights and positive behaviour change related to the prevention of HIV/AIDS.'

A SA National Defence Force member was arrested on Monday after he allegedly shot and wounded a man he accused of raping his daughter, Limpopo police said on Tuesday.

Captain Ailwei Mushavhanamadi said the soldier, a corporal at the 15 Battalion in Thohoyandou, shot the man on Monday when he went to his house to confront him about the alleged rape.

The alleged rapist was shot in the legs, and was receiving treatment at a local hospital.

The alleged rape took place in the Magidi area near Thohoyandou shortly before the shooting incident. Police were also investigating that case.

The soldier would face charges of attempted murder, Mushavhanamadi said.

While government pins responsibility for its decision to ban soldiers who are HIV-positive from active duty on United Nations regulations, activists plan to fight the state in court.

We abide by international law to the extent it is in keeping with the constitution but it is our view that UN recommendations don't constitute international law, Mark Heywood of the Aids Law Project told IPS.

Lawyers say that government's plan is unconstitutional because it violates the anti-discrimination clause in the constitution.

Defence Minister Mosioua Lekota dropped a bombshell last week when he said: "Anybody with the condition (of HIV) cannot be recruited into the defence force. There's no point. You can't take in ill people into positions in the army. It's not useful."

Lekota's comments have raised a storm among people living with HIV/Aids, as well as among Aids activists who plan to now take government to court for what they allege is widespread discrimination in the army.

South Africa's national defence force (SANDF) is primarily involved with peace-keeping on the rest of the continent, mostly under the aegis of the United Nations. These missions are under orders not to accept HIV-positive soldiers into the army, says Jackie Cilliers of the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria.

"So Minister Lekota's was a good policy statement because he has no option, it is a requirement of all deployments under the UN. If soldiers volunteer for a UN mission, then you work for the UN," explained Cilliers.

He added that infection was difficult to prevent in warfare.

But Heywood disputes that the UN imposes a blanket ban. He says their preliminary research has found that UNAids recommends that "HIV status should not be a precondition for exclusion from peace-keeping operations. The SANDF has chosen to ignore this".

Soldiers can be HIV-positive and still serve their continent, say doctors because infection does not equal sickness or disability.

The National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS agrees.

"Science has demonstrated that HIV-positive people can live long. Even senior people who should be looked upon for direction do not understand the basic facts about HIV," said Nkululeko Nxesi in media reports.

Quoting an anti-discrimination case brought against the Namibian army,

Dr Fundile Nyati said the court found that HIV status alone was no sufficient grounds for medical exclusion.

If the applicant's various immune indicators (like CD4 counts and viral loads) indicated disabling weakness, this could be grounds for exclusion.

Writing in The Star newspaper, Nyati recommended that this was a better way for South African government to proceed than through a blanket ban.

About one in five soldiers are HIV-positive and while Lekota pledged support and care for them, he added that "able-bodied" peace-keepers were needed to serve on missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi, among other countries.

Civilian duty in the army would not exclude entrants who are HIV-positive, said Lekota's office.

While Lekota's statement has come like a bolt from the blue, Heywood says this has happened in practice for the past decade.

"The army has never stopped excluding since apartheid ended. Testing is mandatory and refusal follows. There is no actual analysis of the actual state of health and no distinction of what the person will be doing."

Among the cases that civil society will bring against the army are those of a chaplain refused duty and of a nurse.

"We will start a campaign because we believe a ban is constitutionally impermissible," said Heywood.

Around 5.3-million people have HIV/Aids in South Africa, one of the highest counts in the world

Military culture and attitudes in the SANDF have improved considerably since the days when incidents such as the Tempe massacre occurred in 1999, defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Wednesday.

Briefing the National Assembly's defence committee, Lekota said the command structures of the SA National Defence Force had effectively addressed the issues raised in the Setai Commission's report on its inquiry into the Tempe incident.

In September 1999, Sergeant Sibusiso Madubela shot dead seven white colleagues and a civilian in a killing spree at the base. He died in a shootout with other soldiers.

In October that year, Lekota appointed a commission of experts, headed by former Free State director general Betheul Setai, to investigate racism and other problems that could lead to friction in the SANDF.

Among other things, the commission found that racism was rife in the defence force.

He told the committee on Wednesday that the current atmosphere in the defence force "speaks of the work and effort" made by the command structures to address the issues raised by Setai.

The SANDF now had, among other things, programmes in place to deal with racism, which included orientation for new recruits on attitudes, so they were fully aware they were entering an institution that did not tolerate racism.

SANDF chief General Siphiwe Nyanda told the committee much progress had been made with transformation and many issues already dealt with in detail.

The defence force had made extensive use of the Setai report to correct matters that needed attention, despite serious funding shortages, he said.

According to a document distributed in the committee detailing the SANDF's response to the report, and an analysis of progress made with transformation, substantial advances have been made, among other things, towards achieving racial representivity.

The representivity of blacks, Asians and coloureds in the full-time component has increased from 55,3 percent in 1994 to 75,3 percent as at February 15 this year.

The current composition of former forces in the regular force is 7,8 percent Azanian People's Liberation Army, 16,6 percent Umkhonto we Sizwe, 43,5 percent SADF, 8,2 percent Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei forces, and 23,6 percent SANDF, members with no former force affiliation.

Three specific areas of racial representivity continue to receive attention -in the SANDF's advanced musterings, at entry level, and at middle management level.

"This requires a continuously driven effort, but this objective will realistically not be achieved over the short to near medium term."

Efforts to eliminate discrimination in any form are a high priority for all appointed warrant officers.

"Warrant officers are extremely sensitive to discrimination against any soldier. The majority of members of the Department of Defence are extremely sensitive to discrimination and act to eliminate it," the document says.

The head of an African peacekeeping force for war-ravaged Burundi said Wednesday that the force itself would be deployed in Burundi by next month.

"The troops will be here before May 1," South African General Sipho Binda said in Bujumbura.

When Binda left for Burundi earlier Wednesday, Colonel John Rolt, South African National Defence Force (SANDF) spokesman, said he was assessing the situation ahead of the arrival of an expected force of some 3,200 troops.

"He has travelled to Burundi to go and look at the situation and to make an appraisal," Rolt told AFP.

Officials in Bujumbura said that the force, acting under the authority of the African Union, will initially be made up of 1,500 troops from South Africa, 900 from Ethiopia and 200 from Mozambique.

Binda arrived in Burundi, where civil war has raged since 1993, with about 50 soldiers from South Africa and Mozambique, who will form part of his general staff.

The general is due to remain in Burundi for a week before returning to South Africa.

The force's deployment comes at a time when a ceasefire reached between government forces and the main Hutu rebel group, the Forces for the Defence of Democracy, shows little sign of holding.

Both sides accuse the other of violating the truce.

The force's mandate will be to demobilise and disarm all armed groups and to set up an integrated national army and police force.

The African Union has already sent 43 military observers to Burundi to monitor various ceasefise accords.

The South African commander of troops destined for a three-nation peace mission to supervise ceasefire agreements Burundi left for the central African country Wednesday, military officials said.

Colonel John Rolt, South African National Defence Force (SANDF) spokesman, said Major General Sipho Binda was assessing the situation ahead of the arrival of an expected force of some 3,200 troops.

"He has travelled to Burundi to go and look at the situation and to make an appraisal," Rolt told AFP.

The SANDF had not yet announced troop deployments for the African Union mission, which will also include soldiers from Mozambique and Ethiopia, but said they would be deployed in phases -- the last expected to be by the end of May.

The force was originally to have been deployed before the end of last year to supervise ceasefire accords signed by the Burundi government with three of the four Hutu rebel groups active in the central African country.

More than 300,000 people have died in Burundi's civil war which has since 1993 pitted Hutu rebel groups against the Tutsi-led army, according to UN figures.

The Forces for the Defence of Democracy and two lesser rebel groups have signed ceasefires with the government, but the deal has not been respected, with both sides accusing the other of violating it.

The first South African troops forming part of a peace support mission to Burundi are to leave for that country on Wednesday, the SA National Defence Force said on Tuesday.

They are to be accompanied by Major General Sipho Binda, the first commander of the African Union mission, which would also comprise troops from Mozambique and Ethiopia.

Binda is to command a force of about 3200 soldiers, the SANDF said in a statement.

SANDF spokesman Major Niko Allie said about 1200 of these would be South Africans. They are to be deployed in phases - the last being by the end of May.

Allie could not say when the Mozambican and Ethiopian troops would join the South Africans.

The troops would be tasked with enforcing a series of ceasefire agreements and political settlements.

A total of 751 SANDF members are already deployed in Burundi in a separate United Nations-endorsed VIP protection operation in support of the transitional government.

Last month, Burundi's two main political parties signed a political and security agreement in Pretoria.

A transitional government is to take over in Burundi on May 1 in a bid to end the civil war which has claimed more than 250000 lives since October 1993.

The first South African troops forming part of a peace support mission to Burundi are to leave for that country on Wednesday, the SA National Defence Force said on Tuesday.

They are to be accompanied by Major General Sipho Binda, the first commander of the African Union mission, which will also comprise troops from Mozambique and Ethiopia.

Binda is to command a force of about 3200 soldiers, the SANDF said in a statement.

SANDF spokesman Major Niko Allie said about 1200 of these would be South Africans. They are to be deployed in phases - the last by the end of May.

Allie could not say when the Mozambican and Ethiopian troops would join the South Africans.

The troops will be tasked with enforcing a series of ceasefire agreements and political settlements.

A total of 751 SANDF members are already deployed in Burundi in a separate United Nations-endorsed VIP protection operation in support of the transitional government.

Deputy foreign affairs minister Aziz Pahad told reporters the protection force already in Burundi would be incorporated into the African mission. The deputy commander of the force would be appointed by Ethiopia.

Pahad said the mission would also seek to create conditions that would enable the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission.

A special trust fund would be set up for contributions from African countries to help finance the African peace operation.

"We hope our other partners, especially the European Union and the UN, will also make contributions. Our commitment is there but obviously our resources are not sufficient," Pahad said.

More than 200000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Burundi's 10-year-long civil war between Hutus and Tutsis.

The country has been run by a transitional government since November 2001, headed by President Pierre Buyoya.

Under a power-sharing agreement, he is to trade places with Hutu leader Domicien Ndayizeye on May 1.

Beside its domestic dimension, this month's coup in Bangui in the Central African Republic has the potential to redistribute the cards in the DR Congo and in the entire region and adds a new level of uncertainty to the forthcoming transitional government in the DRC.

The coup has reinforced one of the Kinshasa's allies, Chad, which provided in the past month a sanctuary for the supporters of the coup's author, Gen. Francois Bozize. On the other hand, the coup indirectly strengthened the position of Joseph Kabila's regime, ahead of the last plenary session of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue in Pretoria this month. The session is supposed to be followed by the installation of a transitional government, which must be appointed by a follow-up committee chaired by Kabila, composed of the different parties.

Bemba damaged

The coup delivered a serious blow to one of Kabila's main rivals, the leader of the Movement of Liberation of Congo (MLC), Jean-Pierre Bemba, whose troops on two occasions rescued the regime of the ousted CAR President, Ange-Felix Patasse, from army mutinies.

Now Bemba has been deprived of access to Bangui's Mpoko International airport and of access via CAR territory to both the Cameroonian port of Douala and Sudan, unless he comes to terms with Bozize. This is difficult, since his soldiers went on the rampage in Bozize's home region in the north of the CAR just one month ago.

The loss of Bangui is important for the MLC because it used the CAR routes for its diamond, coffee and timber exports. Of course, Bemba still holds the 2km Gbadolite tarmac airstrip, but the aircraft which land there are doing so in violation of the integrity of DRC territory and it is likely that Bozize will now prevent CAR-based diamond dealers flying to the MLC zone.

Two options remain for Bemba. The MLC can use the land route to Uganda, but the roads are in a disastrous state, and he can also allow aircraft to switch between Kampala and Gbadolite. Or the MLC can try to smuggle its goods out through Congo-Brazzaville. But in both cases, Bemba becomes dependent to a large extent on two countries that have now close ties with Kinshasa.

Congo-Brazzaville is also moving alongside Angola and the DRC in a strategic alliance. Recently, Uganda, which supports Bemba's enemies of the Congolese Rally for Democracy-Movement of Liberation (CRD-ML) in the Ituri region, who are also backed by Kinshasa, was given special permission by Kinshasa to stay until April 24 in the town of Bunia to restore security there.

All in all Bemba has little alternative but to relinquish his bid for independence from the Kampala regime, or remain landlocked.

Uganda strengthens

Meanwhile Uganda's position in the region has grown stronger than ever. Ugandan troops on 6 March took over the city of Bunia and the nearby gold mines of Mongwalu from Bemba's allies of the Hema ethnic group, who belong to the Union of Congolese Patriots militia led by Thomas Lubanga. Then on 18 March a ceasefire was signed between Uganda, the CRD-ML, one dissident Hema militia and three militias from the rival Lendu tribe.

The agreement is supported both by the Mission of the UN in Congo (MONUC) and by the Kinshasa government. The signatories will set up a commission with UN support whose task is to bring peace in this troubled area. As a result, Lubanga and Bemba are becoming increasingly isolated and - at least until 24 April - Uganda, which has increased its military presence in the DRC from 1,000 to 4,000 troops, will be able to mass even more troops if needed.

But while Bemba is becoming isolated he is not yet dead. A report from the Belga news agency which claimed on 19 March that he had been assassinated, proved wrong. On the same day, SouthScan.NET spoke with the MLC leader who said that not even a shot had been heard in Gbadolite. Yet Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, who was asked for confirmation of Bemba's death by several intelligence services, was for several hours left in the doubt. Eventually Michel called Bemba to find out the truth, the MLC leader said.

Belga did not disclose who its source was, but the rumour may well have been part of a process to destabilise the MLC at a critical moment. Some observers in Brussels point out that Bemba's death would have been a mortal blow to the already ailing process, and that the potential disorder which might have followed could have given an excuse to those hardliners in Kinshasa who are not interested in sharing power.

Meanwhile, the negotiations in Pretoria may produce agreement on a government of national unity. Defence issues have been the main stumbling blocks. There has been disagreement about the appointment of a chief of staff for the future unified national army between the government, the MLC and the Goma-based, pro-Rwandan Congolese Rally for Democracy.

Another problem has been the numbers from the respective sides who will be part of future national police.

Finally, the modalities of the "neutral force" responsible for the protection of the future rebel ministers remain a serious problem. In principle there is an agreement between the warring parties that the UN should take the job, but other than South Africa there are not many candidates for the UN force, while a group of private military companies based in Washington is still unable to secure a meeting with the world body. The UN is striving to extend its force from 4,300 to 8,700 to take on the tasks of demobilisation, disarmament, reintegration and repatriation. On top of this, there is an argument between Kinshasa and the rebels about the number of troops necessary to fulfill the ministers' protection job.

South Africa has said it will deploy around 1,200 troops to the Congo next week to join the 148 officers already there. But the commitment was to the strengthening of MONUC in the east, where they may arrive just in time for a new round of warfare, and not for the Kinshasa protection force.

There is another element that may derail the process or provide an opportunity for the Kinshasa government to drag its feet. In an obvious violation of last July's Pretoria withdrawal agreement, Rwandan troops have been crossing the border in Northern Kivu, say civil society sources in the region. On 14 March the Rwandan Foreign Minister, Charles Murigande, warned that the Rwandan army would deploy troops in the DRC if Uganda did not pull out its own military, presenting the scenario of a third Rwandan-Ugandan war on Congolese soil.

Analysts fear that the beginning of the war in Iraq is creating a situation in which the main actors of the region, well aware of the splits in the UN security council, and taking into account that world attention is focussed elsewhere, may start to settle their disputes on the battlefield.

Such was the case for Bozize's coup in Bangui. Likewise, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, after he dissented with France and the other African nations about the Iraqi issue at the February Franco-African summit, and after his subsequent meeting with US President George Bush, may believe he can send back troops to the DRC without triggering reprisals from the UN.

The climate may also discourage Kabila from being scrupulous in implementing a power-sharing deal which would deprive him of 80% of the seats in both the parliament and the government.

South Africans to send troops

Deployment of 1,268 South African National Defence Force members in the DR Congo is expected to start next week, SANDF joint operations chief director Major-General Jan Lusse said earlier this month. The advance team would leave on March 24, followed by the main group's first contingent on April 14 and the second on April 21.

As part of the UN's DRC peacekeeping operation they will focus on disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, following the recent peace agreements reached between the warring parties. They will move into a tense situation - there are possibilities of renewed conflict in the east between Ugandan-backed forces and those of Rwanda. There are also signs of dissent in Kinshasa about the peace deal.

The contingent will consist of an infantry group - including headquarters and support staff - of 1,053 personnel, an engineer squadron of 175, a river-crossing ferry unit of 15, a well-drilling squad of 12, and 16 military police officers. They will join the 148 specialist SANDF members already in the DRC. Rotation of the latest group would start in October.

Lusse, in charge of the operation, has watched changes in South African policy towards peace-keeping in the region for some years. He was involved in planning for the Lesotho intervention in 1998, drawing a key conclusion that intelligence had to be improved before more interventions were undertaken. He has been working on the logistics of intervention in the DR Congo for a number of years.

A new South African National Academy of Intelligence, SANAI, was opened in Mafikeng, North West Province this month. Vice President Jacob Zuma, himself a former African National Congress intelligence chief, said the country needed "a high-class intelligence service" to counter threats of terrorism and other forms of violent extremism where intelligence needed to collect information in a covert way.

But the intelligence community ought to "define more appropriately what terrorism was" and not rely on other countries' definition, he said. More than ten years ago the ANC was referred to as a terrorist organisation, he recalled.

The academy, previously called Khupe Campus and now the Mzwandile Piliso college, will take 50 students at a time including some of its staffers. Courses will include a vocational and a research component and plans are underway to develop the structure into an institution of higher learning. Intelligence minister Lindiwe Sisulu closed the previous academy two years ago for restructuring.

SANAI was established late last year as a public entity to provide training to members of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the South African Secret Service and related structures such as the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee (NICOC) and the Presidential Support Unit.

Training on national strategic intelligence will also be provided to the intelligence components of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and the SA Police Service (SAPS).

 Details were released this month of the African Union's peace-keeping force for Burundi. South Africa is to send 514 SA National Defence Force members, Ethiopia 900 and Mozambique 200 in a three-year operation, a senior SANDF officer said. Altogether 751 SANDF members are already deployed in Burundi, mainly in Bujumbura and surrounds, in a UN-endorsed protection operation for returning rebel politicians.

One rebel group still needs to sign the cease-fire agreement, and the looming difficulties surrounding the hand-over of power on May 1 to a Hutu leader need to be overcome, but South Africa's Deputy President, Jacob Zuma, who is mediating the process, is being determinedly optimistic. In a statement this month he said he believed that Burundi was "through the worst already, and that the situation can only improve".

SA is also to send over 1,200 peace-keepers to bolster the UN force in the DR Congo, it was announced this month. The SANDF has also deployed 12 military liaison officers, observers and support staff in the UN/AU mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, and a smaller group of liaison officers and observers in the Comores. This would make a total of around 2,500 troops out in the region, while effectively double that number needs to be available to allow for rotation.

Over-extended?

Some SA military analysts believe the SANDF can sustain this allocation, while others are less sure. The military is also hard hit by HIV - though official figures have not been released - and it is an ageing force. It seems likely the unofficial UN proviso that peacekeepers not be HIV-positive may be quietly dropped.

One consequence of this extension, say analysts, is that there may be no spare capacity to take on emergencies, such as increased border patrols in the event of meltdown in Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile a 'Multinational Military-Strategic Planning Team' had been set up under the leadership of Maj-Gen. Sipho Binda of the SANDF. Col. Alioune Samba, MONUC's chief of staff in the DR Congo, has been appointed interim chairperson for the Joint Ceasefire Commission (JCC) whose job will be demobilisation, disarmament and repatriation of the armed combatants.

This month SA appointed Welile Nhlapo, currently the director-general in the Presidential Support Unit, to represent South Africa in the African Mission in Burundi. The mission is being established in terms of the ceasefire agreements signed last year and is scheduled to exist for an initial period of one year to oversee the peacekeeping operation and the ceasefire. It will also seek to prepare the way for a UN peacekeeping force in Burundi and the establishment of a new military and police force in Burundi.

The head of the African Mission will be appointed by the Great Lakes Regional Peace Initiative on Burundi, chaired by President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda.

Controversy over rural security has deepened in South Africa with a government decision to phase out a paramilitary force that was part of the apartheid state's security apparatus.

The announcement in February by President Thabo Mbeki that commando units were to be disbanded has elicited sharply divergent views. White farmers say commandos are an integral part of rural security, while black officials and policemen claim that they have persisted in perpetrating rights abuses.

"The first ones to go will be the ones where there've been allegations of [rights abuses] the problematic areas," a defence ministry spokesman, Sam Mkhwanazi, told IRIN.

The allegations of rights abuses have played a significant role in the government's decision to phase out the part-time force.

Responding to calls for the commando units to be retained, Minister of Defence Mosioua Lekota was quoted as saying: "A structure like that, which is not under proper training, proper regulation, and doesn't even have arresting powers - they are just citizens armed with weapons - that [think] they can do anything they choose to do, cannot be allowed in a constitutional order."

As recently as 2001, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the South African government to investigate the commandos, following allegations of violent criminal conduct towards black people in the rural Mpumalanga Province. [See: www.hrw.org/press/2001/08/safrica0822.htm]

HRW published recommendations that "commando units should not be deployed for policing purposes. Civilians who wish to be involved in policing on a part-time basis should be police reservists, and should receive training in policing skills and instruction on the laws of South Africa and respect for human rights."

RURAL INSECURITY

Organised agriculture, however, does not share the view that commandos are a threat to South Africa's constitutional order and human rights. "We need commandos, and we see them as one of the backbones of the rural protection plan, without a doubt," Agri-SA Chairman Kiewiet Ferreira, a farmer in the central Free State Province town of Harrismith, told IRIN.

In October last year, IRIN reported that incidents of violent crime on farms, the so-called "farm attacks", had increased. But the police differ with Agri-SA over the reasons behind such crimes. The motive was more often than not theft, and not the political goal of chasing white farmers off the land as Agri-SA members feared, the police said. [See: www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30499]

Police statistics have indicated an increase in the number and violence of farm attacks between 1997 and 2000. In 1997, the total number of incidents was 433. By 1998 the number had increased to 769. It jumped to 813 in 1999 and to 906 in 2000.

In what has become a highly politicised issue, police crime figures for 2001 have not been cleared for release. However, Agri-SA has put the number of incidents at about 1,000.

In 1997, there were 88 murders connected to farms attacks. By 1998 the figure had jumped to 142 and was at 144 in 1999. It stabilised at 144 murders in 2000. The figures for 2001 were said to show a small increase over the 2000 statistics.

Ferreira pointed out that in 1998, former President Nelson Mandela included the commandos in a rural security plan, and "encouraged farmers, especially white farmers, to join the commandos and help in rural protection".

Ferreira warned that the government was miscalculating in its new approach. "We believe commandos are a very important structure in combating not only farm attacks, but also general crime in rural areas," he said. "We know the minister said commandos are too white, and there were a lot of racial incidents on the white side of the commandos, but there's only been a few incidents of that [nature]."

"If you take [into account] how many operations commandos have been involved in under the police - more than 50,000 operations in 2001 and 37,000 operations in 2002 (most of them road-blockades, foot patrols, vehicle patrols, farm visits, manning of observation posts) - that's nearly 90,000 operations in two years," Ferreira said.

"Yet, since 1996, according to our records, there were only 30 criminal cases involving the commandos taken to the courts. If you have nearly 90,000 operations in two years and, we believe, 30 criminal cases since 1996, that's not bad."

However, he admitted that the commandos were not reflective of South Africa's demographic mix. "The minister was saying commandos are too white. At this very moment, 42 percent of all commandos are African, coloured [mixed-race] or Asian groups," Ferreira said. "Yes, for sure, on the officer side, it is mostly white, just over 90 percent. But that's also due to a lack of funding: in the last nine years, they have cut funds and human resources for commandos, so there's not a lot of money to train officers," he said.

The government had indicated that a special police unit would be responsible for rural security, Ferreira said. "Our experience in April 2002 when the SANDF [South African National Defence Force] took away all the regular services from the Lesotho borders, with KwaZulu-Natal and Free State, and left it to the police to protect that border and conduct crime prevention, was that they [the police] could not manage."

"On the Free State side, they asked the Fouriesburg commandos to help the police with that work," said Ferreira, who maintained that commandos were the "eyes and ears on the ground, from the people for the people".

RACIAL DIVIDE

But for many South Africans, the commandos remain a tangible reminder of the apartheid-era military machine. The controversy sparked by their removal indicates the distance South Africa still has to travel to achieve reconciliation.

A senior black police officer in the tiny rural Free State town of Warden told IRIN that most black officers welcomed the government's decision to phase out the part-time force.

On the wall in the charge office of the Warden police station is a poster that reads: "SAPS [South African Police Service] is ready to serve the farming community that feeds our nation." The officers IRIN spoke to at the station made it clear that SAPS would much prefer doing this without the "interference" of the commandos.

"The government's plan to have commandos was a good plan, but some of them - not all of them - were misusing their powers," said one senior police officer, who asked not to be named. "They were using that uniform to exact revenge against non-whites, black people. If you are a black person you cannot travel on a farm at night, because [if they catch you] you will get it."

He alleged that "these people, they want their [apartheid] government back, they want to rule again. But they have no chance, so they capitalised on the brown [army] uniform of the commandos. You can tell from the language they use, they are telling people 'you think this is Mandela's land' if they catch you on a farm."

However, Jan Wessels, the officer commanding Bravo Company of Harrismith Commando and a farmer in Warden, believes most residents don't trust the police. "There's a bridge to cross before that will happen," he said. "Lots of people, white and black, don't trust all policemen. Crime does not get investigated, the police themselves are deep into corruption. There's a big bridge to cross [in terms of trust]. If they don't get their house in order, the people won't join them."

The police service has been through an intense and largely successful transformation process, unlike the army, which still has a predominantly white top brass.

"With the phasing out of the commandos, the members of the permanent [defence] force will come and take back their camouflage clothes and R4 [assault] rifles. But that does not mean the end of the Harrismith Commando, that does not mean the end of us in the Warden area," Wessels said. "We have the structures in place. If a fire breaks out, these structures will be used to fight the fire."

IRIN interviewed Wessels at the command centre of Bravo Company, situated in an open field a short distance from Warden's main street. On one wall is an Afrikaans-language poster reading: "Identification of the Enemy". It details the "enemy's" purpose (to destabilise); orders (to commit crime); modus operandi (method of operating); motive (economic, political, revenge); and time frame ("African time").

Wessels was adamant that no member of his commando had been involved in violating the rights of people in the area. He said he had felt insulted by reported comments of provincial government ministers regarding the commandos and their attitude towards their black compatriots. "We feel really bad about this political announcement," he told IRIN. "Commandos are made to seem like a lot of hooligans. We are trained soldiers, we fought a war for this country [against the Basotho in 1858], and now the politicians of the day make us seem like a bunch of hooligans."

"These extreme-right people, we are not part of them. They are not farmers. It has been suggested that we should fight this perception that it's 'Boer commandos' doing things like planting bombs," he said in reference to a recent bombing campaign conducted by far-right-wing groups.

"I'm 30 years in the army now, and never have I had commandos doing such things," said Wessels. "If you are in my commando and you are doing such things, you will get legally charged. We are a very proud commando unit."

By contrast, Selo Letawana, the mayor of three rural Free State towns - Warden, Vrede and Memel - has hailed the president's decision as "long overdue". "There's significance given our history. We want to be policed by police, not the army or a part-time army force. The commandos have done nothing to improve the relationship between farmers and workers. Commando members are mainly farmers, and there are those who exploit and abuse workers... so it becomes a problem with revenge attacks," he said.

"We had organised a TV for all stakeholders to watch the president's speech, and when he made that announcement [on the commandos], people exploded with applause," Letawana said.

According to the government's information system, the phasing out of commando units was part of an overall transformation of the SANDF. [see: www.gcis.gov.za/buanews/index.html]

The education department and the SA Police Service (SAPS) will soon announce regulations regarding target shooting in the country's schools.

Education minister Kader made this announcement in Cape Town today.

This follows the announcement by the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) last month that the sport will be promoted in previously disadvantaged schools in the country.

This announcement drew sharp criticism and Prof Asmal therefore undertook to hold further discussions with his colleagues defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota and safety and security minister Charles Nqakula.

Prof Asmal said during discussions with Mr Nqakula and national police commissioner Jackie Selebi, an agreement was reached to develop this sport in schools and make it more representative.

'The police brought up new information, which the CEM and I were not aware of at the time we took the decision regarding .22 rifles that had been given to 260 schools by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

'What is most disturbing, is that some of these guns were either lost or stolen, and can no longer be accounted for,' said the minister

He added that it was also agreed that the SANDF should audit the 260 schools, which own different types of guns including high caliber guns and rifles.

This forms part of SANDF campaign to reduce the number of guns in the hands of private citizens, including the retrieval of guns that are in the possession of government departments, which was in line with the new legislation on the licensing of guns.

'We declared long before the Arms Acts that schools by regulation, should be gun free, and we only want to regulate the target shooting in schools as a sport and deracialise it also,' Prof Asmal emphasised.

He announced that the school goverrning bodies (SGBs) should be involved in deciding whether to have this kind of sport in their schools or not.

A special task team would be set up to monitor this process

A South African Air Force Cheetah C fighter jet crashed Tuesday at the Louis Trichardt air base in Limpopo province in the north of the country.

The South African Press Association quoted the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) as saying in a written statement that the aircraft was on a routine flight when the mishap took place.

"The pilot was forced to eject. He landed safely," the SANDF said. According to the report, a board of inquiry has been convened to investigate the cause of the accident.