Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

A FEMALE South African army officer has scandalised a United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo by, it is claimed, having sex with two subordinates.

The red-haired major's behaviour was allegedly so risqu(C) that two embarrassed Muslim soldiers from Tunisia had to be sent home after seeing her being groped by one of her lovers.

Major Ria Vivier - the only intelligence officer sent by the South African National Defence Force to the DRC - is accused of being so busy having sex that she failed to do her job properly. As a result, it is claimed, she failed to discover that four SANDF soldiers were trapped by attacking rebel forces for two weeks.

She now faces charges of public indecency, unseemly behaviour, disobeying a lawful command and conduct prejudicial to military discipline.

The divorced mother of one is also charged with "scandalous behaviour, or conduct unbecoming an officer and a lady" by having sex with Corporal Neil Sanna, a married non-commissioned officer eight ranks below her.

If found guilty, the army intends cashiering Vivier. This would involve her epaulettes being publicly stripped from her shoulders, and then trampled on by her entire unit. She would formally be treated "as if she had never been in the defence force". The army is seeking to have Sanna dishonourably discharged.

A court martial in Thaba Tshwane outside Pretoria this week heard that Vivier rocked the Iviko base of the UN Observer Mission to the Congo (Monuc) with her raunchy behaviour when she was deployed there for six months from October last year to April this year.

According to the charge sheet, Vivier's affair with Sanna involved:

Allowing Sanna to grope her breasts under her shirt in full view of stunned UN soldiers. Two Tunisian guards who witnessed the couple's behaviour were reportedly so shocked that they were sent home;

Cuddling up to Sanna, holding his hand and resting her head on his shoulder while on a military flight;

Entering each other's tents - supposedly off-limits to soldiers of the opposite sex, and;

Allowing Sanna to address her by her first name instead of by her rank.

Vivier is also charged with having sex with married air-freight handler and father of two, Sergeant Eddie van Meyeren.

Van Meyeren - who was reportedly desperately trying to patch up his relationship with his wife and two daughters this week - told the tribunal on Wednesday that he and Vivier, who he said were friends, had sex in his tent after she took her shirt off at the end of a drinking session.

Vivier and Sanna have both pleaded not guilty.

While in the DRC, Vivier's superiors accused her of having failed to give them regular intelligence briefings, as she was required to do.

But Vivier's and Sanna's lawyer, Joe Msiza, claimed a fellow officer pointed a finger at Vivier because she had spurned his advances.

The prosecution evidence suggested that Vivier was too busy having sex to do her job, threatening the lives of the 140 SA troops then in the DRC

The case has been postponed to July 8.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota has rejected reports that South Africa soldiers doing duty in the Democratis Republic of Congo were not receiving proper medical care.

He also dismissed allegations that the deployment included an HIV-positive soldier and individuals who were medically unfit.

"I am concerned because the reports are untrue and because of the unknown intentions of a source who is propagating damaging untruths about the Defence Department," Lekota said in a statement on Thursday.

Recent newspaper reports suggested the SA National Defence Force did not provide adequate health care for its troops deployed in the DRC.

It was also alleged that the first soldier evacuated from Kindu in the DRC to South Africa was an HIV/Aids casualty. Another SANDF member reportedly had a history of psychological problems, and was deployed against his will.

The South African troops are serving in the DRC in support of a United Nations peacekeeping mission.

Lekota said the soldier with HIV/Aids evacuated to 1 Military Hospital Pretoria was a member of the UN mission and not an SANDF soldier.

The hospital served as a UN evacuation facility for the mission in the DRC, as well as an African Union peace contingent in Burundi.

Lekota said five South African soldiers were evacuated to the hospital last year from Burundi and from Kinshasa in the DRC last year.

Since January this year, three were brought back for health reasons from the two countries.

"These members were evacuated for different health problems unrelated to HIV/Aids. None of them came from Kindu in the DRC," Lekota said.

He said all members of the SANDF were subjected to a comprehensive health assessment before being deployed.

"One member who was sick, however, slipped through the net and was deployed on May 11 this year. As soon as this was found out, he was returned to South Africa on May 15."

On the issue of medical care, Lekota said, the ship carrying containers with SANDF logistics had been delayed.

The container holding medical supplies was initially to be transported by air. It was eventually decided to ship the container by sea to cut costs.

"The container was delayed and missed its departure time.

However, it should be stated categorically that at no stage were our troops in any danger," Lekota said.

He called on the media to reflect facts instead of rumours when reporting on South African troops deployed abroad.

Defence Ministry spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi said the UN did not prohibit the deployment of troops who were HIV positive.

"But the SANDF's policy is not to use individuals with HIV/Aids in missions abroad. We feel the strain and harsh conditions could exacerbate their condition," he said.

South African troops may soon be assisting the French-led European Union mission protecting civilians in the strife-torn town of Bunia, in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Defence ministry spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi told IRIN the ministry had recommended that the multi-national force in Bunia - mandated by the UN to safeguard residents from Hema and Lendu ethnic militia who have killed hundreds of civilians - be supported by 22 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) personnel and two helicopters.

The Bunia support group would be in addition to the more than 1,200 South African troops joining the UN Mission in the DRC known as MONUC.

South African President Thabo Mbeki on Friday sent a memorandum to parliament, noting that he had officially approved the deployment of troops in support of MONUC, at a cost of R819 million (about US $104 million).

The South African Press Association reported that the SANDF contingent would fulfil South Africa's international obligations in the eastern DRC as part of the disarmament, demobilisation, re-integration, repatriation and resettlement (DDRRR) programme of the UN.

Mbeki's memorandum said a total of 1,268 personnel would be deployed for a year, rotating after six months. The deployment would involve an infantry battalion group of 950 soldiers, a support group of 100, an engineer company of 175, a ferry unit of 15, a water well drilling unit of 12, and 16 military police personnel.

The total estimated reimbursement from the UN for initial non-inventory equipment, personnel allowance, and logistical support would amount to R200 million (US $25 million), leaving a shortfall of R619 million (US $78 million), which "the national treasury advised ... [would] be addressed through the normal budgetary process," the memorandum added.

Mkhwanazi told IRIN that the size of South Africa's MONUC contribution was on a par with its deployment in Burundi, where troops have been guarding political leaders during that country's transition period.

Mark Malan, head of the peace missions programme at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, told IRIN that deployment of the MONUC troops in Kindu had been delayed but was now going ahead as "part of MONUC phase three deployment".

"It's been a long process of negotiation to get the troops there - their main mission is to spearhead the DDRRR programme in the Kivu [region, in eastern DRC]," he added.

It was important to differentiate between the MONUC deployment and the support for the multinational EU force in Bunia, Malan said.

"The 22 personnel and two Oryx choppers joining the French-led EU force are going to be stationed at Entebbe airport [in Uganda]. The two Oryx choppers will be used in search and rescue missions for the interim multinational emergency force," he said.

According to Malan it was politically important that non-EU contributors such as Canada and South Africa deployed troops to the Bunia force, which he described as "an operation within an operation", as it was funded outside of MONUC.

The South African deployment would help "allay Rwandan and other suspicions of this being a [purely] French mission," Malan noted.

Mkhwanazi said Mbeki would likely make a decision on the Bunia deployment this week.

A total of 22 SA National Defence Force members are expected to go to the strife-torn town of Bunia in the north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota made a recommendation to this effect to President Thabo Mbeki last week, the minister's spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi said.

He said the group was expected to depart for the DRC on Tuesday. They are to become part of a French-led multinational emergency force in Bunia.

Mkhwanazi said four of the South African soldiers would be based at the forces' headquarters in Bunia, and the other 18 in Entebbe in Uganda, which is the logistics based.

Two SANDF helicopters would also be sent to Entebbe. Thirteen of the 18 soldiers based there would be air crew members tasked with evacuating members of the force should the need arise.

Presidential spokesman Bheki Khumalo said the deployment was expected to be officially authorised by Mbeki early next week after which he would have to brief Parliament on the matter.

On Friday, Mbeki informed Parliament he had officially approved the deployment of SANDF personnel in the DRC to the tune of about R819,6 million.

The SANDF contingent would fulfil South Africa's international obligations in the eastern DRC as part of the disarmament, demobilisation, re-integration, repatriation and resettlement programme of the United Nations.

In a memorandum to National Assembly Speaker Dr Frene Ginwala and Parliament, the president said a total of 1268 personnel would be deployed for a year, rotating after six months.

The deployment would involve an infantry battalion group of 950 soldiers, a support group of 100, an engineer company of 175, a ferry unit of 15, a water well drilling unit of 12, and 16 military The proposed Bunia deployment was in addition to these figures, Khumalo said.

Inter-ethnic clashes and massacres in Bunia have reportedly claimed hundreds of lives in recent weeks and prompted the deployment of a French-led multinational emergency force.

Fighting in the area has continued in spite of a peace deal signed by warring DRC factions in South Africa in April.

Mkhwanazi denied a newspaper report that members of a rebel group stole weapons and light infantry vehicles from SANDF soldiers based in the DRC town of Luberno.

"No weapons or any equipment was taken by a so-called rebel group," Mkhwanazi said. "What happened is that the washing of some members was stolen by rebels."

SOUTH Africa's year-long peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo is costing taxpayers a whopping R819.6-million, according to a letter from President Thabo Mbeki to Parliament.

Mbeki told the National Assembly that he had authorised the deployment of 1 268 members of the South African National Defence Force to the eastern Congo for one year to fulfil the country's obligations to the United Nations.

The SANDF is finalising plans for another deployment to northeastern Congo, around the strife-torn town of Bunia, as part of the European Union-led UN mission dubbed Operation Artemis.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota sent a letter to Mbeki this week recommending the deployment to Bunia.

Mbeki's spokesman Bheki Khumalo said the President would announce his decision early next week on whether more SA troops would be flown to the Congo.

The funding of this mission has not yet been determined.

But for the mission already in progress, the UN is expected to reimburse South Africa only R200-million.

This will result in a shortfall of R619-million.

"The National Treasury advised that the shortfall should be addressed through the normal budgetary process," Mbeki said.

The force, which has been in the Congo for several months, was part of the "disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration, repatriation and resettlement" programme of the UN, he said.

The deployment included an infantry battalion group of 950 members, a support group of 100, an engineering company of 175, a ferry unit of 15, a water well-drilling unit of 12 and 16 military police, Mbeki said.

Lekota said this week that, as the biggest economy in the region, South Africa could not avoid its peacekeeping responsibilities.

But last week, he told Parliament the SANDF required a bigger budget to fulfil its peacekeeping functions in Africa.

The SANDF had deployed twice as many soldiers to regional peacekeeping operations than envisaged in the defence review, Lekota said.

The budget, however, had not increased, he added.

Defence spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi said troops were sent to the Congo in phases as part of the UN Monuc 3 mission.

The last contingent left Pretoria at the end of May.

South Africa has offered to participate in Operation Artemis and is expected to send between 120 and 200 troops.

Two Oryx helicopters will also be sent to the Ugandan town of Entebbe, where the 1 500-member multi-national force - consisting mostly of French troops - was sent from earlier this month.

The German Parliament this week approved the deployment of 350 troops to the region.

Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Sweden and Ireland have also said they would contribute to the force to end ethnic conflict in the area, which has claimed hundreds of lives in recent weeks and resulted in about 50 000 deaths since 1999.

The area has stabilised since the arrival of the force, but remains heavily militarised.

A total of 22 SA National Defence Force members are expected to go to the strife-torn town of Bunia in the north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota made a recommendation to this effect to President Thabo Mbeki last week, the minister's spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi said.

He said the group was expected to depart for the DRC on Tuesday. They are to become part of a French-led multinational emergency force in Bunia.

Mkhwanazi said four of the South African soldiers would be based at the forces' headquarters in Bunia, and the other 18 in Entebbe in Uganda, which is the logistics based.

Two SANDF helicopters would also be sent to Entebbe. Thirteen of the 18 soldiers based there would be air crew members tasked with evacuating members of the force should the need arise.

Presidential spokesman Bheki Khumalo said the deployment was expected to be officially authorised by Mbeki early next week after which he would have to brief Parliament on the matter.

On Friday, Mbeki informed Parliament he had officially approved the deployment of SANDF personnel in the DRC to the tune of about R819,6 million.

The SANDF contingent would fulfil South Africa's international obligations in the eastern DRC as part of the disarmament, demobilisation, re-integration, repatriation and resettlement programme of the United Nations.

In a memorandum to National Assembly Speaker Dr Frene Ginwala and Parliament, the president said a total of 1268 personnel would be deployed for a year, rotating after six months.

The deployment would involve an infantry battalion group of 950 soldiers, a support group of 100, an engineer company of 175, a ferry unit of 15, a water well drilling unit of 12, and 16 military

The proposed Bunia deployment was in addition to these figures, Khumalo said.

Inter-ethnic clashes and massacres in Bunia have reportedly claimed hundreds of lives in recent weeks and prompted the deployment of a French-led multinational emergency force.

Fighting in the area has continued in spite of a peace deal signed by warring DRC factions in South Africa in April.

Mkhwanazi denied a newspaper report that members of a rebel group stole weapons and light infantry vehicles from SANDF soldiers based in the DRC town of Luberno.

"No weapons or any equipment was taken by a so-called rebel group," Mkhwanazi said. "What happened is that the washing of some members was stolen by rebels."

President Thabo Mbeki would consider this weekend a proposal by the Defence Ministry that South African troops be sent to the strife-torn town of Bunia in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, his office said on Saturday [21 June].

The ministry's submission was received on Friday [20 June], and the president was expected to announce his decision early next week, his spokesman Bheki Khumalo told SAPA. No details of the ministry's submission were immediately available.

On Friday, Mbeki informed parliament he had officially approved the deployment of South African National Defence Force personnel in DRCongo to the tune of about 819.6m rand. The SANDF contingent would fulfil South Africa's international obligations in eastern DRCongo as part of the disarmament, demobilization, re-integration, repatriation and resettlement programme of the UN.

In a memorandum to National Assembly Speaker Dr Frene Ginwala and parliament, the president said a total of 1,268 personnel would be deployed for a year, rotating after six months. The deployment would involve an infantry battalion group of 950 soldiers, a support group of 100, an engineer company of 175, a ferry unit of 15, a water well drilling unit of 12, and 16 military [sentence as published]. The proposed Bunia deployment was in addition to these figures, Khumalo said.

Inter-ethnic clashes and massacres in Bunia have reportedly claimed hundreds of lives in recent weeks and prompted the deployment of a French-led multinational emergency force. Fighting in the area has continued in spite of a peace deal signed by warring DRCongo factions in South Africa in April.

President Thabo Mbeki has officially approved the deployment of South African National Defence Force [SANDF] personnel in the Democratic Republic of Congo, at a cost of about 819.6m rand.

The SANDF contingent will fulfil South Africa's international obligations in the eastern DRC as part of the disarmament, demobilization, re-integration, repatriation and resettlement programme of the United Nations.

In a memorandum to National Assembly Speaker Dr Frene Ginwala and parliament, he said a total of 1,268 personnel would be deployed for a year, rotating after six months. The deployment would involve an infantry battalion group of 950 soldiers, a support group of 100, an engineer company of 175, a ferry unit of 15, a water well drilling unit of 12, and 16 military police personnel.

The expected cost from January 2003 to the end of the 2005/06 financial year totalled 819.634m rand, he said.

The total estimated reimbursement from the UN for initial non-inventory equipment, personnel allowance, and logistical support would amount to 200m rand.

"The National Treasury advised that the shortfall should be addressed through the normal budgetary process," Mbeki said.

The Ministry of Defence said on Thursday concerns about the quality of medical support for SA National Defence Force troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo were misplaced.

Spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi said reports that the SA Military Health Service and the United Nations were providing the 1,400 South Africans there a shambolic service lacked context.

A newspaper said on Thursday the problems encountered by their reporter during a visit to the South African contingent of Monuc, the UN peacekeeping force in the DRC, ranged from a lack of foot powder and oxygen to cases of HIV/Aids.

In the reports blockages in the UN's logistics system were cited as the reason for the delay in the delivery of the equipment to Kindu, the South African base.

But the reports said critics believed the problem lay in Pretoria where the deployment of the medics had been poorly planned and their equipment and supplies haphazardly packed.

"Other serious problems the ministry would not comment on are how it could have happened that the first medical casualty was a soldier with terminal HIV/Aids and tuberculosis," the report said.

According to UN guidelines, the entire South African contingent should have been tested for HIV and other serious illnesses before departure. Those testing positive should not have been deployed.

The second casualty was a soldier with a long history of mental problems who reportedly said he had been forced to go to the DRC.

A third had been suffering from ulcers "for years" and had to be sent home with internal bleeding.

As far as equipment was concerned, the team had to cope without oxygen although they had been supplied with a ventilator, which required an oxygen cylinder to work.

Although there was nearly no foot powder or mosquito repellent, there was plenty of medication for post-menopausal women, post-natal pharmaceuticals and antidote for insecticides.

The team also has four wheelchairs, but no beds, tables or chairs.

Patients were being examined while sitting on steel trunks.

Dozens of paediatric neck supports had been supplied, but none for adults, and 10,000 bedpan covers were delivered - but no bedpans.

Speaking to Sapa, Mkhwanazi said it was vital for the public to note that the troops in the DRC were seconded to the UN and that the UN - not the SANDF -was responsible for their well-being and re-supply.

This meant that far from being at the end of a long and tenuous supply line from Pretoria, the SANDF contingent could readily draw on Monuc supply depots in the DRC itself.

Peacekeeping was not an SANDF core function. When tasked to perform it, the military did so in support of other departments, much as it did when supporting the police in the fight against crime.

Without blaming the UN, this made it difficult for the ministry to answer all questions raised regarding such deployments.

Turning to the issues raised in the reports, Mkhwanazi said a shipment of South African gear had been delayed at sea and this had caused a hiccup in the delivery of some equipment.

"But it is important to note that once there the equipment becomes part of a common UN pool," he said.

"The UN medical team at Kindu is multinational and the South African detachment has access to pool equipment provided by other contingents in the meantime. So it's not like they are unable to work," he added.

There was also a complete Chinese field hospital in the city for UN troops, including the South Africans.

Mkhwanazi said no South Africans had been evacuated from Kindu with HIV or tuberculosis.

He said in terms of a standing Memorandum of Understanding, 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria was Monuc's "Level 4 medical facility".

"The patients evacuated from the DRC to 1 Mil were not from the SANDF. It is unfortunate that this was simply assumed."

Mkhwanazi further denied that any SANDF personnel had been forced against their will to go to Kindu. Current policy required soldiers to volunteer for international duty.

The SANDF also had a strict policy against deploying HIV-positive personnel on UN missions because of the negative health consequences a deployment under adverse conditions could hold for them.

A South African National Defence Force warrant officer on border patrol duty found a number of buried explosives and related devices on a Free State farm near Clarens on Tuesday, police reported on Wednesday.

Constable Christopher Mophiring said warrant officer H B van Rhyn was on patrol on the farm Pelgrimsrust when local residents told him about suspicious-looking objects that had been exposed by erosion on a hillside.

When he visited the spot he found what appeared to be a cache of pipebombs, fuses and plastic explosives.

The materials had been buried for some years as everything was corroded and discoloured.

Van Rhyn collected the materials and took them to the police in Fouriesburg, said Mophiring, where explosives experts destroyed them.

The police explosives unit, along with members of the SANDF, would go over the farm with sniffer dogs on Wednesday to see whether any further explosives could be found, said Mophiring.

The South African military's ability to perform peacekeeping missions in Africa has not been compromised by a tight defence budget, says a defence commentator.

Len le Roux, the head of the Defence Programme at the Institute of Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria, insists that, while the South African defence budget situation is serious and needs to be addressed, the army is not in crisis.

His remark followed a statement by the minister of defence, Mosiuoa Lekota, that the South African defence budget was being severely stretched by the country's increased peacekeeping commitments in Africa.

"Whilst our constitutional mandate remains the same, our increased regional commitments have brought about additional spending which brings pressures to bear on our budget allocation," he told parliament on Friday.

That spending, Lekota said "were not foreseen and cannot be accommodated".

Emphasizing the constraint, Lekota said: "It costs much more to send a soldier on a peacekeeping operation, than it does to maintain that soldier in a base in South Africa".

South Africa has around 700 peacekeepers in Burundi, and it has pledged to send another contingent to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) soon. The number of peacekeepers -- both in Burundi and Congo -- is expected reach 2,400, according to the ministry of defence sources.

Lekota said the South African National Defence Force incurred increased operating costs while on peacekeeping missions, including additional allowances for the soldiers it deployed.

He said South Africa was deploying twice as many members of the South African National Defence Force as was anticipated in the last Defence Review, while the budget requested in the same Review has not been granted. Defence has been allocated 6.74 percent of South African government expenditure this year.

"In the light of the challenges outlined above, the SANDF must be orientated so that it is attuned to meet its obligations. Training, equipment and personnel must be aligned for peace-keeping operations," Lekota said.

The army is also serving 103 international agreements which South Africa has signed with 50 countries.

South Africa is supposed to be refunded the expenditure of peacekeeping missions which it carries out under the banner of the United Nations. Even if the SANDF carries the cost of the deployment up-front, it should get the money back later.

Le Roux says the bigger problem is that the army has significant personnel and capital costs, which leaves its operating budget -which must cover the costs of its peace-keeping mission - very thin.

Defence spending is a politically sensitive issue in South Africa, which has huge social problems.

In his speech, Lekota underlined the need for African countries to invest in the security of the continent. "The war on terror inevitably would spill into our continent, a consequence of which Africa has now become one of the theatres of international terrorist activity - as witnessed by the recent attack in Morocco," he said.

"This consequence has imposed fresh obligations on African countries to equip themselves to respond to all of these threats in a world which is becoming less secure as a result of unilateral actions by the great powers.

"The Afghanistan war and the invasion of Iraq have increased the sense of unease in Africa too, thus tempting Africa to increase defence spending and to siphon off attention and resources from other areas of security like piracy, environmental degradation, disaster relief, and search and rescue" Lekota added.

"The situation today does not allow us to use the concept of a peace dividend either in defence planning or in the defence budget. We therefore need to pool our resources. To be effective, we need to deal with these problems collectively and regional collectives like the Southern African Development Community (SADC) become more important," he explained.

Lekota emphasized the need for the African Standby Force (ASF) which would perform peacekeeping missions under the auspices of the African Union (AU).

At the recent summit of the Group of Eight (G8) in Evian, France, the world's wealthy countries committed themselves to mobilising technical and financial assistance for the ASF.

Lekota said the invasion of Iraq inflicted great damage on the United Nations as a means of warding off armed conflicts.

"Whilst we agree that the integrity of the U.N. has been affected, we believe that it is not redundant. Recent events emphasize the need to speed up reform of the U.N. and the Security Council," he said.

"There is growing consensus that there is need for increased representation for Africa and the developing world. The world cannot tolerate a situation where the few most powerful nations hold the majority of the nations of the world to ransom," Lekota added.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council with vetoes - the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia - do not reflect the contemporary world, he said. No African, Latin American or less developed Asian nation has a permanent voice on the council.

DEFENCE Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Friday that South Africa's commit ments to peacekeeping and peacemaking on the continent mean the South African National Defence Force will need more money.

This, he said, would become even more important when the Southern African Development Community Mutual Defence Pact is signed in August, paving the way for the creation of the African Standby Force as a permanent military force for the continent.

Addressing Parliament on Friday, Lekota said that, as the biggest economy in the SADC region, South Africa would have to carry much responsibility for the new regional force. He said defence ministers in the SADC region had resolved all issues delaying the signing of the defence pact and that he was confident this would be done at the next regional heads of state summit in August.

"Parliament and the electorate must remember that each of the state parties participating in collective security do so in keeping with what resources they possess," Lekota said.

He warned that South Africa's increased regional commitments, which have seen it deploying peacekeeping units in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, were putting a strain on his department's budget.

"We are deploying twice as many members of the SANDF than was anticipated in the defence review, while our budget, as anticipated in the same review, has not been met," he said.

The defence department was allocated R20.05 -billion for 2003-04. While this marks an increase from last financial year's budget, Lekota said it was not enough as it meant South Africa had allocated only 1.62% of its gross domestic product and 6.7% of government expenditure to defence.

"This should be compared with countries such as Nigeria, which also plays an important role in the peace mission and spends 4.5% of its GDP on defence.

"Our neighbour Botswana allocates 5.4% of GDP to defence and our sister country Namibia spends 6.3% on defence," Lekota said.

In terms of the African Union's approach to setting up a pan-African military force to deal with the continent's conflicts, each regional bloc must form its own pact and these will be pulled together to form an African body.

With the West African region already far ahead because of its regional armed force that has existed for more than a decade, it is now up to regions like the SADC to follow suit for the AU's dream to become reality.

Lekota told Parliament that discussions about the formation of the continental standby force were at an advanced stage and that consensus had been reached already on issues such as the proposed force's link to AU structures, the creation of permanent regional headquarters and similar training for military personnel.

African National Congress MP and chair man of the parliamentary committee on defence Thandi Modise said some of the problems that plagued the defence force during the difficult post-1994 integration era could have been avoided had the state provided enough resources to the army.

Modise warned that South Africa would be unable to fulfil its constitutional mandate and its continental obligations without more money.

"The question is, can South Africa afford to deploy effectively, efficiently and rapidly to the region and to the rest of the continent without leaving the republic vulnerable?

"When we look back at the September 11 events, can we continue to hold onto the belief that the traditional threat analysis and identification period of five or 15 years is enough to rely on or should we do what the Constitution tells us to do?" she asked.

Fire hazards at Pretoria's 1 Military Hospital should be a thing of the past by next Tuesday, the defence force said on Thursday.

But if they were not, the consequences would be dire, warned Tshwane emergency services spokesman Johan Pieterse.

"We will not bend the rules for them. This is people's lives we are talking about. If everything is not right by Tuesday, we will close the hospital."

Military health services spokesman Major Niko Allie said everything possible was being done to ensure that hazards pointed out by fire inspectors last Friday were rectified by next week's deadline.

"I am confident we will be ready."

If not, all patients - more than 1000 at any given time - would have to be transferred to other public hospitals, Pieterse said.

Fire inspectors who examined the hospital last Tuesday found a shortage of fire extinguishers and smoke alarms, insufficient emergency lighting, obstructed or locked escape routes, and inadequate signage.

The hospital also had to submit a new, revised building plan following recent renovations.

These shortcomings were serious and potentially life-threatening, Pieterse said.

"In a fire, even three minutes can mean the difference between life and death."

He could not state the exact extent of the shortages.

"But the bottom line is, they are not complying with the rules - even if they are only one fire extinguisher short."

The hospital, Pieterse said, had failed to fully adhere to two previous fire hazard warnings, one in 2001 and one in 2002, which were of less serious.

He added his department was kept informed of steps taken to rectify the shortcomings, and was optimistic everything would be ready in time.

Once the process was completed, the focus would shift to other, less dangerous fire hazards identified at the hospital, Pieterse said.

The 1 Military Hospital serves military staff and their families, members of other armed forces, United Nations staff, and sometimes visiting foreign diplomats.

Allie said there was no need for patients to worry, as the shortcomings were being urgently addressed.

"There is no cause for concern."

He added the hospital itself had requested the fire risk evaluation. This was after an in-house investigation discovered the problem earlier this month.

The hospital was not previously aware of any problems. Inspections were done by the General Support Base Thaba Tshwane, and reports were given directly to the Department of Public Works, which owns the hospital premises.

"1 Military Hospital never saw the inspection reports."

A departmental spokesman was not available for comment.

The Democratic Alliance urged Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota to ensure that the hospital adhered to safety regulations.

"It will be a major embarrassment if a prestigious hospital such as 1 Military Hospital would be forced to close its doors because of government incompetence and bungling," defence spokesman Hendrik Schmidt said.

He would recommend that Parliament's defence portfolio committee visit other military hospitals to examine their compliance to fire regulations.

The defence force today opened a new Regional Military Health Training Centre set to provide training on health and disaster management to military students from the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The United States (US) government has contributed about R20-million towards the building and refurbishing of the training facility.

Deputy Chief Minister of US mission Gillian Milovanovic officially opened the facility housed at the South African Military Health School in Thaba Tshwane, Pretoria.

Ms Milovanovic represented the US d'Affaires Department at the function.

She said the facility would assist SADC countries and beyond, to fulfill the mission of providing a comprehensive, excellent and self-supporting multidisciplinary military health service.

Ms Milovanovic added that this would ensure a 'healthy military community' in South Africa, SADC and other African countries.

Ms Milovanovic said there was quite a need for quality training to ensure that disasters such as earthquakes, floods and disease outbreaks were best attended to in order to minimise their impact on citizens.

The SA National Defence Force's (SANDF) Lieutenant-General Jansen van Rensberg saluted the US government for investing in the region.

Lieutenant-General Van Rensburg said the training was the backbone for capacity building within the SANDF and defence forces within the region.

He said the training centre would help produce skilled health care providers, 'able to render effective emergency care and assist during surgery in emergency situations.'

He added it would help 'render operational health on the battlefield...one of the most pressing needs for the South African Region is training in disaster medicine.'

'Through the training of military personnel in lifesaving skills, you establish a skilled health care professional that takes knowledge and attitude back home to their communities to become a force multiplier in providing the country with personnel able to address local humanitarian needs,' he added.

The military health centre has a refurbished simulation laboratory with twelve practical stations, 120-seat auditorium, three furnished classrooms with 30 donated computers for computerised interactive learning.

The centre is presently awaiting the delivery of R7-million worth of practical equipment for the laboratory.

THE commander of a battalion and a major have been accused of influencing a rifleman to change his statement implicating two senior officers in a murder plot.

The commanding officer of 121 Battalion at Mtubatuba on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast, Colonel Louis van Eeden, and legal officer, Major Ferdinand Labuschagne, appeared in the kwaMsane Magistrate's Court this week on a charge of defeating the ends of justice.

Van Eeden and Labuschagne's arrests follows that of two other senior officers, Captain Andre Goosen and Major Willem Bronkhorst, who are facing a charge of conspiracy to murder.

They have already appeared in court and were denied bail.

Goosen and Bronkhorst were arrested early in May after Rifleman Vikimpi Sithole made a statement to police in which he claimed that they had asked him to kill Major July Manekwane, who is the second-in-command at the base.

Van Eeden, 40, and 33-year-old Labuschagne were arrested after it was claimed they allegedly tried to persuade Sithole to make a new statement.

Sithole was also allegedly threatened that his contract would not be renewed.

Sithole, who is a state witness, has since been placed in the witness protection programme.

Investigating officer Msawenkosi Mthembu, who opposed bail for both Van Eeden and Labuschagne, said he believed they would abscond if granted bail.

Labuschagne denied claims that he had taken Sithole to "bushes" in St Lucia where he was threatened.

Labuschagne told the court that Sithole had approached him: "He told me that he had made a big mistake [in making his statement] but that he had been forced to do so."

Labuschagne said he was then given instructions by his superior to take Sithole to the Mtubatuba Magistrate's Court, where Sithole made a new statement.

Labuschagne also claimed that Sithole had contacted him by telephone from the safe house in Pretoria - where he is in the witness protection programme - and had said that he had been kidnapped by police.

Both applicants told the court that they had only R500 each as their salaries had been stopped by the SANDF.

There was also drama in court when the state advocate, Luxolo Mbusi, refused an offer from the defence lawyer, Kobus Booyens, for a civilian Afrikaans interpreter.

Mthembu told the court that he had information that the interpreter was involved in the loss of ammunition from the battalion.

He was referring to an audit late last year that revealed that ammunition worth R2-million had gone missing from the base.

In his closing argument, Mbusi told the court that it would be an injustice to release the two as there is "a possibility that ammunition lost from their base was used to further the activities of the Boeremag".

Van Eeden and Labuschagne will know tomorrow whether they will be granted bail.

Two of the four crew members of an SA Air Force helicopter that crash-landed in Durban were still receiving high care treatment on Friday, the SA National Defence Force said.

It said co-pilot Lieutenant Brent Groger and flight engineer Sergeant Andrew Walker were in a stable condition in the St Augustine's hospital in Durban.

"They are still in the intensive care unit and their progress is satisfactory," the SANDF said in a statement.

The condition of the second co-pilot, Reserve Force Captain Trevor Williams, was also stable.

Pilot Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Opperman would be discharged later in the day.

The SAAF Oryx helicopter of 15 Squadron crash-landed at Durban International Airport during a training flight on Thursday.

A board of inquiry had been convened to investigate the cause of the crash, the SANDF said.

The airport houses an air force station and is home to 15 Squadron, which operates Oryx and Eurocopter BK117 light helicopters.

The Defence Ministry is trying to establish if apartheid-era chemical and biological warfare expert Wouter Basson has been in contact with anyone in the SA National Defence Force in connection with his reinstatement.

"We are trying to establish if he has had any contact or meetings with anyone in the defence force," ministry spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi told Sapa on Friday.

Asked if he knew how long this process would take, Mkhwanazi said he was not sure as the defence force was a large body.

Basson told the National Press Club, Pretoria, on Thursday that he was seeking reinstatement. The first overtures in this regard were made on his behalf on earlier in the day, he said.

A reinstatement would make him the most experienced and academically qualified general in the SANDF, Basson said.

He is currently employed as a cardiologist at a private hospital in Cape Town.

Basson and 23 other generals were discharged from the former SA Defence Force in 1992.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein refused the State's request that Basson be-retried. The Pretoria High Court acquitted Basson on 46 criminal charges last year, including charges of murder, drug trafficking, fraud and theft.

Basson said the defence force owed him a reinstatement since he was dismissed without reason or a chance to defend himself.

He thought he would be suited for a senior command post.

He would accept a posting in any field, "anywhere, as long as I can achieve my seniority". He had most likely "outgrown" the military medical service.

Basson would not discuss details of the talks with the SANDF, saying they were confidential.

A former Grahamstown SANDF storeman and his township friend were handed huge jail sentences for trying to sell 40 SANDF machine guns and semi-automatic rifles to police agents posing as crooked members of the Eastern Cape taxi community.

Grahamstown Lance corporal Bangile Mabona, 31, was jailed yesterday (subs: thurs) for an effective 25 years for 10 counts under the 1969 Arms and Ammunitions Act.

Unemployed Joza resident Welile Tinta, 36, was jailed on three counts for nine years.

All the charges related to possession and supplying 40 R1s and Uzzie sub-machine guns to criminal elements.

Grahamstown regional magistrate Samson Dunjwa said in delivering sentence that Mabona was a "poison" in his community and instead of protecting people he became their "enemy".

As the magistrate started reading out the sentence, a woman believed to be Mabona's wife, started crying, then wailing and had to be removed from the courtroom.

Mabona, wearing a "German" haircut and a smart black jacket, looked stricken.

He weaved from the waist, then sat down, then stood slouched against the back of the dock.

Some members of the full gallery covered their faces while a young boy and a woman had tears streaming.

As the pair went down the stairs members of the gallery shook Mabona's hands or touched him.

However, magistrate Dunjwa said what the men had done was a very "serious offence" as the weapons were used to commit murder against innocent citizens.

He said taxi violence was "rife all over the country" and it was even more reprehensible that the weapons would have been used to kill black commuters.

The court had a duty to protect the community from violence and uphold law and order.

The court earlier heard that police intelligence officers picked up information that weapons from the Grahamstown military base were finding their way into the taxi industry.

Acting on information, the serious violent crimes unit set up two undercover deals in which Mabona each time supplied one Uzzi sub-machine gun for the price of R1000.

On August 11, 2001, the unit set up a big sting operation, swooping on a army hanger in the Grahamstown army base trapping Mabona with 10 Uzzies and 10 R1s.

They then went to Tinta's home in Joza's K Street and unearthed a further 20 R1s and Uzzies in a wall, under his bed and in a trunk.

The weapons in the army hanger were part of a old weapons stock pile which were waiting to be destroyed by a Port Elizabeth firm.

The guns recovered from the two had been tested and all had worked, although some were not able to fire on automatic.

Defence advocate Charles Stamper filed an appeal against the convictions on grounds "trapping the appellant (Mabona) on multiple occasions for the same offence before arresting him went beyond 'providing' an opportunity to commit an offence" as proscribed by section 252 (a)2 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

He said the state had set out to ensure that his clients would receive "a more severe sentence".

Stamper will argue that Tinta was trapped after police had already gone beyond the ambit of Section 252 (a) 2.

As distraught family and friends filed out of the courtroom, a leading PAC figure shouted that the new government had sold out the people.

However, others in court felt that the state had done well to remove 40 deadly weapons from the hands of violent people living in the community.

Apartheid-era chemical and biological warfare expert Dr Wouter Basson is seeking reinstatement to the South African National Defence Force.

The first overtures in this regard were made on his behalf on Thursday, he told the National Press Club in Pretoria.

A reinstatement would make him the most experienced and academically qualified general in the SANDF, Basson said.

He is currently employed as a cardiologist at a private hospital in Cape Town.

Basson and 23 other generals were discharged from the former SA Defence Force in 1992.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein refused the State's request that Basson be-retried. The Pretoria High Court acquitted Basson on 46 criminal charges last year, including charges of murder, drug trafficking, fraud and theft.

Basson said the defence force owed him a reinstatement since he was dismissed without reason or a chance to defend himself.

He thought he would be suited for a senior command post.

He would accept a posting in any field, "anywhere, as long as I can achieve my seniority". He had most likely "outgrown" the military medical service.

Asked if he would accept a financial package instead, Basson said he was not sure, "but they will have to give good reasons".

He thanked the SANDF for paying his legal fees to the tune of R13-million, and said he would be able to "serve them with great fruit in the next few years".

He had been offered numerous other jobs - from defence forces seeking his services as a chemical and biological warfare adviser, and from pharmaceutical companies.

He was not interested, however, as he had become a "has-been" in that field.

Basson felt he was owed apologies by a number of people, including former Truth and Reconciliation Commission chairman Desmond Tutu, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, and religious minister Ockie Raubenheimer.

All three, he said, made much in public of human rights abuses he was supposed to have committed, Raubenheimer doing so in Basson's own church.

On the costs of his drawn-out court case, which Basson estimated to have exceeded R40 million, he said he hoped the State would find ways of putting its money to better use.

He lamented the "long, hard" road he has had to travel for the past few years, claiming police maltreatment, and saying he was made out to be a demon.

"I have been in the process for the last ten years of stating my case. Eventually now it seems... as if we have been exonerated."

He said he was not considering any libel actions, as he believed most people no longer believed all the bad things they heard about him, "and that is good enough for me".

He had no hard feelings towards anybody, and could not afford to waste energy on such things, Basson said. It was important, however, for him to find out what the motivation of his superiors was when they fired him 11 years ago.

Basson said it was time for the matter to be laid to rest and for politicians and the media to stop making wild allegations,

"I think the truth prevailed ultimately."

He added he was considering working on a collaborative book explaining certain aspects of the apartheid past. He has also been approached by a novelist planning to write a book on the apartheid government's chemical and biological warfare programme, Project Coast.

The SA National Defence Force said on Thursday it had 908 members deployed in Burundi and a further 1,400 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The force in Burundi was the SANDF contribution to the South African-led African Union Mission in Burundi (AMIB) that will also include troops from Ethiopia and Mozambique.

The SANDF said its Burundi contingent was still protecting political leaders who had returned from exile to join the interim government of Burundi. The function was previously carried out by the SA Protection Support Detachment which has been in Burundi since 2001.

The present contingent was scheduled to return home in August.

"After that, the deployment will be determined by the AU mandate for the operation as well as the authorisation by the RSA Parliament. The use of the RSA soldiers for the next deployment will be determined by AU Force Commander's concept of operations and the resultant mission, instruction and orders."

According to a letter sent by President Thabo Mbeki to the Speaker of Parliament, explaining the deployment, the contingent would grow to no more than 1,600.

Mbeki's letter added the mission would cost South Africa R783.3-million "as from April 24, 2003."

This included R247.6-million to purchase "mission equipment" and R210-million for chartered aircraft.

AMIB's mandate included the planning of the reception areas for the demobilisation of the combatants in Burundi's long-running civil war and helping establish a new, unified defence force.

The SANDF statement also indicated that the contingent in support of the UN peacekeeping force deployed there had been expanded. The force is known by its French acronym, Monuc.

"There are currently 1,400 members of the SANDF deployed. They are from various units from all the services as well as non-uniformed personnel from the Finance Division," the SANDF said.

The force now included around a battalion of infantry as well as a squadron of military engineers.

Until recently only specialists such as military police, air traffic controllers, airport cargo-handling personnel, fire-fighters and associated support personnel were deployed there.

The SANDF said the additional personnel were preparing base facilities in the Kindu area as well as rendering specialised services to Monuc such as engineering tasks.

They were also planning and preparing reception areas for disarming and housing combatants from a variety of armed factions that must demobilise in terms of a set of peace and cease-fire agreements.

The deployment is authorised until April 2004.

According to media reports two 48-strong detachments of engineers were to support in incoming European Union (EU) led peacekeeping force mandated to restore order in the DRC's troubled Ituri province where ethnic fighting had left at least 500 people dead in recent weeks.

South Africa was considering deploying another infantry battalion to the DRC to assist the EU-led force.

While in the DRC and Burundi, troops would draw, in addition to their monthly salaries, taxable allowances amounting to R417 per day.

This included a danger allowance of R6.58 per day, a special danger allowance of R9.86, a standby allowance of R25.75, a deprivation allowance of R60,68 and an international obligation allowance of EUR33 (about R317) per day.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and Education Minister Kader Asmal have agreed to halt the retrieval of musical instruments from schools by the SA National Defence Force (SANDF).

Lekota and Asmal, who met earlier in the week, agreed that the decision to reclaim the instruments without prior notice would mean the death-knell of music in many schools, particularly poor ones.

The Education Ministry said on Wednesday that not only would the retrieval be halted but all instruments previously reclaimed by the SANDF would be returned to the respective schools with immediate effect.

The SANDF started retrieving the instruments about two months ago when they began retrieving all Defence Force firearms from schools.

The ministers are to meet again shortly to devise a long-term plan on the equitable distribution and proper location of SANDF's musical instruments.

Scores of police reservists are poised to replace the defence force's Commando units, following government's decision to phase out the units over the next six years.

Briefing the media during today's Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster briefing in Boksburg, National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi said authorities would be posting police reservists to farming communities where there were no police stations.

The reservists will be deployed to keep a watchful eye on crimes on farms to fill in the void left behind by the Commandos.

Authorities were also transforming the 5 500-member public order police into crime combating units to respond to 'any crime emergency' in all the country's 43 areas including in rural areas, ruling out any possibility of the Commandos returning to these areas.

Mr Selebi dismissed reports that the phasing out of the Commandos would leave a void on farms, saying the exit of the commandos formed part of the government's integrated policing approach to crime.

'It is not a haphazard phasing out. It's a planned approach towards doing away with and making sure that we replace them with reservists,' he said.

Earlier this year, President Thabo Mbeki said government would phase out the Commandos to ensure that structures meant to support security agencies (such as the commandos and police reservists) were properly regulated to do what they were set up for.

The commandos who are said to have established close-knit contact with farmers and some right-wingers, have been accused of being a law unto themselves by allegedly harassing and torturing vulnerable farm labourers for alleged unsubstantiated petty crimes.

Mr Selebi also hinted that the first phase of phasing out the Commandos, had begun with their disarmament.

Earlier this year, defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota said the country could no longer afford to have an untrained part-time military unit in a constitutional order, saying the Commando units were not trained in any military or police work but were merely a group of part-timers, who periodically protected the rural areas.

'A structure like that is not under proper training and regulation and they don't even have arresting powers. They are just citizens armed with weapons. That they can do anything they choose to do, cannot be allowed in a constitutional order,' Mr Lekota said.

Mr Lekota said the phasing out of the unit was part of the overall transformation of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) that would see the exit of the old guard, who would be replaced by young aspiring military officers in the navy, air force and other units.

Two SA National Defence Force officers will go on trial in the Ezikbawini Regional Court on August 6 on charges of attempted murder in connection with a plot to kill a fellow officer, the Empangeni Regional Court ruled on Tuesday.

The court also ordered that the duo remain in custody, a prosecutor said.

Major Willem Bronkhorst and Captain Andre Goosen, of the SA Army's 121 Battalion, were arrested on May 28 for allegedly plotting the death of Major July Menekwane, who was investigating the theft of R2-million worth of ammunition at the battalion's Mtubatuba base.

The ammunition was reported missing after an auditors' report was completed at the end of last year.

Two other senior officers were arrested and appeared in the Kwamsane Magistrate's Court the next day on charges of defeating the ends of justice after they allegedly approached Menekwane and tried to persuade him to withdraw the conspiracy to murder charge.

Lieutenant Colonel Louis van Eeden, the battalion's commanding officer and Major Johannes Labuschagne, a legal adviser at the base, were remanded and would reappear on June 6.

Operations "Enduring Freedom" and "Iraqi Freedom" have arguably confirmed the final ascendence of air power as the main, although certainly not the single, factor in virtually all forms of modern warfare even including asymmetric conflicts. Indeed, it could be claimed that the visions of air power pioneers such as Mitchell and Douhet, while clearly far too advanced and future-oriented for the technologies and the doctrines that were available at the time such visions were originally formulated, have now finally been demonstrated. Australia Air Marshal Allan Grant (Angus) Houston AO, AFC Chief of the Royal Australian Air Force.