Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

In what the South African National Defence Union (Sandu) described as a second major triumph for labour rights in the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) this week, Judge J M C Smit struck down almost 15 regulations dealing with labour relations in the SANDF.

He also ordered Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota to return to the negotiating table immediately.

Smit was the second Pretoria High Court Judge this week to declare that Sandu had a right to collective bargaining and that the Constitution imposed an obligation on the Minister to engage in collective bargaining.

"The obligation to engage in collective bargaining is of particular importance in the present context since members of the SANDF are unable to secure their right to bargain collectively by strike action," Smit said.

"If the Minister is not burdened with an obligation to negotiate in good faith, SANDU will be deprived of any method of enforcing their "right to engage in collective bargaining."

Judge Eberhardt Bertelsmann on Monday granted an urgent temporary interdict to stop the redeployment of almost 8,000 soldiers, pending the outcome of proceedings before the Military Arbitration Board about restructuring and transformation in the SANDF.

Both Judges rejected an earlier ruling by Judge Johan van der Westhuizen, who said collective bargaining was a privilege and not a right.

The Minister of Defence withdrew from the negotiating forum and unilaterally promulgated the new regulations and announced the restructuring process on the strength of Van der Westhuizen's ruling.

In terms of Smit's ruling, Lekota's powers to appoint a Registrar of Military Trade Unions and members of the Military Arbitration Board were taken away to ensure the independence and impartiality of such appointees.

The appointment of one of Lekota's personal advisors as Registrar was set aside.

The Minister was given six weeks to amend the regulations concerning the appointment of the Military Arbitration Board's members. The order will not affect the validity of anything done by the Board in the past.

Soldiers will also now be able to take part in protest action and will be able to have union officials represent them at disciplinary and military court hearings. Restrictions on matters on which the union could negotiate were lifted and it will now be able to negotiate on all matters of mutual interest.

A joint military exercise between South African and American airborne forces is being held in the Free State this month to train soldiers for peacekeeping duties.

American commander Colonel Frederick Jones said on Wednesday that Exercise Flintlock was routine, and not aimed at any planned joint operation.

"Flintlock is just a training exercise, no more and no less," Jones told journalists at a media day on the training ground outside Bloemfontein.

"There is no intention to make it a practice exercise for something operational in future," he said.

He nevertheless did not exclude the possibility of future cooperation between the two forces.

"The US and South African soldiers working together today, may do it again in a peace enforcement, peacekeeping or humanitarian relief operation.

"Let's get to know each other well now so we are good friends when the opportunity to work together again presents itself," Jones said.

The exercise is a biannual venture for the US Army and is frequently outside of the United States. South Africa was chosen for the first time this year.

More than 200 soldiers were taking part, with the American contingent consisting mainly of American Rangers from their 75th regiment. The South African side included soldiers from the 44th Parachute Regiment.

Jones said his country considered Flintlock as "very essential training". It was sponsored by their Joint Chiefs of Staff, with the current exercise having been planned 18 months in advance.

South African commander Colonel Mvuzo Mzinjana said Exercise Flintlock was an exceptional opportunity to train for peace support operations in Africa.

Troops were being coached to intervene in crisis situations, he said.