Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

South Africans have been forbidden from offering security or military services to any faction in Iraq without the permission of Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, a statement received from his office at the weekend warned.

Lekota's office said the National Conventional Arms Control Committee had decided that Iraq was a "theatre of armed conflict" under the Foreign Military Assistance Act of 1998.

Involved in this "theatre" were "the Iraqi Provisional Authority and the foreign coalition forces (the US armed forces and those aligned to them) on the one hand, and the armed forces or groupings opposed to the Iraqi Provisional Authority as well as the presence of the coalition forces in Iraq on the other".

"In terms of the Act the rendering of military assistance to a party to an armed conflict includes providing advice, training, personnel, financial, logistical, intelligence or operational support, personnel recruitment, medical or para-medical services or procurement of equipment."

Military assistance also included "the provision of security services for the protection of individuals involved in an armed conflict or their property or any other action that resulted in furthering the military interests of a party to an armed conflict".

South Africans headed for Iraq to work as security or body guards could face imprisonment or fines or both on their return.

In a separate development, the Department of Defence through an internal bulletin last week also warned staff that anyone taking a leave of absence from the SA National Defence Force to do remunerative work outside the department without the prior permission of the relevant authority, was contravening Section 30 of the Public Service Act of 1994.

"This may well result in criminal and/or disciplinary measures being taken against the member. In addition, unauthorised remuneration may be forfeited (in terms of Sec 31 of the aforementioned Act) and could possibly also provide grounds for termination of services," the bulletin said.

"Further, when applying for leave a member of the DOD is required to indicate his or her whereabouts during leave. Where incorrect information is deliberately submitted, this would be in contravention of Sec 30(a) of Military Discipline Code. If convicted, such a member would be liable to imprisonment for the period not exceeding one year. Finally uniform members are required to inform their responsible intelligence officer of their intentions to go abroad, whether officially or not."

The warning to serving soldiers, sailors and airmen came after reports that many were contemplating taking unpaid leave from the SANDF to take up lucrative short-term contracts in Iraq.

Members of the police's elite Special Task Force have also been reported as resigning in droves to take three, six or 12-month contracts protecting key Iraqi buildings and personnel.

In January, an ex-security policeman from Pretoria died and five other South Africans were wounded in a suicide bombing in Iraq. They worked for a company that provided security services to mainly American civilians in Iraq.

South Africa's Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel on Wednesday allocated R1.1 billion (around US $165 million) for the country's peacekeeping missions on the continent over the next three years.

Defence analyst Henry Boschof of the Institute for Security Studies pointed out that almost the entire amount would go towards South Africa's deployment in Burundi, which had yet to find foreign donors.

In his budget speech to parliament, Manuel described the allocation as part of the country's commitment to the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's development programme.

According to defence ministry spokesman Sam Makhwanazi, the South African Defence Force (SANDF) has more than 2,000 troops deployed in peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi, and the entire allocation would be spent on maintaining the troops in these countries over the next three years.

Boschof explained that South Africa was reimbursed for the cost of troop deployment in DRC by the UN, but had been shouldering the expense of the Burundi mission since 2001.

The South African peacekeeping effort in Burundi became an African Union (AU) mission only at the end of 2002. "But the AU does not have the financial resources to maintain the mission," Boschof said.

Towards the end of last year the United Kingdom and the United States agreed to fund the deployment of Mozambican and Ethiopian troops to Burundi for a period of 60 days. "But that period is now over. As of now, the cost of the entire mission is US $121 million a year, where is the money going to come from?" he commented.

South Africa's Deputy President, Jacob Zuma, had appealed to the UN to take over the AU mission last year. "A UN mission is currently in Burundi investigating the possibility ... but I am not very optimistic because they are also considering the deployment of peacekeepers to the Ivory Coast, Sudan and Somalia," commented Boschof.

Makhwanazi said the SANDF had also placed observers in Comoros, while four military observers had been sent to Liberia and four more were deployed along the Ethiopian-Eriterean border.

Peacekeeping US PRIVATEER SQUEEZES SA's UN PEACE ROLE IN CONGO Controversy dogs private military companies AUS-owned private military company appears to be edging SA out of its key logistical functions in the UN's peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Los Angeles company, Pacific Architects & Engineers (PAE) has a multimillion dollar UN contract for airfield services, cargo-handling, fire-fighting and the like - much the same functions that SA Air Force specialists have fulfilled since April 2001, when they joined the expanded UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known by its French acronym Monuc.

PAE has even hired away SA fire-fighters and cargo-handlers for better, dollar-based salaries - but at a higher cost to Monuc.

The company's involvement in Monuc provides a case study of bureaucratic corruption and wastage in UN peacekeeping operations, which critics say still persists. It also illustrates the ascendancy of private security firms over statutory forces in specialised peacekeeping operations around the world.

But the profiteers' involvement has brought controversy - especially with regard to Texas-based oilfield services company Halliburton and subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR). Pentagon auditors' claim KBR may have overcharged the US government by more than US$100m for fuel deliveries for post-war reconstruction in Iraq. The US justice department is probing whether Halliburton helped pay $180m in kickbacks for contracts in Nigeria at a time when US vice-president Dick Cheney was group chairman.

PAE, in partnership with French logistics group Daher, entered the Monuc picture controversially when it won an open-ended, fixed-price contract worth $34,2m for airfield services on March 28 2001. PAE/Daher's bid was at least $6m higher than a competitor's, yet the UN's contracting officials rushed it through the selection process on grounds of "operational necessity".

But the company did not start work in the DRC for at least six months, during which time SA specialists carried out the functions reliably and more cheaply. The PAE/Daher contract would rise to about $78m in 2002/2003.

"We were irritated at first when they arrived on the scene," says SA National Defence Force (SANDF) senior staff officer for external operations, Col Johan van der Walt, "but we divided the work between us and carried on." SA didn't complain because the UN still reimbursed it for its role. But the costly overlap of functions troubled Monuc auditor Edwin Nhliziyo. In a report to UN headquarters, he complained that up to $17m of PAE/ Daher's functions were redundant because they were being done by SA. He calculated, for instance, that SA's airfield fire-fighting & rescue services would cost Monuc $2m compared with PAE/Daher's $7,5m. He also criticised the way the contract was handled, which brought him into conflict with his boss in New York and officials who had shepherded the PAE/Daher bid. Nhliziyo was recalled from the DRC.

Nhliziyo's repeated whistle-blowing, however, led to an official review which was highly critical of the PAE contract. At least two UN officials involved in the deal and attempted cover-up were quietly fired. The contract was cancelled and reopened to tender in early 2002.

PAE bid again, this time in partnership with a Monaco-registered logistics company, Es-Ko, and won. On April 1 2003, PAE/Es-Ko took over the contract from PAE/Daher - this time on a cost-reimbursable basis.

"All of the issues were resolved a long time ago," says PAE group executive for government services Barry Wright.

The contract price and other details are not known. A UN spokesman in New York could not provide details by the time the FM went to press. A UN official familiar with the contract, though, says that after bidding was reopened PAE was able to considerably expand its role in Monuc - with substantial reward.

Wright, speaking from Los Angeles, appeared unaware that SA was still competing. Private contracting of specialised services is the wave of the future, he said. "It's far cheaper to buy a widget or a contractor off the street, like shopping in a supermarket." Nevertheless, the private company's appetite for profit is still causing concern for SA. Three weeks ago, the SANDF sent its senior staff officer for peace support operations, Capt Charlie Ross, to the DRC to ask Monuc if it still wanted SA's logistical services.

"They said they were happy for us to continue, so we're carrying on," he says.

Nevertheless, SA has pared down the size of some cargo-handling teams.

"PAE provides most of the airfield services, refuelling and so on," says Ross. "In areas where we both operate, we bring the cargo to the ramp of the aircraft and PAE does the loading." SA still has about 100 specialists among its 1390-strong contingent, which is second only to Uruguay's.

Monuc reimburses countries R1028/troop/month, with an additional premium for specialists. It also pays about R70 per uniform, and reimburses countries that provide serviceable equipment and their own accommodation.