Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Overlooked reservists bolster ranks of cash-strapped SANDF New recruits will be drawn mainly from among the unemployed International Affairs Effort THE South African National Defence Force (SANDF) Reserve Force, which has been neglected since compulsory citizen call-ups ended in 1994, is to receive a boost in the form of about 35000 new recruits over the next eight years. But suggestions that the army's new recruitment drive is essentially a step back to SA's national service days have been rejected by Maj-Gen Roy Andersen, Liberty Life's former CEO and current Sanlam chairman, who heads the reserves. He says that with SA's high unemployment rate, recruitment is not the problem, and budget support of the force is the most serious constraint.

Andersen says because SA faces no known immediate threat there is no need for compulsory national service.

Having a large reserve force will improve overall readiness, and also allow recruiters to identify people who perform well as candidates for the permanent force.

About 1000 members of the reserve force have been recruited this year, and the number will be gradually stepped up over the next eight years. Recruits have to meet the same health requirements as those applying for the permanent force - they cannot have a chronic disease and must be HIV negative. In addition, recruits cannot have a criminal record and must have passed matric.

The reserve force currently has 43000 territorials - formerly called the commandos - who are primarily responsible for duties such as border control and road blocks. There is also a 9000-strong conventional force. The plan is to dismantle the territorials by 2009, when the SANDF will no longer be required to support the police and undertake internal duties. The territorials are expected to join the police reserves, the defence force's conventional reserves, or retire. Additional recruits to the reserves will come from the 3000 people who have completed two-year stints in the defence force under the military skills development system. Andersen insists that the new recruitment campaign will require little sacrifice from South African business, which had been expected in the past to free up and pay white males in the reserve force. This time most of the new recruits will be unemployed. Since a proportion of recruits would be employed - and their companies would have to pay their salaries for six months while their workers were away on deployment details - it was seen as necessary to obtain a buy-in from business and labour for the recruitment drive. In light of this, the SANDF last week launched a council for the support of national defence. Mvelaphanda CEO Tokyo Sexwale, an honorary air force colonel, will be its chairman. Andersen insists the overriding motivation for the recruitment drive is that it makes financial sense for the SANDF. A reservist requires less financial input from the army than a permanent force member, who is entitled to a pension and health benefits. In addition, the reserve force can be called up as and when needed. Defence analysts say that the heavy burden on the defence budget of the arms package and salaries, means there is little left to spend on the reserves. However, payments on the arms package will gradually decrease in the next few years. Also driving the recruitment drive is the fact that the SANDF is stretched to provide more than the current 3000 troops on peacekeeping duties. For every soldier in the Democratic Republic of Congo or Burundi two are required at home - one in training and one ready to go if required. The defence force is considering sending about 140 reserve-force troops to Congo in March next year. This will be the first time that an entire company of South African reservists will be deployed.

 Demilitarisation and Peace-Building in Southern Africa: The Role of the Military in State Formation and Nation-Building (The International Political Economy of New Regionalisms) Ashgate Publishing

32 Battalion: The Inside Story of South Africa's Elite Fighting Unit  by Piet Nortje, 315 pages, Publisher: Struik (October 2004)

Originally formed in order to lend support to the FNLA and UNITA in the Angolan war, 32 Battalion quickly gained the reputation of being an unconventional, secretive, yet highly effective group. Written by a man who was intimately involved with the unit and served as its Regimental Sergeant Major for two years, the book aims to explode the myths surrounding the legendary 32 and set the record straight. It records how and why 32 Battalion was formed, explores its unique identity forged by the men who fought in it, details the many operations in which they participated, and concludes with its eventual disbandment at the dawn of a new South Africa.
What they did, and how they did it, would earn this controversial group official recognition as the best fighting unit in the South African Army since World War II. This books unembellished, factual reporting will fill a big gap in the highly popular military genre.

About the Author
Piet Nortjes military career began in 1978, when he joined the former SADF Permanent Force. His involvement with 32 Battalion started in the same year, where he rose rapidly through the ranks. In 1984 he was appointed Regimental Sergeant Major of 32 Battalion, the youngest RSM ever in the SADF. Although his involvement with 32 Battalion came to an end in 1988, he continues to serve in the SANDF, a career now spanning 25 years.