Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

The deployment of South African troops to strife-torn southern Sudan [last two words as published; Darfur is in western Sudan] has been postponed due to alleged delaying tactics by the Sudanese government, SA [South African] National Defence force officers told MPs on Monday [28 February].

Briefing the National Assembly's defence portfolio committee, Col Johan van der Walt said 186 soldiers from the Infantry Protector Company were to have left for Sudan earlier on Monday as part of an African Union peacekeeping mission.

"But the deployment was delayed because the troops did not have passports and visas, as now required by the Sudanese government," he said.

Rear Admiral Edward Ratala, director of operations from Joint Operations, said the AU had initially been told by the Sudanese government no passports were needed, and visas could be obtained on arrival.

"But now they have confronted us with no-fly zones - not permitting our troops to fly over certain areas - and say they must have visas before departure," Ratala explained.

South Africa was expected to send about 300 troops over the course of this week to the region, he said.

The AU has a mandate to send 3,320 troops from various African countries to the region to "investigate, report and monitor" on events.

Van der Walt said that after numerous visits to the region, he felt the Sudanese government was "turning a blind eye to the atrocities in Sudan".

He said the actions of the Janjawid militia, accused of attacking villages in southern Sudan and killing the inhabitants, were benefiting the Sudanese government.

The killings "centralized" the population, as the survivors fled into refugee camps, making them easier to police in the huge country.

He said a camp outside the city of Al-Fashir - AU headquarters, and the provincial capital of Sudan's north Darfur region - was now home to 60,000 refugees.

Most of the South African contingent would be based in the town of Kutum, about 200 km northwest of Al-Fashir.

[Passage omitted: background]

Van der Walt said the deployment of troops to Sudan was South Africa's first mission outside southern and central Africa, and was "fraught with difficulties".

It would be a "dry deployment", which was a first for the SANDF; and because of Sudanese attitudes towards women, very few would take part in the operation.

"Can you imagine sitting in a desert for six months without a beer," Van der Walt asked members, explaining the deployment zone resembled the Karoo, except with fewer shrubs and more sand.

He said the troops would have to be particularly sensitive to "Islamic taboos" on alcohol and condoms.

Committee chairman Kader Asmal suggested this term be changed to "religious views".

"I think you should change Islamic to religious taboos, because I know many Muslims who have no problems with those vehicles of enjoyment," he said, to the amusement of the committee.

Mpumalanga Premier Thabang Makwetla has warned critics of government's plan to phase out the commandos not to cause a "commotion" in rural communities.

Responding to some concerns raised in the legislature this week, Mr Makwetla assured that the police and the defence would ensure no security gaps in rural protection once the part-time soldiers were removed.

"Let's support the efforts being put by the police and SANDF instead of raising commotion in our communities. They won't be left on their own," Mr Makwetla said.

Parliament decided to replace commandos with police about three years ago following allegations that the soldiers were law unto themselves, especially in the province's Wakkerstroom area.

Farm workers have persistently complained that state resources were being used to torture them, and police suspected of siding with white farmers bungled these complaints.

The phasing out of the 189 commando units in the country will be completed in 2007.

Nelspruit's commando and 11 other units in the country have already been informed to close down at the end of March.

Military police visited the South African Museum of Military History in Saxonwold, Johannesburg, on Monday.

Makgolo Makgolo, the chief executive of a cluster of museums known as the Northern Flagships Institute (NFI) said the visit was a sequel to January's raids on the museum, and was in accord with a subsequent agreement to amicably investigate the origin of some of the weapons displayed there.

He denied radio reports that the visit was either a raid or was to confiscate assault rifles.

"It is not a raid. There is nothing controversial about it. It is nothing to write home about," Makgolo said.

He said the visit was planned last week after a meeting between the NFI and the SA National Defence Force.

Makgolo said after the January raid, when three armoured vehicles and an infantry combat vehicle were removed from the museum, a joint statement indicated that the Military Police Agency would continue its investigation into the origin of some weapons.

A joint task team was also established to make sure the museum's facilities complied with legislation regarding the keeping of arms.

"We had a meeting last week in order to concretise agreement. We set time frames when the defence force could go to see what is there."

Makgolo said anything taken from the museum on Tuesday would have to be returned under the agreement.

The SANDF was asked for comment but could not immediately respond.

A museum spokesman declined to comment and referred Sapa to the NFI.

SANDF NEEDS WHITES WITHIN ITS RANK AND FILE For more than two years the SA National Defence Force has had an official affirmative action policy for whites. The SANDF's human resources strategy provides for a 24% intake of whites to the regular force each year, to compensate for the absence of whites at the level of private soldier. Yet just 2% of this year's intake - the first in over a decade - were white.

Almost every white South African male now aged between 33 and 55 was conscripted into the old SADF for one or two years, plus "camps" for another decade. It would not be surprising if their children are prejudiced by the resentment retained by their fathers. Moreover, those who might be interested may perceive falling standards - or few career prospects, given the retrenchment of many white colonels.

But every year, five or six young white South Africans are accepted for officer training at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. Some of them get there as a result of their excellent performances at the SA army gymnasium. That tells us two things: our standards can't be that bad, but some of our best officer material prefers to go and serve elsewhere.

Whatever the reason for emigration, it is important that our military retains - indeed, welcomes - a fair proportion of whites at all levels. Service of the state should be a privilege for all. Exclude some, and democracy is undermined.

Defence RESERVISTS FOR CONGO For the first time since Citizen Force regiments were deployed in Angola and Namibia in the 1980s, an SA reservist unit will see active foreign service, in the peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

A company of 150 soldiers, selected from 1200 part-time reservists recruited last year, has spent six weeks at the army's combat training centre at Lohatla, followed by peace support training at Phalaborwa. The unit will be deployed in March in the DRC for a six-month stint.

The reserve force is also working with university medical schools in Gauteng, with the aim of recruiting, as officers, about 20 future doctors to establish a reserve force medical health capability. If successful, the project will be extended to law and engineering.

Recruitment is also occurring in the regular SANDF for the first time in more than a decade, with the intake last month of nearly 2500 young volunteers. But only 2% are white, whereas SANDF plans call for 24% white recruitment as part of achieving representivity in all ranks.

A group of 168 members of the SA National Defence Force completed their police conversion training and joined the SA Police Service on Friday.

The volunteers were inducted into the SAPS at a passing out parade at Mankwe military base in North West.

They had completed a 12-week training course at the base.

"The re-deployment of SANDF members into the police force is a result of a joint venture between the military and the SAPS in order to address the shortage of police personnel," said the SANDF's Major-General F Robbertse.

Over the next three years over 7000 SANDF members would be re-deployed to the SAPS, Robbertse said.

"This co-operative venture will supply well-trained recruits into the protection and security division of the SAPS," said Assistant Police Commissioner B Luke at the parade.

The recruits were welcomed to their "new family and home" by Luke.

This was the second group of recruits to have been redeployed to the police. In 2004, a group of 47 volunteers completed the conversion training at the Thaba Tshwane military police school in Pretoria.

Both groups of recruits were to be responsible for the security of the Pan African Parliament in Midrand, the defence department said.

Minimum entry requirements for SANDF members considering redeployment are:

-- a standard eight or grade ten certificate;

-- not older than 40 years of age;

-- in good health;

-- a code eight driver's license; and

-- no criminal or departmental cases pending or recorded.

The applicants were screened by the SAPS, and a letter of appointment was being compiled based on the candidates' qualifications and experience.

The national police commissioner, Jackie Selebi, had indicated that by 2009 an additional 11,000 SAPS members would be needed to patrol South African's border, the department said.

"These additional members will primarily be from the protection and security division so the redeployment programme is vital to the success of our border patrol operations," Luke added.

Africa may not be a part of Europe, but a top military physician with the U.S. European Command (EUCOM), headquartered in Germany, says African militaries have a staunch partner in his command in their battle against HIV/AIDS.

At a February 11 panel on Capitol Hill, Colonel Edward Huycke, EUCOM's command surgeon and physician in charge of AIDS programs with foreign militaries, raised the question, "Why does EUCOM care about AIDS in Africa?"

The military doctor answered: "Because there is an incredible increase of [AIDS] infection in sub-Saharan Africa. The present and future impact -- societal, political, economic and military -- -- is truly vast -- and staggering. The potential for societal breakdown -- the loss of judges, doctors, lawyers, legislators, parents, schoolteachers" -- is drastically increased because of the health threat posed by the pandemic.

The health of African armies is particularly important, he added, because increasingly the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) looks to them to man peacekeeping operations on the continent as well as guard against terrorist incursions.

Huycke spoke the day after a special AIDS task force sponsored by the International Crisis Group (ICG) and the Center for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS) -- both independent think tanks -- met to discuss U.S. military-to-military AIDS programs.

The EUCOM physician was joined by officials from the DOD HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP), which plans and administers many of EUCOM's AIDS efforts, and the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (USMHRP), as well as ICG and CSIS policy analysts.

For more than 30 years, the U.S. military has developed health partnerships worth millions of dollars with countries like Kenya and Thailand. Altogether, the Pentagon has partnered health programs in 41 nations, 29 in Africa. Those programs are now chiefly administered through DHAPP.

In addition, USMHRP is working on AIDS vaccine projects in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health and has asked Congress for $50-$60 million to operate long-term AIDS programs in partnership with a number of foreign militaries, including those in Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania.

In 2001, EUCOM began an AIDS partnership with the Ethiopian armed forces that proved effective and has become a model for other DOD efforts, according to the EUCOM Web site. Working in conjunction with Johns Hopkins University to reduce the infection rate among Ethiopia's 250,000 troops, DHAPP began a multimillion-dollar program of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) training, increased condom use by troops, and training for health care workers.

After four years, EUCOM reported that most of its goals in Ethiopia had been met, including the training of 6,554 troops, with more than 25,000 attending AIDS awareness and prevention seminars; the screening of 2,969 troops for HIV by 100 trained VCT counselors; and the opening of three VCT centers at Ethiopian military hospitals.

Kathy Ward, a policy analyst with ICG, echoed Dr. Huycke's concerns, noting that with more than 22 million soldiers in armed forces around the world at risk to the virus, the "DOD sees a particular security interest in pursuing HIV/AIDS prevention activities with foreign militaries because the spread of HIV is a major destabilizing factor in developing societies, leaving them vulnerable to unrest or infiltration by terrorist elements."

DOD concern is also appropriate, Ward explained, because it "comes at a time when the United States hopes to increasingly use African and other regional forces to provide significant contingents for operations to reduce pressure on overextended U.S. forces" battling the global war on terror.

AIDS programs, in general, "support U.S. security interests by contributing to the good health and readiness of international defense forces for pursuing common objectives," she stressed.

EUCOM is one of several large U.S. military regional commands. It is based in Germany and is responsible for military-to-military programs in 91 nations in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Over the years, these regional commands have been given greater responsibility by the U.S. government to create and monitor bilateral programs ranging from military training and border control to health projects that bear on international security.

Africa's need for help on the AIDS front was driven home recently by South African Defense Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, who revealed that between 17 and 23 percent of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) may be infected by the HIV/AIDS virus, according to the iafrica.com news Web site.

Lekota acknowledged that recruits are tested for AIDS to judge their suitability to enter SANDF. But once they are accepted, AIDS testing is no longer mandatory unless they are deployed outside the country. "We encourage members of the SANDF to go for voluntary testing but can't compel them once they are already in," he told journalists.

African peace burden cannot be SA's alone, warns Lekota Minister wants neighbours to help out Parliamentary Editor CAPE TOWN - SA could not shoulder the burden of African peacekeeping alone, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said yesterday.

Other countries had to contribute troops to deployments on the continent, he told a media briefing at Parliament.

Lekota said government was working hard to finalise a brigade from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as part of an African Standby Force. The SADC brigade and, ultimately, the standby force would take the pressure off SA.

"SA cannot continue to singlehandedly shoulder the burden of peacekeeping deployments," said Lekota.

In recent weeks President Thabo Mbeki and then acting president Jacob Zuma have notified Parliament of extra deployments of soldiers to Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo, with total deployments now costing millions. The South African NationalDefence Force (SANDF) has also said it will have to make savings in other areas to fund deployments.

The international ideal for deployments is to have a ratio of six soldiers in reserve for every one deployed. This means training can go ahead and rest and leave periods can be given to soldiers as they are replaced. SA is running on a ratio of three to one, leaving precious little space for training.

In response to a question, Lekota said most of the soldiers in the SANDF showing a lack of commitment to the force and to the country were white and male. This was also shown by the fact that most of those soldiers moonlighting as security personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan fitted this description.

Lekota said that there had been no reports of South African soldiers involved in crimes in Congo. There have been reports of soldiers under United Nations (UN) command being accused of rape and other abuses. "They have been there for a very long time, and it is very pleasing that there are no negative reports about them," he said. They had been reminded that the foreign image of SA was their responsibility.

Experts say the costs of troop deployments are one price SA has to pay for its quest to be a force to be reckoned with in Africa, and possibly for a UN Security Council seat.

Analyst Ross Herbert of the South African Institute of International Affairs said the UN's slow reimbursement of nations that participated in peace-keeping mission had discouraged many countries from deploying troops on time.

As SA often responded to UN calls for peacekeeping forces, it would have to learn to cope with the problem as a nation prepared to bear the brunt of peacekeeping initiatives in the continent.

Herbert also cited what he called government's "bad judgment" in choosing to spend billions on heavy warfare equipment, when all indications showed that SA's foreign policy would increasingly need small batches of deployment of troops for peace missions, rather than a large-scale war.

Analyst Prof Shadrack Gutto said countries such as SA had to find innovative ways to generate resources to help shoulder the responsibility of sustaining peace initiatives on the continent through mechanisms such as the African Union.

The United States plans to step up military co-operation with South Africa in 2005, the current edition of the Africa Armed Forces Journal reports.

Writing in the Johannesburg-based specialist journal, US military attache Colonel Michael Muolo said the US military, through its European Command, was planning over 30 military-to-military engagements for the year.

These would range from joint exercises, exchanges, familiarisation visits to educational programs, Muolo said.

Emphasis would be placed on operating the C130 Hercules transport aircraft, military police and Special Forces skills and peacekeeping operations.

The US was also funding, co-developing and co-administering a number of HIV/Aids prevention and antiretroviral (ARV) programmes that sought to mitigate the effect of the pandemic upon South Africa's military readiness.

"One such programme has the objective of providing training in HIV/Aids awareness and prevention for all 70,000 SANDF members and their families within the next five years. This involves US1 million (R6 million) in training, infrastructure, equipment, and related materials for 2005.

"Another major programme, the US40-50 million (R240-R300 million) Project Phidisa, was developed to establish a world-class clinical research capability in the South African military and, initially, to carry out research on the effective treatment of HIV/Aids using ARV drugs. Phidisa is currently operating from four sites and has already treated over 2000 patients."

Muolo called South Africa a cornerstone of regional stability and a catalyst for economic growth in southern Africa because of its globally integrated and resource-rich economy, prominent diplomatic profile, commitment to peacekeeping, and ability to project limited military force beyond its borders.

"South Africa's diplomatic and military officials, led by President Thabo Mbeki, will continue to be an important resource for conflict resolution and peacekeeping in Africa," he said.

"Through consistent engagement and co-operation aimed at skills development, capacity building, and mutual understanding, we aim to reinforce South Africa's ability to play a key role in regional peacekeeping efforts, strengthen the skills and capacity of its military, and expand upon the already sound military-to-military relationship."

Muolo said the US spent over US5 million (R30 million) doing this in 2004 through the US European Command's office of defence co-operation in Pretoria and through the defence attache's office at the US embassy.

European Command is also responsible for US military activities in Africa, barring the Horn region.

"We also participated in some twenty military-to-military events... This included (Exercise) Combined Endeavour, a multinational military communications and information systems exercise held in Europe which six SANDF members observed, as well as (Exercise) Medflag, a two-week exercise planned around a medical disaster scenario involving over 600 members of the South African and US militaries.

"Medical and civil engineering members from the US Air Force and the New York Air National Guard along with counterparts from the SA Military Health Service participated in numerous exercises and activities including mass casualty and evacuation, and trauma and Sub-Saharan Diseases courses which were designed to promote inter-operability and communications.

"While there, our combined forces provided needed medical services to the surrounding communities, administering basic medical treatment to over 6000 people, and rebuilt six medical clinics in Limpopo Province. Medical supplies worth over US100,000 (R 600,000) were also donated to stock these newly refurbished clinics," Muolo summarised.

Between 17 and 23 per cent of SA National Defence Force [SANDF] members may be infected with HIV/AIDS, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Tuesday [15 February].

"We encourage members of the SANDF to go for voluntary testing but can't compel them once they are already in (the service)," Lekota told reporters during a briefing at parliament.

He said the estimated figure was based on the percentage found on a survey done among volunteers. He said comprehensive testing of recruits was done before they entered the service to judge a candidate's suitability. "In this business you are very likely to bleed. And if you are a haemophiliac you will be asked to leave," he said explaining it was not only if a person had HIV/AIDS. But, he said all members being sent abroad on missions had to be tested for a wide range of ailments including HIV/AIDS.

Discussing, SANDF members volunteering for mercenary activity in war-torn regions, Lekota said according to his information, they were mostly ex-SA Defence Force (SADF) soldiers after money. "The old SADF did everything for money. They killed for money and it's those that go to Iraq."

Those from the former freedom fighter battalions took up arms for a "cause and loyalty".

They were the ones who now remained in the service and did not complain about the money, he said.

A defence force lance corporal has been arrested for being absent without leave after he had started working for the Correctional Services department as an assistant director.

News 24 reported that Mukondeleli Eric Sieda, 33, a magazine clerk in the munitions depot in Centurion, was arrested on Thursday.

He was nabbed where worked in office of the correctional services' regional commissioner for North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga in Pretoria.

His new post was equal in rank to a lieutenant-colonel in the military.

In January, Sieda was arrested for allegedly being involved in a car theft syndicate. The gang allegedly stole vehicle parts worth R5.4m from the SA National Defence Force.

He was released on bail.

The SANDF retained Sieda because the criminal case against him had not been concluded, which is in line with defence force regulations.

However, he went absent without leave on February 1 and took up his new job.

Sieda may now have to forfeit his bail in the theft case.

Correctional Services spokesperson Vusi Shabalala said prison authorities was not aware of the theft charges against Sieda.

Sieda's appointment to his post was finalised in September. He complied with all requirements for the top position, said Shabalala.

Regional commissioner Watson Tshvhase suspended Sieda immediately until his case had been concluded.

Sieda's defence force salary will probably also be discontinued because of his unauthorised absence.

A Defence Force colonel on Wednesday told the Pretoria High Court how he became an intelligence agent after discussing a violent military coup over milkshakes with three strange men.

Col Koos Holtzhausen of the SANDF in Nelspruit testified in exchange for possible indemnity in the trial of 22 alleged Boeremag members, who have denied guilt on charges ranging from high treason to terrorism, sabotage and murder.

He told the court how he became involved in a coup plot after receiving a call from a stranger who only introduced himself as Koot. His first meeting with three of the accused - Mike and Andre du Toit and Rooikoos du Plessis - took place at a Nelspruit restaurant in September 2001.

He did not know any of the accused and they introduced themselves under false names.

At the meeting, Holtzhausen was told that he had been carefully chosen because they were convinced that he had the interests of the White Afrikaner at heart.

When he asked them if they were talking about a military coup, Du Plessis said yes and the other two nodded in agreement. Du Plessis repeatedly assured him that they had a plan in place.

Holtzhausen said he was suspicious that the three might be from Military Intelligence and that his loyalty was being tested, but he nevertheless played along.

When he asked them how they planned to take on military weaponry, Du Plessis said they would initially do it with their own weapons, but Holtzhausen thought it would be crazy to try to take on tanks and armoured vehicles with private weapons.

Mike du Toit said Holtzhausen would be in charge of the Eastern Transvaal offensive and would have to carry out reconnaissance missions and control the forces.

He assured the military officer that they had persons "in the highest circles", including politicians and defence force people, who supplied them with information and told him he would have a senior post in the new government.

"I was rather shocked and uncertain about what was happening and thought about the whole thing that night. I realised if it was Military Intelligence that was spying on me I would have to do something to cover my backside.

"If it was them and I did not report it, my loyalty would be questioned, so I decided to contact my immediate commanding officer. It later resulted in me becoming a registered agent," he said.

Holtzhausen informed his handler when he was contacted for a second meeting with Du Plessis and Mike du Toit in October 2001. While on their way to a restaurant, Du Plessis had stopped at Postnet, where he worked on a computer and printed out a document.

Later, over milkshakes, Du Plessis took a document out of his briefcase and handed it to Holtzhausen, saying that it was the planning document he had asked for.

He told Holtzhausen they had considerable support, but were still battling in places like Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and Natal, but assured him that their planned actions would definitely take place in about four weeks.

Mike du Toit assured him that the actions at the World Trade Centre in America would be repeated in South Africa and that there would be chaos, which would open the way for their planned actions.

"He said they enjoyed enormous support and that military members were involved. When I pushed him, he gave several names (including those of the accused Dirk Hanekom and Magiel Burger) and said this proved they were serious."

Holtzhausen secretly made a copy of the document at his office before handing the original back to Du Toit later that day. The document named him as overall commander for the "Eastern Transvaal" force.

When Holtzhausen asked them about financing, he was told that the coup plotters would take what they needed. Persons who were for them would receive receipts, but the others not and those who were against them -white or black - would be summarily taken out.

They firmly believed in the predictions of Boer prophet Siener van Rensburg and believed there would be chaos in the country, which they would exploit.

Mike du Toit said they were in trouble anyway and were recruiting members under the guise of giving advice to farmers about security.

Later that month, he again received a call from a worried Mike du Toit who told him his house had been raided, but that he was sure police would not find the planning document on his computer.

The trial was delayed on Wednesday when the defence objected to transcripts of tape recordings being handed in as evidence.

The state argued that Holtzhausen had been present when the recordings were made and that it need not prove admissibility.

A South African officer has been appointed to a top United Nations (UN) command post in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) said on Wednesday.

"Brigadier General Duma Mdutyana has been appointed as the Deputy Divisional Commander of the UN's Eastern Division in the DRC," said SANDF spokesman Colonel John Rolt.

Mdutyana was expected to report for duty in the DRC at the end of the week.

He was previously the General Officer Commanding 43 SA Brigade Headquarters since 2002.

Rolt said Mdutyana's appointment, a first for South African peacekeepers, and the deployment of 1200 members of the SA Infantry Battalion in the eastern DRC, stood as "clear testimony" of the UN's confidence in South African soldiers.

The SANDF said these latest developments were a direct result of the UN authorisation of increased force levels in the DRC, resulting from uprisings in the Ituri province during 2003.

A 30-person SANDF team which left for the DRC on February 2 to assist with team building and the integration process of different armed forces had arrived in the country.

The team was being deployed in terms of an agreement reached between South Africa, Belgium and the DRC.

South Africa had been involved in peacekeeping operations in the DRC since April 6 2001 and in Burundi since October 28 2001, the SANDF said.

Deputy defence minister Mluleki George expressed concern on Monday at what was described as unhappiness in the SA National Defence Force's lower ranks.

The Defence ministry said George voiced his views while visiting troops in Bloemfontein as part of a tour to assess progress in transformation in the military.

"He told the troops that he was very concerned about the general unhappiness in the lower ranks of the SANDF, and particularly in the SA Army," the defence ministry said in a statement.

Especially disturbing was the slow pace of transformation in the SA Navy, the SA Military Health Service and the SA Air Force, it quoted George as saying.

The command structure of the SANDF needed to come up with plans for speedier transformation with "measurable outcomes and time-lines", George added.

"He said the time has come for the command structure of the SANDF, particularly the chiefs of the forces, to come up with transformational plans with measurable outcomes and time-lines."

George told the troops that transformation was not aimed at punishing whites but at "ensuring a secure and stable future for all the citizens of the country," the statement said.

"About racism, he said it was a sickness that needed to be cured and everyone must contribute to the combating of it."

On Sunday, the Rapport newspaper quoted Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota as expressing concern that too few whites were joining the SANDF.

He reportedly denied that transformation scaring whites off, saying there were ample opportunity for whites in the defence force.

The Democratic Alliance has accused Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula of breaking his promise to protect rural residents.

Nqakula must explain why he has not kept to his commitment to maintain rural safety, DA spokesman Ryno King said in a statement on Thursday.

"By allowing commandos to be phased out before proper rural policing is in place, he has broken his promise to South Africans.

"In 2002 the minister undertook to maintain the operation of SANDF (SA National Defence Force) commandos for the purpose of patrolling rural areas in Mpumalanga and other provinces until sector policing plans had been drawn up and implemented," King said.

According to recent reports the plans were not yet in place -- yet 17 commandos would be disbanded by the end of March 2005, with a further 55 to be removed in the next financial year.

Without adequate policing in areas where commandos had been removed, those living in these districts would be vulnerable to stock theft, farm attacks and robbery.

Farmers and farm workers continued to be viewed by criminal elements as soft targets due to the long distances between farms and because many rural residents were often older and therefore more vulnerable.

"Moreover, despite most farm attacks being motivated by robbery, these are in many instances carried out in an extremely brutal manner, with many such incidents characterised by senseless acts of violence.

"We will hold the minister to account for any escalation in violence in these areas."

The commandos had so far been extremely effective in curbing rural crime, and had caught a number of suspects involved in violent attacks in Mpumalanga.

Nqakula should be able to guarantee that an equally effective system would be put in place as soon as the various commando units had been removed, King said.

The Department of Defence has urged young people who are dedicated to serving the country, to join the defence force.

This emerged today at a ceremony at Thaba Tshwane in Pretoria, to welcome 145 new recruits into the South African Military Health Service (SAMHS).

Addressing the new recruits, Lieutenant General Jurinus Lindo van Rensburg said there was a need for more young people in the force.

"Young, dedicated and committed young people are needed to serve the country. We need people who are determined to take the Batho Pele principle forward and be committed in serving the country," he said.

He added that young people were also needed to help eradicate fraudulent activities in government and in the country as a whole.

One of the recruits, Pitso David (22) from Bloemfontein in the Free State, told BuaNews that being part of the defence force was a dream come true.

"I have always wanted to become a soldier since I was young," he said, with his face beaming with excitement.

"Nothing is too hard, you have to be committed, dedicated and be prepared to follow orders from your superiors."

The recruits are currently undergoing a three months' basic military skills development training. Thereafter, they will be allowed to pursue careers of their choice within the force.

This year the defence force enlisted 4200 recruits, the biggest number since the establishment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in 1994.

Police have found the body of a 31-year-old soldier near an apartment building in Bloemfontein.

Police spokeswoman Sergeant Thandi Mbambo said on Tuesday that residents discovered the body in the field next to the Brandwag block of flats.

“When police arrived they found the body of a member of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in Bloemfontein with a head wound,” Mbambo said.

Two used cartridges and a knife were found at the scene.

Mbambo said police suspected that the motive for the murder was robbery and that the victim was shot with his service pistol after it was robbed from him.

Police said in another incident, not far from the first scene, a 17-year old man was shot near College Lodge.

Mbambo said the youth was shot in the chest and was taken to the Pelonomi hospital in a serious but stable condition.

It was suspected that the two incidents might be linked and police made a plea for information from the public.