Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

SA's transition to democracy meant, among other changes, adopting a new approach to defence. This process culminated in the 1996 White Paper and the Defence Review two years later. The White Paper's broad ambit made allowance for addressing the requirements for greater detail through the review to include "comprehensive long-range planning on such matters as doctrine, posture, force design, force levels, logistic support, armaments, equipment, human resources and funding", and represented the conclusion of the policy development process. Is it not time to review the Defence Review along with the underpinnings of the White Paper?

For the White Paper reflected the prevailing assumption in the mid-1990s that the new democratic era would ensure a period of peace, prosperity and stability. This would allow the defence budget to be significantly reduced to the benefit of social spending -- that butter would be bought instead of guns.

How would this be achieved? The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) would be downsized: a small regular force (core force) with a large reserve force for mobilisation in extremis. The army would also withdraw from internal operations (border control and co-operation with the police), helping to release forces to the envisaged but small contribution to African peace missions.

The constitution and the White Paper are quite unambiguous in defining the "primary" function of the SANDF as that of defending and protecting the state, its territorial integrity and its people. Generally interpreted to mean defence against an external military threat, this resulted in a spending concentration on conventional capabilities: hence the corvettes, Gripen fighters, submarines, and Hawk jet-trainers.

But this was at the expense of providing for peace-support operations, for which a combination of ground manoeuvrability, operational support over long distances, maritime and air transport, and a healthy dose of political will are required. The latter has been there in dollops. Hence peacekeeping occupies the centre stage of SANDF operations -- with missions in Sudan, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo -- and will probably continue to do so for at least the medium term.

Yet the Defence Review clearly states that participation in international peace support missions is a secondary function for the SANDF, and its design should be influenced mainly by its primary role, one which has to be reviewed constantly to keep it aligned with the perceived threat.

Moreover, the requirement to participate in peace support missions, be capable of dealing with a range of small-scale, short-term contingencies, co-operate with the police, assist other state departments, provide help during natural emergencies, etc, is more easily said than executed. At the heart of any force design is the necessity of deciding which league you want to play in -- and then fund at that level. There's no point in buying a luxury SUV if you can't afford to fill the tank or replace the tyres.

The emergence of an African collective security approach will also have an effect. The African Standby Force, one of the building blocks of the Common African Defence and Security Policy, is in turn based on five regional standby brigades. National commitments to the regional brigades will require planning, rotation of forces, multinational exercises and development of common doctrine. All this will take time, cost money and affect force designs.

The concept of a "nonthreatening posture" as a component of a policy supporting the continental approach of "confidence-building defence" will also influence the equipment inventory. Does the present inventory contain equipment appropriate to the threat faced, the need for joint operations with other African powers, and also sufficient for deterrence?

It was not envisaged in the mid-1990s that today SA would be deploying more than 3000 soldiers in Africa -- with the possibility that this could increase. Deployments of this magnitude are not easily sustained, particularly if the minimum international norms of a 1-in-4 rotation are applied: that to sustain 3000 troops you need another 12000 in the cycle, without allowance for unscheduled interventions, unplanned emergency assistance operations, sickness etc.

Moreover, the distances currently undertaken in peacekeeping operations make new demands on a force design that was influenced by a concept of mobile operations with relatively short lines of support, and geared to defending the territorial integrity of the country.

Finally, there is also a need to think about how the world has changed since 1996, and not just the African environment. Events of September 11 2001 and the 7/7 bombings in London last year have, inter alia, highlighted the threat of international terrorism. Moreover, Iraq and Afghanistan show how insurgencies have changed from the 1980s, from the two-dimensional (national/colonial government versus the insurgent) to exist today in three dimensions, where the insurgent faces a national government but with a range of multinational governmental and nongovernmental actors involved in the security and development effort. And the globalised, media-savvy nature of today's insurgencies contrasts with their bottom-up cellular organisational structure.

The former allows them unparalleled and virtually untrammelled access to sources of succour, recruits and advertising, while their operational structure provides security and assists in them replicating themselves and their actions without active leadership oversight. These lessons are sure to be learnt by insurgents worldwide. Thus domestic insurgencies have to be confronted internationally and in many dimensions with unprecedented demands for accurate intelligence, interoperability and flexibility, and cultural sensitivity and understanding.

With the SANDF, expectations continue to rise but the budget is not keeping pace. What is at issue here is not the costs of peace mission deployments, which are covered by additional treasury funding, but the cost of day-to-day maintenance of main equipment, infrastructure, training, administration, and force preparation. The concept of "needs-driven but cost-constrained" must be given greater clarity. Which enjoys priority, national expectations or the budget? It must be clearly understood what capacity can be provided at that level of funding.

The eight years that have elapsed since the compilation of the Defence Review have been a period of major change internationally and for SA and Africa. It is time to adapt to those changes and redesign for the future.

Rear Admiral Stead and Dr Mills are with the Johannesburg-based Brenthurst Foundation.

The SA National Defence Force (SANDF) is not obliged to bargain collectively with a military trade union, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday.

The court gave judgment in three appeals relating to the labour rights of members of the defence force.

The appeal court's judgment agreed with an earlier Pretoria High Court decision, which held the SANDF was under no duty to bargain collectively with the SA Defence Union (Sandu).

The appeal court held that while international labour norms as reflected in conventions of the International Labour Organisation were intended to promote collective bargaining as a form of dispute resolution, they did not mandate this, particularly not in the case of police and military establishments.

The Bloemfontein court further found that domestic law, which follows this lead, also do not make collective bargaining compulsory.

The court also held that the General Regulations for the SANDF and Reserve provided for the arbitration of unresolved differences and this, it found, was enough to meet the right to fair labour practices contained in the Constitution.

In a separate judgment in the matter, the court ruled that Regulation 19 in Chapter 20 of the General Regulations, as published in Government Gazette on August 20, 1999, was invalid and was set aside.

This regulation has to do with steps enforcing a total ban on closed shop agreements.

Pikkie Greeff, acting national secretary of Sandu, said the union was disappointed by the court's decision.

"We have handed the judgments to our legal team who are studying it."

He said Thursday's judgment came at a time when the union was experiencing "intense pressure" from its membership to get the defence force to negotiate with the union on labour matters.

"We are considering taking the matter to the Constitutional Court," said Greeff, adding that all three appeals were in essence constitutional matters.

South Africa would not take up the role of mediator in the peace process between the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army rebels, Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at a weekly press briefing at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Pahad said South Africa received a letter from the LRA last week asking it to mediate the process.

"Our view is that the Vice-President of Sudan, Dr (Riek) Machar is doing a very good job and there is no need for a new mediation team to come in," Pahad said.

The Ugandan government and LRA agreed Saturday to a truce aimed at bringing an end to a brutal 19-year conflict that has left thousands dead.

As it came into effect on Tuesday, Pahad said South Africa would not mediate but continue to be involved in the process.

"We will continuously talk to all sides to help the process that Dr Machar is managing, and we think managing well," Pahad said.

Both sides agreed to lay down arms while negotiators work on a more detailed peace deal and permanent ceasefire to end what is one of Africa's longest-running wars.

South Africa is already mediating in the peace processes in Burundi and Cote d'Ivoire.

SANDF troops are deployed as part of peace missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea and the Cote d'Ivoire.

Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota on Thursday sacked Brigadier General Ernest Zwane from his position as director of military prosecutions. This comes after it became known that Zwane has previously been convicted on two counts of fraud and was also convicted of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. Lekota said that at the time of Zwane's appointment the information about his convictions was not made available to him. He has ordered a "deeper scrutiny" of the processes involved in senior appointments. Lekota said he would decide next week on Zwane's future and on whom to appoint as new director of prosecutions.

Outcry Opposition parties on Tuesday decried the appointment of Zwane as the South African National Defence Force's (SANDF) director of prosecutions.

"The decision by the SANDF to appoint convicted criminal Brigadier General Ernest Zwane as the new director of prosecutions is disgraceful and sends the wrong message about the department's attitude towards crime and its own administration," Democratic Alliance spokesperson Roy Jankielsohn said.

Independent Democrats chief whip Avril Harding said putting Zwane in the top legal position in the SANDF "is like putting the mice in charge of the cheese".

Jankielsohn intended submitting parliamentary questions to Lekota, asking why the decision was made and whether he was aware of Zwane's criminal record when he approved the appointment.

"The DA believes the minister should immediately intervene and freeze the appointment, and the process to select a suitable candidate should be restarted," he said at the time.

Jankielsohn said according to reports in the media, Zwane was found guilty in November 2005 of two charges of fraud after he claimed to have qualifications from Fort Hare University, among other claims.

He was also found guilty of illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition.

"Zwane was sentenced to five years' imprisonment on the two fraud charges. The sentence was suspended for five years.

"He was fined R4 000 for illegally being in possession of a firearm and R1 000 for the ammunition contravention, or 18 months' imprisonment."

Zwane and another defence force general, Brigadier General Petronella Mari -- both employed by the South African Military Health Service -- were caught by the Scorpions in November 2002 in an investigation into state officials with fake qualifications, he said.

Harding said Zwane should be dismissed immediately.

"Putting a person with a criminal record in the top legal position in the SANDF is like putting the mice in charge of the cheese," he said.

"Zwane's CV a few years ago, before the Scorpions got hold of him anyway, was quite impressive.

"He had a law degree from the University of the North and a BA in communications from Fort Hare. He even had a third. Since his brush with Scorpions, however, Zwane has had to forfeit two of them."

The Military Discipline Supplementary Measures Act requires that only appropriately qualified officers, with not less than five years' experience in military justice, be assigned to the function of director of military prosecutions.

"Considering that the Act says the right person for the position must be 'a fit and proper person of sound character', whoever found Brigadier General Zwane did a very poor job.

"Needless to say, the ID expects the military to act without hesitation to correct this mighty blunder," Harding said. -- SapaRelated articlesOutcry over Zwane's appointment SMS 'mg' to 31883 to surf M&G Online breaking news on your cellphone via GPRS or 3G at only R10 a month plus WAP charges.

The SA National Defence Force has launched an internal probe into the death of a North West boy and the injury of his friend in a blast in Potchefstroom on Wednesday, the military said.

On Thursday, SANDF chief General Godfrey Ngwenya said he would get to the bottom of the matter "without interfering with the police investigation".

Gift Suping's death and Daniel Mseka's injuries, sustained when a grenade they were playing with exploded in Potchefstroom on Wednesday, was regrettable, Ngwenya said.

The device exploded when either Suping or Mseka, both aged 5, tampered with it, police Superintendent Louis Jacobs said on Wednesday.

"Mseka was taken to Potchefstroom hospital where he was treated. He is in a stable condition."

Jacobs said the area where the incident happened was adjacent to military grounds.

"Our explosives unit experts determined that the device was an M6 grenade. Also on the scene we found a three inch mortar and it was destroyed in a controlled explosion."

He said both devices were believed to be of military origin.

Of the more than 1000 personnel who left the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in the past year under its new "exit mechanism", more than 75% were white and from key middle management posts.

Many of these soldiers would have left the defence force in order to take up lucrative security posts in places such as Iraq. It is these posts that will soon be strictly regulated under the new antimercenary bill presently before Parliament.

Rather than expressing alarm at the exodus, the defence department has welcomed the departures as an opportunity to promote black and women soldiers to middle man-agement levels. Secretary for Defence January Masilela told Parliament's defence committee yesterday that the "mobility/exit mechanism (MEM)" was starting to work.

It allows members of the force to apply to leave the service and defines the benefits that will be paid to them, depending on their age and length of service.

"The intent is to enable the department to make tangible progress in right-sizing its human resources composition through a process of realistic succession planning," said Masilela.

At the same time, the force will guard against an exodus of scarce skills and specialist knowledge.

In his report, Masilela said 1189 defence force members had left since August last year when the voluntary programme started. Seven major-generals left -- six were white; 18 brigadier-generals left -- 16 were white; 63 colonels left -- 61 were white; 165 lieutenant-colonels left -- 143 were white; and 126 majors left -- 112 were white.

From the engine room of the military, 346 warrant officers left -- 301 of them were white; while 259 staff sergeants and sergeants left -- 174 of them were white.

The department said MEM was "already leading to an exit of middle management white males from the regular force, thereby creating capacity for upward mobility of designated (previously disadvant-aged) persons".

It expected that as new applications were approved, the number of white males leaving would increase. Of the 1189 staff to leave, 240 were women.

In the middle management levels, 486 men of all races left the defence force.

The department said this has also created capacity for the upward mobility of women.

This figure was expected to increase in the years ahead. Voluntary exits had cost the department R181,8m, including the cost of leave.

Of the 1189 staff who left the SANDF, only 22% were older than 50, with the majority between 30 and 50.

"The continuing high voluntary exit tempo of whites also helps the department to improve its equity targets," the report said.

Opposition parties on Tuesday decried the appointment of Brigadier-General Ernest Zwane as the SA National Defence Force's (SANDF) director of prosecutions.

"The decision by the SANDF to appoint convicted criminal Brigadier-General Ernest Zwane as the new director of prosecutions is disgraceful and sends the wrong message about the department's attitude toward crime and its own administration," Democratic Alliance spokesman Roy Jankielsohn said.

Independent Democrats Chief Whip Avril Harding said putting Zwane in the top legal position in the SANDF "is like putting the mice in charge of the cheese".

Jankielsohn intended submitting parliamentary questions to Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, asking why the decision was made and whether he was aware of Zwane's criminal record when he approved the appointment.

"The DA believes the minister should immediately intervene and freeze the appointment, and the process to select a suitable candidate should be restarted."

Jankielsohn said according to reports in the media, Zwane was found guilty in November 2005 of two charges of fraud after he claimed to have qualifications from Fort Hare University, among other claims.

He was also found guilty of illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition.

"Zwane was sentenced to five years' imprisonment on the two fraud charges. The sentence was suspended for five years.

"He was fined R4000 for illegally being in possession of a firearm and R1000 for the ammunition contravention, or 18 months' imprisonment."

Zwane, and another defence force general, Brigadier General Petronella Mari -- both employed by the SA Military Health Service -- were caught by the Scorpions in November 2002 in an investigation into state officials with fake qualifications, he said.

"It appears that the decision to appoint Zwane was made because other candidates were not 'representative' enough. That explanation is simply not good enough.

"If the choice South Africans now face under an ANC government is between appointing convicted criminals and being 'representative', then the system really has gone mad," Jankielsohn said.

Harding said Zwane should be dismissed immediately.

"Putting a person with a criminal record in the top legal position in the SANDF is like putting the mice in charge of the cheese," he said.

"Zwane's CV a few years ago, before the Scorpions got hold of him anyway, was quite impressive.

"He had a law degree from the University of the North and a BA in communications from Fort Hare. He even had a third. Since his brush with Scorpions, however, Zwane has had to forfeit two of them."

The Military Discipline Supplementary Measures Act required only that appropriately qualified officers, with not less than five years experience in military justice, be assigned to the function of director of military prosecutions.

"Considering that the Act says the right person for the position must be 'a fit and proper person of sound character', whoever found Brigadier-General Zwane did a very poor job.

"Needless to say, the ID expects the military to act without hesitation to correct this mighty blunder," Harding said.

Lekota's spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi was unaware of the statements, but was expected to respond later.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) denied reports on Tuesday that Major Mmathabo Zikalala, wife of the head of news at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Snuki Zikalala, was being investigated for refusing to do her duty.

Beeld newspaper reported that Zikalala, a medical doctor deployed as part of the SANDF contingent in Sudan, was going to be prosecuted after she refused to continue working after her flight back to Africa was delayed.

"The charges come after she allegedly refused to see patients, to wear her uniform or do anything normally required of a soldier during deployment," the newspaper reported.

It said that she refused to work after it became clear that an aircraft that was to return her and other soldiers would only arrive at the end of the month.

Defence spokesperson Major Niko Allie denied the claims. "She is not being investigated and she did not refuse any orders," he said.

Zikalala is one of the SANDF doctors deployed as part of the African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan.

Allie said she has been in the Sudan since May and was supposed to return to South Africa on August 15.

"The period has, however, been extended and Major Zikalala will return to South Africa on August 30," he added. -- Sapa SMS 'mg' to 31883 to surf M&G Online breaking news on your cellphone via GPRS or 3G at only R10 a month plus WAP charges.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota arrived in Belgium on Tuesday on an official two-day visit aimed at enhancing diplomatic links between the two countries, his department said.

Lekota is expected to meet his Belgian counterpart Andre Flahaut to discuss broad-ranging relationships.

"The Department of Defence regards Belgium as an important partner in its efforts to support government peace initiatives in the Great Lakes region," the department said in a statement.

"Belgium has declared its willingness to contribute resources towards the disengagement, demobilisation, repatriation and reintegration of former combatants in that region as well as towards reconstruction and development of it."

Belgium contributed euros 5.5 million towards the first SA National Defence Force mission that protected Burundian political leaders returning from exile.

"South Africa, Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo have a trilateral co-operation in terms of which members of the SANDF have been assisting with the identification, training and integration of DRC combatants and 113,236 have been identified to date."

Belgium is the former colonial power of the DRC, Burundi and Rwanda.

Lekota and Flahaut are expected to discuss a co-operative defence plan.

REFUGE OF SCOUNDRELS? Few, if any, of the hundreds of young South Africans serving in the British armed forces chose to do so because they felt a deep allegiance to the Queen. Nor would most of them have joined up in support of a particular cause, such as the war on terror. Their interest is in the profession of arms itself.

Why, then, did they not volunteer to serve in our own defence force? The SA defence ministry itself refers to a perception among young whites that they have no future in the SANDF because of affirmative action. This is actually not true. There is indeed an oversupply of senior white officers around the rank of colonel but the SANDF would prefer representivity at all levels, and its HR strategy now provides for a minimum quota of whites to be recruited at the level of junior officer and the noncommissioned ranks.

Be that as it may, perception is all and scepticism extends with more justification to the dubious institutional health of the SANDF. Its budget has been slashed in the past decade and there are serious doubts that it could perform its basic constitutional role of defending the country. For instance, the average age of the SA infantryman is over 30 (the international benchmark is 21), following a long moratorium on recruitment that was lifted only recently. The military budget is dedicated as much to welfare as in caring for what are known as the Aids battalions as it is to warfare. In the hi-tech arms such as the artillery, navy and the air force, there are severe skills shortages and heavy restrictions on the use of fuel and ammunition in exercises. Any major deployments in the foreseeable future seem set to consist of peacekeeping in boring but nevertheless difficult and dangerous circumstances.

In the light of all these factors, a decision by an aspirant young warrior to apply to Sandhurst for officer training, rather than Heidelberg or Oudtshoorn, may seem reasonable. Should he or she be discouraged by government from doing so? There is a precedent: many countries including the US forbid their citizens to serve in foreign forces. It does seem unfair and unnecessary, however, to legislate for people already serving retroactive law is almost always bad law. And there is arguably a special military relationship with Britain that has produced and can still produce benefits for both countries.

But there are subtle political sensitivities underlying the discussion. As former minister Kader Asmal first noted more than three years ago, his government was concerned about the enlistment of South Africans in foreign armies that engage in armed conflict, as in Iraq. So it's not just who they might be fighting for, but who their enemy might be. This anxiety seems to have produced the absurd concept in the draft legislation that serving in a foreign army is OK as long as you don't have to fight. But that, after all, is what armies do.

The real problem, though, is not that so many talented young South Africans want to serve in foreign armed forces: it's that they don't want to join our own. That is what the defence portfolio committee should really be applying its mind to.

A Pretoria judge has ruled that a top military spy -- fired for reasons so classified not even he knows why -- must get his job back, the Pretoria News reported on Tuesday.

Colonel GJM Badenhorst was the head of covert information for West Africa in defence intelligence when he was fired in 2004.

This followed an incident involving the Department of Home Affairs that, in the eyes of his superiors, amounted to a breach of security.

When Badenhorst tried to find out why he had been dismissed, he was told the reasons were highly classified and could "breach national security".

He was part of the Special Acquisitions Directorate, responsible for sensitive operations such as the acquisition of secret information and material about the security intentions of other countries.

The incident involving Badenhorst in 2004 was discussed with him, the court heard. His superior was not satisfied with his explanation and terminated his services.

Badenhorst was told he could submit reasons as to why he should not be fired. Badenhorst's union asked for reasons for his dismissal, but the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said he was fully aware of the reasons.

Badenhorst, however, said he had not been informed and as a result could not fight his case.

The SANDF told the court: "It is true that the applicant was not provided with the written reasons ... but it is incorrect to say he is in the dark.

"The reasons for his dismissal are highly classified information ... Defence intelligence feels that the disclosure thereof will breach national security."

Judge Buddy Swart ordered in favour of Badenhorst.

The judge said it seemed the approach of the SANDF was to sweep its obligations of fairness "under a carpet of secrecy". He ordered the SANDF to restore Badenhorst with full rank and benefits from the date of his dismissal. -- Sapa SMS 'mg' to 31883 to surf M&G Online breaking news on your cellphone via GPRS or 3G at only R10 a month plus WAP charges.

Le vice-ministre de la Défense chargé de l'Administration et finances, Félix Matias, s'est dit jeudi, à Luanda, satisfait de l'établissement et du renforcement des liens de coopération et d'amitié entre les marines de guerre d'Angola et d'Afrique du Sud.

"Je suis très sensibilisé avec la coopération qui s'etablit au niveau de cette branche", a dit le vice-ministre angolais, lors de son entretient avec une délégation sud-africaine, conduite par son commandant, Jahannes Mudimu, en visite officielle en Angola.

Félix Matias, qui représentait le ministère angolais de la Défense, Kundi Paihama, a souligné que la coopération dans le domaine militaire, dans le chapitre politique ou diplomatique donne confiance aux pays africains.

"Autrefois, on pensait que les militaires ne devaient pas se mêler de la politique, ni de la diplomatie. Mais, de nos jours nous remarquons que cette forme de coopération exige notre attention", a-t-il indiqué, avant de dire que la "marine est une branche importante".

À son tour, Jahannes Mudimu a expliqué le processus de modernisation en cours au sein de l'Armée sud-africaine, notamment son rééquipement dans des moyens de haute technologie.

"Nous attendons une occasion pour que des jeunes officiers de la Marine de Guerre angolaise puissent visiter et avoir de contact avec le matériel", a affirmé le militaire sud-africain.

Il a, d'autre part, défendu la nécessité de mettre en oeuvre des mécanismes d'identification de tout ce qui se passe "dans nos mers", afin d'assurer le contrôle du terrorisme et de tout type de trafic dans les mers de la région.

Dans la coopération bilatérale, a-t-il ajouté, les deux parties se sont convenues d'exploiter toutes possibilités, visant à potentialiser les deux marines, avec des fusiliers marins, des plongeurs, des navigateurs et des officiers de direction.

La délégation de la Marine de Guerre de l'Afrique du Sud qui séjourne à Luanda depuis le 29 juillet, visite ce jeudi des sites touristiques de la capitale angolaise.

Cette délégation a déjà visité le Commandement de la Zone Maritime-1, dans la province du Zaire, ainsi que l'Ecole de fusiliers marins, située dans la province de Bengo, à 180 km au norte de Luanda.