Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

The Department of Provincial and Local Government will send two helicopters and water purification plants to provide relief to flood-stricken Mozambicans at the end of this week.

This is addition to water and wind resistant tents that were delivered to flood victims on Monday.

The aircraft would be able to offer Mozambique 170 hours' flying time.

Spokesperson for the department Luzuko Koti told BuaNews Wednesday, that the victims of floods earlier this month and more recently a cyclone in Mozambique, were in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

"The goods will be flown to Mozambique later this week, possibly on Friday as we are still waiting for the assessment report from members of the South African Defence Force (SANDF) who are already in Mozambique to assess the situation," he said.

Discussions about a field hospital, he said, were underway with the health department and the SANDF.

This comes after the Minister of Provincial and Local Government, Sydney Mufamadi, who is responsible for disaster management, and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Aziz Pahad, visited Mozambique to determine the nature of support required there.

This is in the wake of Tropical Cyclone, Favio which struck southern parts of the country - destroying properties.

Flavio hit Mozambique last week while earlier floods had already forced 140,000 from their homes.

Mozambican news agency AIMS on Tuesday reported that residents in the southern region were slowly rebuilding their lives, although there was still no electricity in Vilankulu, apart from those institutions with generators.

At least 10 people were killed as a result of Cyclone Favio.

Vilankulu's central market collapsed as did many of the houses there, which are built from bamboo and straw.

AIMS also reports that airport has been reopened to traffic, but added that night use is risky since the runway lights are not operating.

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza visited Vilankulu on Monday to make his own assessment on the extent of the damage caused by Favio.

Briefing Guebuza on the disaster, Inhambane provincial governor Francisco Itai Meque said the cyclone had also swept through Inhassoro and Govuro districts, and part of Massinga.

Six people from the four Inhambane Districts have been reported dead and other four deaths have been reported from Sofala province.

There were 79 known injuries, 50 of them in Vilankulo.

Ms Itai Meque put the number of people affected by the Cyclone Favio at 133 670, of whom 102 500 will be in need of food aid.

"Thousands of people have lost their homes. 5 906 peasant homes and 692 conventional buildings were destroyed or damaged," she said.

The Vilankulo District Hospital suffered severe damage to its roof, and 17 health posts and centres in the province were also damaged.

The education system in the province was shaken with 332 classrooms, 12 boarding centres and 130 teachers' houses damaged.

"The cyclone has temporarily closed 265 companies, with the potential loss of 6,000 jobs," she said.

President Guebuza praised the citizens of Vilankulo for not giving up, but rather choosing to immediately start rebuilding their lives.

The local authorities had set up accommodation centres for those made homeless - but found that rather than waiting for handouts, Vilankulo residents had already begun building new houses.

"They don't go to the centres and wait for people to give them things. They may go there to sleep, but they are reorganising their lives.

"Mozambicans are able to face difficult situations such as the cyclone. The nature of our people is not to despair, and this gives us pride," the president said.

Biological warfare expert to stay on in his practice

‘Medicine is my life and I intend to keep practising.”

Those were the words yesterday of apartheid-era chemical and biological warfare expert Dr Wouter Basson after the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) said he would be charged for his role in the army’s weapons programme.

Saying he had registered as a doctor in 1973, Basson vowed to defend his medical practice.

Dubbed “Dr Death” by the media because of allegations that he developed chemical and biological pathogens to kill members of anti-apartheid movements, he runs a private practice as a cardiologist in Cape Town and Pretoria.

Professor Lesley London, of the Health and Human Rights Project at the University of Cape Town, and a former superintendent in the Gauteng Department of Health, Dr Ralph Mgijima, lodged separate complaints to the council about Basson’s role as the head of Project Coast.

The top-secret programme included attempts to develop bacteria capable of killing blacks or making them infertile.

Basson, a former physician of ex-president P W Botha, was acquitted in 2002 following a marathon trial in which he was accused of drug possession, drug trafficking, fraud, 229 murder and conspiracy-to-murder counts, and theft.

He refused to seek amnesty from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

He told the The Star’s sister newspaper, the Cape Times, yesterday that he had been aware of attempts to have him struck off the roll for the past four years.

“I have been informed about the complaints and will obviously defend myself. Medicine is my life and I intend to keep practising,” said Basson.

London confirmed they had tried to get the council to act against Basson’s “unethical conduct” because he was a medical doctor at the time he was involved in the warfare programme.

“The Health and Human Rights Project was born of submissions made to the TRC on the human rights violations by medical practitioners. We lodged the complaint against Dr Basson because we feel the practice should maintain the highest ethical standards,” London said.

HPCSA spokesperson Tendai Dhliwayo confirmed that London had lodged a complaint in 2001, but said the council’s hands were tied by Basson’s criminal trial.

Basson said London and Mgijima were “nice guys who are misinformed” about his role in the warfare programme. He said he still received his R50 000 monthly stipend from the SA National Defence Force, but referred questions about what his duties were to the army.

“Yes, I am still employed by the defence force and enjoying every moment of it,” he said.

He was suspended from the SANDF in 1999, and after his acquittal in 2002, he demanded his job as surgeon back.

SANDF spokesperson Sam Mkhwanazi said that the last time he had checked, Basson was still on the payroll.

Dr Marjorie Jobson, the director of the Khulumani Support Group, welcomed the attempts to have Basson struck off the roll of medical practitioners.

“That’s fantastic news. He should be struck off the roll,” said Jobson, adding that she felt aggrieved that Basson still received a salary from the SANDF. That money should be used to pay his victims.”

Khulumani was one of the organisations that expressed dismay when the National Prosecuting Authority decided not to proceed with criminal charges against Basson in 2005.

Basson is alleged to have been involved in the killing of freedom fighters in the 1980s.

It took the combined might of the army, air force and navy to get a wheel back onto the trolley of a 17th century Portuguese cannon at the Castle of Good Hope.

The three arms of the SANDF joined forces on Wednesday to lift the huge bronze cannon off the trolley in order to carry out urgent repairs. The right front wheel became loose because of rotten wood.

Staff jokingly referred to it as the cannon “with the flat wheel” as the dejected-looking war machine stood tilted slightly forward, due to the damage, in front of the entrance to the Castle’s military museum.

The air force provided the crane and operator and the army the truck with which to transport the crane. The navy was represented by retired Commander Gerry de Vries, South Africa’s top expert in historic guns.

The cannon was cast in 1638 in the Far East island colony of Macau, now part of China, by the Portuguese master Pedro Diaz Bocarro, said De Vries.

It was being transported to Portugal on one of three ships, the Attalaia do Pinhero, Sacramento or Nossa Senhora, when all three came a cropper in bad weather off Port Elizabeth and were blown ashore.

The gun, with most of its critical markings still visible, was recovered, with others, by salvors in the mid-20th century.

The solid oak trolley was made about 50 years ago, probably by the SA Navy, De Vries said.

“We would not be able to build it like this again,” he said.

“The oak would probably cost about R15 000.”

The repair had to be made in a day, in order to have the crane handy to place the gun back on the trolley.

De Vries and his team used a section of Balau wood for the repair and also planned to sand the trolley down and preserve it.

And while the three “executive” arms of the SANDF busied themselves with the repair, the fourth was at hand, too, just in case.

The SA Medical Corps would certainly have come running had the cannon fallen on someone, a spokesman said.

I would like to clarify my recent proposal to request SA National Defence Force (SANDF) assistance with the critical task of securing our tourist attractions, particularly Table Mountain and the vast geographical area that includes Kirstenbosch Gardens.

Clearly, these iconic sites represent a huge security challenge as we attempt to prevent the kinds of incidents which have resulted in tourism warnings being issued by the British, French and Australian governments.

It is unacceptable that Table Mountain should be mentioned in the same sentence as Hillbrow in the text of these warnings.

The criminal element has now made our treasured places of natural beauty their hunting ground, knowing that chances of capture are minimal.

In attacking Table Mountain, the timeless symbol of our Mother City, they have struck at the heart of all we hold dear as Capetonians.

Desperate circumstances require us all to think out of the box.

The SANDF uses Table Mountain National Park for training and manoeuvres as a matter of routine and I see no reason why this could not be expanded and formalised into a planned security operation.

Our country obviously has a very real and understandable sensitivity when it comes to the military performing domestic security operations. This must always be respected.

There does, however, come a time when sensitivities are outweighed by practicalities.

In the case of securing Table Mountain, I think we should all accept that this time has now come.

Please e-mail any suggestions on this or any other tourism-related issue to me at simong@capetown.gov.za.

Eight people, including an SANDF corporal and a prison warder were arrested for drunken driving during a roadblock on the N2 outside Butterworth, Eastern Cape police said on Sunday.

Spokesman Captain Jackson Manatha said the 41-year-old prison warder was the worst offender, with a blood alcohol level of 1.69 percent.

"The 37-year-old corporal's results were 0.8 percent." The legal limit was 0.2 percent.

He said the officials and six others arrested with them paid bail of R1000 each.

They were expected to appear in the Butterworth Magistrate's Court on Monday.

"This is a warning that zero tolerance will apply to all irrespective of their status."

Manatha said they had recently dealt with a public prosecutor who had also been caught behind the wheel while drunk.

SERIOUS question marks have been raised over the strike capability of the South African Navy's (SAN) expensive new ships. A new independent study claims they are vulnerable to attack from submarines, aircraft and warships and have little ability to perform the key role of gunboat diplomacy through offshore bombardment.

These alarming critiques emerge from A Guide to the SANDF, an exhaustive 20-chapter unpublished and unauthorised manuscript on the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), written by defence analyst Leon Engelbrecht.

It is the first study of the armed forces in 16 years - despite the huge changes that have taken place in the interim.

Engelbrecht argues that the four new Valour-class frigates and three new Type 209 submarines are too light in their weapons and defensive counter-measures departments.

This is the part of South Africa's multi-billion rand arms deal currently proving most controversial, because of an alleged $3 million bribe paid by the frigate's builders, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, to former arms acquisition programme head Chippy Shaik.

But Helmoed-Romer Heitman, the southern African correspondent for Jane's Defence Weekly and author of the last similar study, South African Armed Forces (1990), said Engelbrecht had failed to take into account the significant upgrades planned for the naval weapons systems, the choices for which would only become clear as the new navy's role developed.

Rear Admiral Kevin Watson, the navy's project director for the acquisition of the vessels - four Valour-class frigates complete with AugustaWestland Super Lynx helicopters plus three Type 209 submarines - confirmed that the bulk of the expenditure on the frigates (65%) had been on the ships themselves and not their weapons systems.

This, he admitted, was at odds with the international norm of a 70% ship, 30% weapons spending split.

As a result, according to Engelbrecht, while the ships were top-notch, there were significant weaknesses in the weapons, and the counter-measures the ships were able to deploy against enemy attack.

The frigates will be armed with eight Exocet missiles, 16 Umkhonto missiles, a single-turreted Denel 76mm gun on the bow, an Oerlikon 20mm cannon on each side of the bridge, and a single South African Denel/Reutech 35mm cannon on the hangar roof overlooking the aft helideck.

According to Engelbrecht, the frigate's "current armament (was) suited only for limited, short-duration self-defence".

Its "land attack capability (was) limited to guns too light for the task" and it had "no land attack missiles".

This inability to add muscle to incursions ashore is underlined by Engelbrecht's argument that "the (Valour) class deliberately lacks a land-attack cruise missile capability for political reasons: such weapons are seen by some as 'too aggressive' and out of keeping with the Valour-class's 'defensive posture'.

"However like its peers, the SA Navy recognises the growing importance of fighting in the littoral battlespace and supporting land forces during war and peace operations. As a result a missile land-attack capability is likely to be added as funds become available and sensitivities are assuaged."

Heitman said, however, that budgeting, not political shyness, had delayed the development of the navy's land-attack capacity.

Still, in Engelbrecht's estimation, the frigates' existing weapons were not up to scratch:

The French anti-ship "Exocet missile (was) too slow to penetrate modern air defences and too short-ranged to allow the mothership adequate standoff to evade detection and response ...".

"Some commentators have criticised the choice of the Exocet ... because of its lack of land attack ability at a time of heightened interest in littoral warfare and more robust peace enforcement.

"Others have hammered the system for its age (developed in 1967), its low relative speed and small warhead, compared to some more modern systems such as the Indo-Russian BrahMos," which was touted to the SAN at last year's Africa Aerospace and Defence show in Cape Town.

Heitman said while he had a suspicion the SAN had bought one Exocet and leased the rest, the plan was to upgrade to the latest, longer-range (173km) model which did have land-attack capabilities. The SAN was also very interested in the supersonic 300km-range BrahMos cruise missile.

The South African Denel Umkhonto-IR is a short-range (12km) anti-aircraft missile that is still in its development stage, having been "only tested to a limited extent, and only against subsonic targets," while "several navies and air forces already have supersonic anti-ship missiles. How Umkhonto will deal with these is not known in the public domain".

The frigates can have their capacity for 16 Umkhontos doubled to 32, but will probably only carry eight missiles and so "can easily be swamped by saturation attack".

Heitman admitted that the missiles might have difficulty intercepting supersonic assaults, but said the Finn's recent acquisition of the Umkhonto and Sweden's interest showed the missile was taken seriously.

The Italian OTOBreda 76mm cannon were acquired for the Warrior-class strike-craft in 1977 and four reconditioned ones were fitted to the frigates as "an interim cost-saving measure. Senior naval officers are well aware the gun is too small to effectively support forces ashore".

Heitman agreed, but also echoed Engelbrecht in saying the SAN was looking at replacing the 76 with a navalised 155mm gun which could use Denel's world-class G5 and G6 ammunition.

In addition, the frigates were not fitted with torpedos (as they were capable of), and their anti-submarine warfare ability was "very basic," Watson admitted - "because that is not a very high threat at the moment".

Heitman said while there was no such threat currently, "there's absolutely f*** all they (the frigates) can do to a submarine except ram it".

But the frigates would all go through "a massive upgrade" of their weapons, countermeasures and weapons-control systems in the coming years, he said.

THE NUMBER of soldiers on active service with South Africa's elite commandos, its Special Forces, is not enough to staff even one full company, according to defence analyst Leon Engelbrecht.

In his unauthorised manuscript, A Guide to the SANDF, he notes that this lack of "recces", as reconnaissance operators are nicknamed, is one area in which the armed forces are currently weak. Another is in army and airforce transport equipment.

Engelbrecht notes that 5 Special Forces Regiment, with a focus on land warfare and based at Phalaborwa in Limpopo, was founded in 1976 and that "its post-2002 structure provides for two operational commandos and a training wing".

The other regiment, 4 Special Forces Regiment, with a focus on seaward operations and based at Saldanha, was founded in 1978. By 1995 it "consisted of three operational commandos (companies) and a Special Forces Amphibious and Urban School".

Special Forces also has a headquarters unit, based at Speskop, south-west of Pretoria; a Special Forces School based at Murrayhill, north of Pretoria; and a Special Forces Supply Unit based at Wallmansthal, north of Pretoria.

"All Special Forces have consistently cited quality over quantity. As a result, Special Forces units tend to be smaller than similarly-named regular units," Engelbrecht wrote.

"The SANDF is, perhaps understandably, coy about the numbers; the more so as they appear to be on the lower side of what could be expected from so large a structure.

"In 1978 (as the bush war intensified), a commando's table of organisation and equipment (TO&E) provided for 21 officers and 100 other ranks."

Subtracting headquarters and support staff, this left "six officers and 69 other ranks organised into three Reconnaissance Groups ... and four small teams, each ... with four operators under command".

But, he noted: "Anecdotal evidence suggests that around the time of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (October 2002) there were only about 50 operators available to support the police Special Task Force in protecting the conference and its dignitaries, including several heads of state and government.

"The age of some of the participants was also noteworthy: one warrant officer was in his 40s and several others were in their 30s.

"Based on available TO&E, there are insufficient operators for even one commando. But at least five are provided for, in addition to training and headquarters posts that would have to be filled by more mature operators.

"Recruiting standards are high and training tough as well as long in duration," he wrote, so "it is disconcerting to hear from defence advisers that the Special Forces have recently performed below expectation in combined exercises with their foreign peers.

"Has a shortage of new blood and too many training exercises for the old hands left the Special Forces stale?"

The Special Forces League had not responded at the time of going to press.

Yesterday, the leadership of the Department of Defence (DoD) and members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) converged on the Simon’s Town Naval Base in Cape Town where the South African Navy (SAN) hosted a parade marking the change of command of the SAS Isandlwana.

Captain Karl Wiesner handed over the command to Captain Bubele Kitie “Bravo” Mhlana. He thus became the first African black to take command of a South African Navy frigate.

SAS Isandlwana is the second of the four recently acquired Meko A-200 frigates – the other three being the SAS Amatola, SAS Spioenkop, and SAS Mendi, to be commissioned in Port Elizabeth on March 20.

The process of qualifying for naval command of a vessel such as a frigate, is long and arduous.

It demands both considerable intellectual growth and development, and an intensive effort and dedication on the part of the aspirant commander.

While command of the so-called small ships is an honour bestowed on the greater percentage of successful combat officers, the command of the Meko A-200 is limited to those who truly excel, and who have indicated through the history of their performance that they have the required intellectual potential and psychological resilience to deal with the demanding nature of the command.

In addition to his previous command of SAS Kapa, Mhlana’s experience includes successful completion of the Principal Warfare Officers Course in the United Kingdom as well as participation in international naval exercises.

Bravo is one of the successful graduates for the command of the new equipment acquired under the Special Defence Packages (SDPs) in the same manner as Captain Catherine Labuschagne was the SANDF’s first woman fighter pilot to fly the Gripen.

This again was testimony to the fact that the DoD has a place for all irrespective of their race, gender and culture.

When Captain Wiesner handed over command of SAS Isandlwana to Captain Mhlana, he did so knowing that he was handing command to a fellow sailor, a compatriot in arms in the ranks of the SANDF, and a fellow officer of proven capabilities and was proud that the time had arrived for his comrade to take over.

Captain Wiesner has held command within the Fast Attack Craft (missile) environment.

He was appointed as the first Officer Commanding of SAS Isandlwana and was responsible for ensuring her safe delivery voyage from Germany to South Africa.

In addition, he studied at the United States Naval War College.

Captain Wiesner is a career naval officer with a future in the DoD.

He is not about to leave now or in the very near future.

He has commenced with the Executive National Strategic Programme (ENSP) – a premier programme of the DoD aimed at developing strategic leaders.

After that, he will assume duty at the Navy Office in Pretoria and work in the combat capability development environment.

This case shows that a significant number of white people actively participate in the transformation of the DoD to ensure that South Africa is a better place for all.

It is, however, undeniable that a country whose population is predominantly black and female, should have these demographics fairly and emphatically reflected in the various professions and skills within an institution such as the SANDF.

The transformation of the State institutions and society is an imperative that we have to respond to in a planned and constructive manner.

In the case of the uniformed members of the DoD, the mechanism adopted as a response to this imperative is the Mobility Exit Mechanism (MEM).

The MEM takes into account the interests of both the employer and employee.

Alongside MEM is the Voluntary Initiated Severance Package (VISP) in terms of which civilian members of the DoD leave the Department voluntarily after an agreement has been negotiated.

I need to emphasise that these mechanisms are open and applicable to all race and gender groups.

The transformation of the SANDF and society is an ongoing process seeking to achieve an equitable South African society – so much yearned for by our forefathers.

Failure to transform the political, economic, social, and cultural landscape of our country would be a betrayal of our own consciences, of those who paid the supreme price for the liberation and freedom of this country, of our children and of many generations to come after us.

It is left to our children, living in a free and democratic South Africa, to complete the foundation we have laid in our lifetime.

n Mosiuoa Lekota is Minister of Defence and national chairperson of the African National Congress.

The cabinet has approved the deployment of 1100 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) troops in Burundi as part of a new African Union (AU) mission there.

The mandate of the force is to protect returning leaders of Burundi's National Liberation Forces (FNL), who signed a cease-fire agreement with the government last year. The FNL were the last remaining Hutu armed group to come into the cease-fire arrangement.

SA has 500 troops in Burundi, whose mission is to protect United Nations (UN) equipment. They stayed under an AU mandate after the departure of UN peacekeepers when the UN operation in Burundi, known by its French acronym Onub, completed its mission at the end of last year. The troops will stay in the country and will be joined by others to make up a total force of 1100.

SA has had a peacekeeping force in Burundi, which borders Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania, for nearly five years. The original mandate under the first ever AU mission was to protect returning political leaders and guard a camp for disarmed fighters. SA will be the sole contributor to this AU Special Task Force.

South Africa is to dedicate a total of R388 million towards its multilateral diplomatic and peacekeeping initiatives in Africa.

Tabling his annual budget speech in Parliament Wednesday, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said R275 million had been given to the African Rennaisance Fund, while the country's commitments to host the Pan African Parliament required R113 million from the fiscus.

The African Renaissance Fund is the organ through which South Africa funds its interventions on the continent for peace-keeping operations, assistance with elections and post conflict reconstruction amongst others.

"South Africa's foreign policy objectives seek to achieve greater unity and solidarity between African countries, accelerate political and socio-economic integration and promote peace, security and stability," Minister Manuel said.

"Support for key institutions of the African Union remains a priority," he said.

The minister outlined that in a short period of time, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) had assisted in significantly reducing a number of conflicts on the continent.

South Africa currently has peacekeeping troops deployed in a number of other African states in need of increased security, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Sudan.

The country is also participating in a significant way in post conflict resolutions, in concert with the AU, in countries including the DRC and Ivory Coast.

In the DRC alone last year, the SANDF and South Africa's Independent Electoral Commission undertook the major logistical task of supporting the central African nation's first democratic elections in over four decades.

South African organisations printed the ballots, distributed them across the vast, resource rich nation and assisted with ICT support for the monitoring and counting process there.

"The SANDF receives additional allocations to acquire airlift capacity, for exchange rate adjustments to the strategic defence package and for the military skills development programme, an innovative programme aimed at introducing young people to the military," said Minister Manuel.

In his State of the Nation Address earlier this month, President Thabo Mbeki described South Africa's interventions to assist securing peace and security on the continent in glowing terms.

"Among the greatest achievements of the peoples of Africa in the past two-and-half years has been the restoration of peace in the Great Lakes Region.

"We are proud, as South Africans, of the role that our people have played in helping to bring this about - from the young men and women in our National Defence Force to employees of public and private institutions who gave of their time to ensure that the African dream finds practical realisation in the homeland of Patrice Lumumba," Mr Mbeki said.

The president assured that the country would continue to work with the people of the DRC, Burundi, the Comoros and Sudan in particular, to ensure that peace and stability attained there, transformed smoothly into concerted action for economic reconstruction and social development.

"Our government will respond appropriately and as our capacity permits, to the call of the African Union for assistance to the people and government of Somalia," Mr Mbeki said.

"Critical in this regard, are the initiatives under way to ensure that the protagonists within Somalia interact with one another to find a solution that is inclusive and practicable, based on the need to achieve national reconciliation."

Due to its commitments to peacekeeping initiatives in other African countries, South Africa has indicated it will not be able to send a military presence to Somalia.

The Department of Foreign Affairs indicated however, that the country would send logistical and technical support as well as aid.

Recently Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana called for the consideration of reinstating a form of national military service in South Africa.

The main reason for this would seem be to get unemployed youth off the streets and, in so doing, provide training and instill discipline.

According to the minister this would make a significant contribution to combating crime in our country.

Obviously any initiative that appears to address the issue of crime in South Africa is immediately applauded and generally supported. This begs the question: "Is this the right answer to the problem?"

In addressing the issue one must consider the questions of the desirability, applicability and feasibility of this proposed solution to the South African reality. Is the militarisation of South Africa the right way to solve the problems of crime and unemployment?

In the first instance, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), which is doing a good job in Africa in support of our national interests and obligations despite serious underfunding and a near total lack of support from South African society, does not need national service to bolster its ranks. The SANDF has a voluntary short service system, the Military Skills Development System, feeding its personnel requirements.

What the SANDF needs is for government to align its budget with stated policy. Since the approval of the White Paper on Defence (1996) and the Defence Review (1998) the SANDF consistently has been underfunded.

In fact, the government has added to the burden of the SANDF through deployments on peace support operations in excess of stated policy, with little additional budgetary provision. And now it seems that the government wants to add the responsibility of crime fighting, vocational training and disciplining our young people to the functions of the SANDF.

As added tasks imply added costs, the question arises: "Who will pay for this?"

It must also be questioned whether the SANDF is the right vehicle to address the problems of unemployment, crime and lack of discipline.

Bringing young people into the SANDF for basic training and some form of vocational training will address the issue of discipline and keep them busy for a while.

But as any form of national service can be for a limited period only, the question is what happens to them afterwards.

National service will do nothing for job creation in the private sector and when their period of service is done these same youths, now a year or two older, will be back on the streets, unemployed. How will discipline solve this problem? In fact, the whole issue of discipline should be seriously questioned.

If a young person has not been taught discipline at home and at school over a period of about 18 years, what effect will military training have on him or her?

If they are back on the streets with no employment prospects, will they not revert to crime as the only means of survival?

Are we not simply passing the responsibility for disciplining our youth from our parents and schools to the military?

On the crime issue, it is interesting to note that the government is in the process of closing down the SANDF territorial reserve forces, the so-called Commandos, which have always played a supportive role to the SA Police Service. The reason given was "removing the SANDF from policing tasks as this was unconstitutional".

And now there is a call for more involvement of the SANDF in fighting crime in South Africa through a national service system. It is submitted that reinstating the Commandos would be far more effective in addressing the crime problem.

Another consideration is that of who can best prepare a young person for a career in civil society. The SANDF, as all military forces world- wide, is designed and equipped to make soldiers out of civilians. Basic military training at the various basic training schools of the army, air force and navy is designed to do just that, and it does it well.

The naming of the current short service system as the Military Skills Development System is apt, as this is what the SANDF is good at.

On the other hand, as has been learned from various demobilisation and reintegration experiences in Africa and elsewhere, militaries are not good at turning soldiers into civilians.

And neither should they be, as this is not what they are designed for. After integration in 1994, the SANDF demobilised some 7 081 members of the former MK and Apla forces. But a study by the ISS has found that:

"The majority remain unemployed and struggle to support themselves and their families."

"Demobilisation did not provide for effective reintegration of former combatants into society."

"No comprehensive counselling, training or job placement was offered."

Further, the Service Corps was established in the SANDF in 1996 with the aim of finding employment for ex-combatants. In a report to Parliament in 2004 it was stated that the Service Corps had an annual budget of about R33 million, a staff of 240 and, up to September 2003, had trained some 4 758 people, of whom 579 had been placed in civilian jobs.

This does not seem to be very cost-effective and is certainly not efficient.

From the foregoing, it is submitted that if the government wants to address the issues of unemployment and crime through a system of national service, such a system should be based not on military service but rather on voluntary service in all departments of government - national, provincial and municipal.

Certainly, if crime fighting is the object the SAPS is much better equipped to train young civilians in that role. Our municipalities, which should be the principal deliverers of services to the people, are sorely lacking in capacity and would surely gain more from a system of government-funded national service than the SANDF.

Yet all of this comes with a caution and returns us to the question of "who pays". If we accept that unemployment is one of the major factors behind the high level of crime in South Africa, it is obvious that any initiative of this kind must address both issues - unemployment and crime.

Whereas the government is responsible for creating conditions conducive to economic growth, the primary responsibility for job creation rests with the private sector.

If South Africa is to introduce a system of national service, military or otherwise, this has to be funded and, if it is to be effective, sufficiently so.

This means that the government must find extra funds and this can only be done through taxation of the private sector.

This leaves us with a conundrum: that we are trying to address the problems of crime and unemployment by taking money away from the private sector to enable the public sector to train people for jobs that are not available in the private sector and that might in fact become less so as we continue to increase corporate taxes.

In conclusion, it is submitted that the real problem to be solved is job creation so that the youth of South Africa can be meaningfully employed in careers of their choice rather than being coerced into "service to the state" for a year or two and then end up unemployed.

It has been stated "one is at one's tallest when you bend down to help". Though it is agreed that to serve is the highest form of achievement, this should not and does not imply that service to the community is only achieved through some form of government-initiated national service.

The thousands of entrepreneurs, doctors, nurses, teachers, builders, bus and taxi drivers, newspaper vendors and refuse removers - to name but a few - are all serving our country and society at large.

What is needed in South Africa is not for the government to become the principal trainer and employer of our youth, but to create the conditions for the private sector to flourish and generate jobs so that young South Africans can rise to the challenge and make South Africa the great country it can be.

Len le Roux is head of the Defence Sector Programme at the Institute of Security Studies in Pretoria

The Freedom Front Plus has lambasted the South African Defence Force's (SANDF) transformation policy, saying it contributed to thousands of experienced white officers leaving the force.

The party's spokesman on defence Pieter Groenewald said the policy, introduced two years ago, required more than 5000 white senior officers, most of them at the rank of Staff Sergeant to Lieutenant General, to leave the force.

"The most shocking of the transformation figures is that it is precisely the most experienced and knowledgeable members of the Defence Force which had been affected the most.

"Millions of rands of tax money which had been invested in these people have now been thrown into the water," he said in a statement on Monday.

Because the policy has pushed some of the most experienced members out of the force, Groenewald said SANDF was now relying on external expertise to carry out some of its tasks.

"Tenders are now being invited for logistical control systems... where even foreigners are being invited to submit tenders.

"A foreign tender and appointment creates a serious security risk. A foreign company which has complete insight into the logistical picture of the Defence Force would know exactly what the SANDF is capable of and will know its weak points," he said.

Drive to recruit South Africans to world body

Adrive to recruit South Africans to serve in key positions at the United Nations is under way to ensure that Africa remains on the world body’s peacekeeping agenda.

The drive was announced by Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota in Bloemfontein on Tuesday when he welcomed home a battalion of South African infantry soldiers from peacekeeping duties in Burundi.

The nearly 600 troops, who are members of 5SA Infantry Battalion based in Ladysmith, worked under the auspices of the UN before the peacekeeping mission was handed over to the African Union.

The troops were deployed to Burundi last year. A small contingent of troops is still in Burundi to oversee the return of the former combatants after rebel forces agreed to cease hostilities.

Lekota took the salute before watching a flypast of four Augusta helicopters and an Oryx helicopter. The parade was the first full military parade held to welcome back SA troops deployed overseas on peacekeeping missions.

Lekota said that South Africa’s role in peacekeeping missions on the continent was vital to peace in Africa. “It is through your work and the work of others before you that peaceful elections were held in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and the Comoros, and that the final ceasefire came about in Burundi on Monday.”

The importance of the defence force’s contributions in Burundi should not be underestimated, he said. “In this the SANDF’s role was the single most crucial factor in ensuring that a looming disaster was reversed,” he said. Burundi has proved that Africa should be the leader in solving African problems.

The contributions that the South African troops had made to peace in Africa had to be continued through staffing the UN’s various departments with South Africans.

Lekota said because South Africa had a non-permanent seat on the UN’s security council there had to be enough South Africans working at the world body to ensure that Africa was not forgotten.

“South Africa has little representation in the UN. Because South Africa has a profound understanding of Africa and because of our large contribution to the UN it is important that we participate in the planning of peacekeeping operations in Africa.”

They were embarking on a massive recruitment drive to attract South Africans to the UN and its structures so that Africa’s problems, “which only Africans have a real understanding of”, continue to be on the world body’s agenda.

Acting SANDF chief Lieutenant-General Rinus Janse van Rensburg said they were looking for South Africans to join the country’s first military attaché Col Bassie Blamek, who is the defence adviser of the SA ambassador to the UN. They would be recruiting soldiers, Foreign Affairs staff as well as members of the public to join.

Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana’s idea of national service would neither instil discipline nor give young people skills required in the job market after they had completed their service in the “under-funded” SANDF.

This is according to Len le Roux, the defence sector head of the Institute for Security Studies.

“It must also be questioned whether the SANDF is the right vehicle to address the problems on unemployment, crime and indiscipline.”

His comments come after Mdladlana said the military service would help to instill discipline among the youth.

“But as any form of national service could be for only a limited period of time, the question is, what happens to them afterwards?

“National service will do nothing for job creation in the private sector and, when their period of service is done, these same youths, now a year or two older, will be back on the streets unemployed,” he said.

What was needed in South Africa was not for the government to become the principal trainer and employer of the youth, but to create the conditions for the private sector to flourish and generate jobs so that young South Africans could rise to the challenge and make South Africa the great country it could be, said Le Roux.

Whereas the government was responsible for creating conditions conducive to economic growth, the primary responsibility for job creation rested with the private sector.

“If a young person has not been taught discipline at home and at school over a period of some 18 years, what effect would military training have on him or her? If they are back on the streets with no employment prospects, will they not revert to crime as the only means of survival?

“Are we not simply passing the responsibility for disciplining our youth from our parents and schools to the military?”

On the crime issue, Le Roux said it was interesting to note that the government was closing down the SANDF territorial reserve forces, the so-called Commandos, which had always played a supportive role to the police.

The reason was given as “removing the SANDF from policing tasks as this was unconstitutional”.

The SANDF, which was doing a good job in Africa in support of South Africa’s national interests and obligations despite serious underfunding and a near total lack of support from society, did not need national service to bolster its ranks, he said.

The SANDF had a voluntary short service system, the Military Skills Development System, feeding its personnel requirements.

Le Roux proposed that the government should align its budget with stated policy.

Since the approval of the White Paper on Defence (1996) and the Defence Review (1998) the SANDF had been consistently under-funded to maintain its approved force design and execute its assigned tasks, Le Roux said.

At Thy Call We Did Not Falter by Clive Holt, Zebra Press (Feb 2007)

It does not glorify or demonise war, but tells the real story of so many young white South Africans like the author, who were sent into battle against overwhelming forces less than a year after finishing school. This book has the hallmark of a classic battlefield biography, as well as providing a window into the world of Post traumatic Stress Disorder. It is a riveting account of how a government took schoolboys and turned them into killing machines.

A massive drive to recruit South Africans to serve in key positions at the UN is under way to ensure that Africa remains on the world body’s peacekeeping agenda.

The drive was announced by Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota in Bloemfontein yesterday when he welcomed home a battalion of South African infantry soldiers from peacekeeping duties in Burundi.

The nearly 600 troops, who are members of 5SA Infantry Battalion based in Ladysmith, worked under the auspices of the UN before the peacekeeping mission was handed over to the African Union.

The troops were deployed to Burundi last year. A small contingent of troops is still in Burundi to oversee the return of the former combatants after rebel forces agreed to cease hostilities.

Lekota took the salute before watching a flypast of four Augusta helicopters and an Oryx helicopter decked out in UN peacekeeping markings. The parade was the first full military parade held to welcome back SA troops deployed overseas on peacekeeping missions.

Lekota said that South Africa’s role in peacekeeping missions on the continent was vital to peace in Africa. “It is through your work and the work of others before you that peaceful elections were held in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and the Comoros, and that the final ceasefire came about in Burundi on Monday.”

The importance of the defence force’s contributions politically, socially and economically in Burundi should not be underestimated, he said. “In this the SANDF’s role was the single most crucial factor in ensuring that a looming disaster was reversed,” he said. Burundi has proved that Africa should be the leader in solving African problems.

The contributions that the South African troops had made to peace in Africa had to be continued through staffing the UN’s various departments with South Africans.

Lekota said because South Africa had a non-permanent seat on the UN’s security council there had to be enough South Africans working at the world body to ensure that Africa was not forgotten.

“South Africa has little representation in the world body’s various forums, including the peacekeeping section. Because South Africa has a profound understanding of Africa and because of our large contribution to the UN it is important that we participate in the planning of operations, especially peacekeeping operations in Africa.”

They were embarking on a massive recruitment drive to attract South Africans to the UN and its structures so that Africa’s problems, “which only Africans have a real understanding of”, continue to be on the world body’s agenda.

Acting SANDF chief Lieutenant-General Rinus Janse van Rensburg said they were looking for South Africans from all walks of life to join the country’s first military attaché Colonel Bassie Blamek, who is the defence adviser of the SA ambassador to the UN. They would be recruiting soldiers, Foreign Affairs staff as well as members of the public to join.

For Pretoria North resident Vivian Klein the chance to serve his country on a peace mission in Burundi was a dream come true.

Klein, a rifleman with 5SA Infantry (5SAI) Battalion based in Ladysmith, returned this week to a rousing celebration during a parade through Bloemfontein.

Along with 559 fellow infantry soldiers, Klein spent six months in Burundi as part of a UN and then African Union peacekeeping mission.

“It was the best thing I have ever done as a soldier and I recommend that all soldiers in the SANDF serve their country in such a way,” he said, adding he would deploy on another peacekeeping mission at the drop of a hat.

He said while there were difficult times, the good elements far outweighed the bad.

Fellow rifleman Maureen Nhlapo said it had been a moving experience. “We went to Burundi to make a difference, to bring about peace, which is exactly what we did. When I heard today that the rebels had agreed to the ceasefire I knew that we had achieved what we had set out to do,” she said.

Commanding officer of 5SAI Lieutenant-Colonel Sipho Nziweni said his troops had been “amazing”. “Other world players thought achieving peace in Burundi was impossible, but we maintained that we could and to stand here today is a real honour,” he said.

A battalion of about 800 South African National Defence (SANDF) troops received a heroes' welcome with a 21gun salute on their return from their deployment in Burundi.

Helicopter flypast and military parade brought the city to standstill as part of activities attended by SANDF officials, family members and friends.

Welcoming the troops, Defence Minister Mosioua Lekota said the country valued their services in helping the continent achieve its peacekeeping objectives.

"South Africa will continue to support people in areas such as disaster relief, search and rescue, fire fighting operations and rendering of support to the police and other government departments," said Minister Lekota.

"You have laid that foundation for Burundi and for that, the Burundi leadership has expressed gratitude through a number of channels."

Commanding Officer of the group [5 SA Infantry Batalion] SiphoNziweni, aged 36, told BuaNews he was proud to have led a team that took part in the peacekeeping mission in Burundi.

"If I'm requested to go back, I will gladly to do so, for me to be in the SANDF is a call," he said.

According to Commander Nziweni, the morale of the troops was always high, they were always prepared for anything.

"I'm very much proud of my troops, they behaved very well during their deployment."

Another batch of about 500 troops is still in Burundi and will remain there to oversee the return of the former combatants.

They are expected back in the country after the Easter weekend.

In his State of the Nation Address, President Thabo Mbeki commended the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) for its participation in peacekeeping missions on the continent.

"We are proud, as South Africans of the role our people played in helping to bring about peace in other African countries," he said.

South Africa decided it would not be sending any soldiers to Somalia, as its peacekeeping force was stretched in other missions on the continent, including Burundi, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ivory Coast.

South Africa deserved more personnel in the United Nations' Department of Peacekeeping Operations considering the country's contribution, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Tuesday.

"... No South African is employed or deployed at the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations," Lekota told a military parade in Bloemfontein to welcome home a contingent of SA National Defence Force (SANDF) troops in Burundi.

"It is important we should participate in the actual planning of peacekeeping and peacekeeping operations so that we have men and women deployed there who have a profound understanding of the capabilities of the problems that we confront in these peacekeeping operations."

This would help in decisions about what was expected of South Africa in these operations.

"Also, if we want to raise issues, that we have people there that are reasonable sensitive to South Africa's voice."

Lekota said many of the people in the UN Department were from countries which did not make as much of a contribution as South Africa.

They also come from regions whose conditions were not similar to those of Africa.

"And, even if they do good work, they would not be able to know or understand profoundly what the circumstances on the continent are."

"... Burundi proved beyond doubt that Africa should be the leader in solving African problems," he told 560 homecoming troops, in thanking them, on behalf of the country.

"In this the SANDF's role was the single most crucial factor in ensuring that a looming disaster was reversed."

A small contingent of SA troops is still in Burundi to oversee the return of the former combatants.

The Bloemfontein military parade is the first to honour South African troops sent overseas on peacekeeping missions. It included a helicopter flypast and a gun salute.

South Africa still has a battalion of troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) on Tuesday welcomed back it's contingent of troops that were deployed in Burundi.

"We acknowledge the contribution of our men and women who have returned from Burundi after having played a significant role in creating peace and stability in that country," Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said during a military parade held in Bloemfontein to welcome back the troops.

Some 560 defence force members and the vehicles they used were paraded at Bloemfontein's Heritage Ridge in President Brand Street.

Lekota took the salute in acknowledgement of the parade in front of the old Bloemfontein City Hall in the city's central business district.

Lekota said the importance of the SANDF's contributions politically, socially and economically in Burundi should not be underestimated.

"Consequently Burundi proved beyond doubt that Africa should be the leader in solving African problems," Lekota said.

"In this the SANDF's role was the single most crucial factor in ensuring that a looming disaster was reversed."

Lekota said the Paliphetu and FNL leaders met on Monday to finalise discussions on their return to Burundi after successful facilitation by the Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula.

Lekota said a small contingent of troops were still in Burundi to oversee the return of the former combatants.

Tuesday's parade was the first full military parade held to welcome back South African troops deployed overseas.

It included a flypast of helicopters and a gun salute.

The place is unattended and people are helping themselves to what they want’

The historic SANDF Wemmer Pan naval base building, built in 1938, is being stolen – piece by piece.

The building was abandoned by the defence force in November 2005 when the reserve forces were disbanded. and the building was decommissioned. It is now being vandalised and destroyed.

Residents and the local councillor are outraged.

Councillor Bev Turk said it was sad that the beautiful old building, a piece of the city's history, was being allowed to deteriorate.

The building is being stripped of its teak flooring boards, roofing and windows and also of old naval memorabilia such as brass-encased doors with gold-leaf crests. Turk estimates that about R2-million damage has already been done.

To top it all, a mini substation on the premises was set alight by thieves.

City Power has said that it will cost R15,5-million to repair it, which they are not prepared to do because it is on abandoned SANDF property.

“It is a beautiful old building overlooking the lake. It holds history and it is very sad to see it falling into rack and ruin. The SANDF had guards here for a few months after the decommissioning, but they were withdrawn after they were found lying around, sleeping and drinking all day.

“The place is now unattended and people are helping themselves to what they want. Neighbours are complaining that crime is on the increase since the navy moved out.

“We have tried on numerous occasions to get them to either make use of the building or to put proper security measures in place, but they keep promising to do so and then nothing happens,” she said.

Naval training activities were started in 1895 at Wemmer Pan by the Witwatersrand Sea Cadets. The lake is a man-made one, filled with water from the mines.

The building was constructed in 1938 and it operated as a fully-fledged naval base until 2005. During the war, it was used as a recruitment base.

It later became home to the naval reserve force. In 2005, when the SANDF decided to disband all naval reserves, the Wemmer Pan base was decommissioned.

Next door are the premises of the Witwatersrand Sea Cadets, who are still operating, but who are being affected by the vandalism and theft of the naval base.

“We have had numerous break-ins since the navy abandoned the building and we have been forced to hire guards, which we cannot afford to do,” said Ian Loubser, national logistics director of the SA Sea Cadets.

The sea cadets, which operate independently from the SANDF, train children from the ages of 12 to 18 in sailing and in the basic operation of ships and life skills.

About 800 children nationally are trained each year. Children pay only R30 a year and are trained by navy professionals. They receive no funding and all staff are volunteers.

They rely solely on fundraising to keep their activities going.

“We are all individuals who are passionate about water and about people. No one gets paid.

“Many of the children who have been through our courses have gone on to do very well. Some have gone on to be accepted in the British Navy and the Green Berets,” he said.

Sergeant Major Nceda Vinqi at the SANDF Army Support Base in Johannesburg said he too, was concerned at what was happening at Wemmer Pan.

“We are waiting for the Department of Public Works to issue us with a standby generator so that we can put our guards back on duty after the substation was damaged. We cannot put anyone on site until this has been done,” he said.

Some cases relate to apartheid army’s intelligence activities

The South African National Defence Force is facing civil claims totalling R978-million but, say defence force authorities, three-quarters of them happened during the apartheid era.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota yesterday revealed that his department was facing a $111-million claim believed to relate to the apartheid army’s intelligence activities. Lekota was responding to The Star’s exposé last month about 287 criminal cases and 149 civil claims against the SANDF and its members.

Two weeks ago, an investigation by The Star revealed that the most recent list of the recorded criminal cases against SANDF members included 26 charges of murder, 22 of attempted murder, 15 of assault with grievous bodily harm, 25 of common assault and 31 of reckless and negligent driving.

While 37 of these criminal cases are recorded as withdrawn or ending in acquittal, army documents also suggested that the outcome of the 125 cases was not known to the army’s legal department.

At best, the last recorded court date for these cases is noted four years ago.

Speaking to the media after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the SANDF and the Central African Republic, Lekota did not deny these statistics. But he said vigorous attempts to verify allegations of torture contained in The Star article had been fruitless.

His staff, however, admitted they had received The Star’s copy of the army’s register of civil claims and criminal cases, in which at least two incidents of alleged torture were listed. In one R90 000 civil claim listed on the register, a Mrs S N Ndlazi was described as involving ”torture and assault of plaintiff by members of the SANDF/ South African Police Service” in Msogwaba, Mpumalanga.

In another criminal case, a Sergeant Hlophe was accused of killing a civilian during an interrogation. Lekota revealed that the victim had died after the barrel of a gun was inserted into his anus. After his wife launched a R3-million civil claim against the SANDF, the army reached a R300 000 settlement agreement.

Lekota said the SANDF “has never or will never authorise acts of torture, murder and assault”. But he went on to say: “The act of defence carries with it an inherent risk of mortal causality, but such acts cannot, or should not be equated with, random acts of banditry and hooliganism.”

The minister took issue with the suggestion that the R978-million claim from the department was entirely related to the killing, assault, unlawful arrest or torture of civilians.

His spokesperson, Sam Mkhwanazi, revealed that among the claims faced by the department, there was a $20-million claim believed to be related to the controversial arms deal, as well as R50-million related to the SANDF strategic defence packages. A further R14-million was linked to medical claims, R5,1-million to contractual disputes and outstanding amounts, and R14-million linked to assault cases.

But neither Lekota nor Mkhwanazi gave details of the claims of murder, death, shootings, attempted murder and unlawful arrest made against the department.

Among the claims listed in the army’s own legal register are 14 for shooting incidents, seven for deaths, four for murder, 59 for assault and five for attempted murder. The claims include a R500 000 claim bought against the SANDF on behalf of a minor son of SANDF administrative clerk Carol Herbst, who was shot dead by an SANDF soldier seven years ago. The soldier, Sibusiso Vilikazi, claimed that he shot the 51-year-old after she made racist remarks to him.

Mkhwanazi told The Star that the SANDF could not be held responsible for the activities of criminal elements within its midst.

Among the recent criminal cases against the SANDF are:

nLast year the Pietermaritzburg High Court heard how two SANDF soldiers were contracted to murder taxi operator Simphiwe “Kansas” Mkhize in April 2002. Mkhize died 12 days after he was shot several times;

nIn October 2004, Vusi Xulu, a soldier from 121 Infantry Battalion, was handed two life sentences and 70 years in jail. This was for going on a shooting rampage in which he fatally shot brothers David and Sandile Myeni. He then shot and left for dead Nonhlanhla Myeni and abducted her two children.

When asked at which point cases against the apartheid government would be finalised, Lekota said: “As long as the courts are entertaining these cases, we can’t say when they will be finalised.”

Lekota also provided no details of civil claims launched against SANDF peacekeepers stationed in Burundi and the DRC.

Reports that the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) is facing civil claims totalling R978 million obscured the truth, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Sunday.

Lekota was responding to reports that the SANDF is facing R978m in civil claims over incidents which include alleged murders, torture and assaults by SANDF soldiers.

"The SANDF has never and will never authorise acts of torture, murder and assault," Lekota said.

The R987m was listed in the Department of Defence's 2006 financial statements tabled in Parliament. It was highlighted in a report in a Johannesburg newspaper on January 31.

Lekota said the R978m included claims prior to 1994.

About 78 percent of the claims are for incidents which took place after 1994.

The civil claims include medical claims worth R113m, damage to property amounting to R13,7m and about R70m in connection with tender processes.

"The R978m reflects all claims of all types from South Africa and foreign countries and it has nothing to do with torture, murder or assault," said Lekota.

He said the newspaper report on the claims was spurious and irresponsible.

"We regret the report as it does not tally with the facts."

Investigations by the SANDF to verify allegations of torture had been "fruitless", he said.

On the murder allegations, Lekota said the acts of defence carried a risk of death but any murders would be subject to the due process of the law.

A senior SANDF general accused of fondling the breasts of a woman on a trip to Stockholm has expressed relief after he was found not guilty of sexual harassment.

“I am happy this is over. I can now concentrate on my work and my family can continue with their life,” said Major-General Mxolisi Petane, after he was acquitted by military court judge Captain Rendani Masutha.

Petane was accused of fondling the breasts of the former personal assistant to the previous deputy defence minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge in a Stockholm, Sweden, hotel on October 15 2003.

The complainant had accompanied Madlala-Routledge to defence talks with her Swedish counterpart.

Petane, the SANDF’s Inspector-General, said the issue was blown out of proportion. “I still insist that this was a non-incident.”

Masutha said that the State had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Petane was guilty of sexual harassment, alternatively, scandalous behaviour. “It is always difficult to prove a sexual harassment case,” Masutha said.

She said the court took into consideration the behaviour of the complainant after the alleged incident in Stockholm on October 15 2003.

“The court was unanimous in its findings that there was no element of distress,” the judge said. The complainant also could have stopped Petane before he touched her.

“The complainant’s evidence was that the accused (Petane) put his hands around her waists, moved upwards and touched her breast.”

Masutha said that after the incident, the complainant went shopping with Madlala-Routledge and did not tell her about it. The State had failed to prove Petane had the intent to sexually molest the complainant, who has since left the SANDF.

South African soldiers deployed across Africa on peacekeeping missions no longer have to worry about life insurance companies rejecting death or disability claims on their policies should something happen to them while on duty.

But if you are a civilian travelling to a war zone and, more particularly, working as a security guard, you should beware. Your life assurance company may not pay out a death benefit if you are killed there.

In terms of a protocol signed recently with the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), the Life Offices’ Association (LOA) has requested its member life companies to waive war-exclusion clauses for soldiers involved in peacekeeping operations.

A similar agreement has been signed with the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Currently, more than 5 500 South African soldiers are deployed in peacekeeping operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Sudan under United Nations, African Union or Southern African Development Community (SADC) mandates.

Gerhard Joubert, the chief executive of the LOA, says in terms of the SANDF and SAPS protocols, member life companies have agreed to waive the war exclusions normally applied to products such as life cover, disability and functional impairment cover, critical illness and dread-disease cover, accident benefits and health insurance such as hospital plans. Participation by life companies is voluntary.

Joubert says the life industry agreed to support South Africa’s peacekeeping initiatives by waiving war exclusions because peace and stability in Africa will directly impact on the success of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), a strategic framework for Africa’s renewal by addressing challenges such as poverty levels, the marginalisation of the continent and slow progress in empowering women.

The protocols apply to peacekeeping operations sanctioned by the United Nations, the African Union and SADC on the condition that proper medical facilities are provided to the soldiers at all times. It also applies to South African soldiers or police officers who take part in international training exercises.

The war exclusions will also be waived for soldiers assisting police operations within South Africa or who are involved in border control operations within this country.

These exclusions will, however, not be waived when soldiers and police officers are involved in peace “enforcement” operations, because the risk increases substantially.

Peacekeeping operations are aimed at maintaining peace or ceasefire agreements, and take place only when peace has already been established and combat situations are not likely.

Peace enforcement operations, on the other hand, are aimed at deploying military forces as a last diplomatic resort to convince opposing parties to cease combat in order to reach a peace agreement.

These operations generally take place when peace has not been fully established and combat situations may be possible.

Joubert says members of the public travelling to known conflict areas should notify their life companies before departure and inquire whether they will be covered should anything happen to them after they reach their destination.

Although war exclusions are generally applied only if someone actively participates in acts of war, some life companies do require you to notify them when you visit a conflict area.

Joubert stresses that the war exclusion protocols do not apply to South Africans who participate as security guards in conflict areas such as Iraq.

Defence counsel for a senior SANDF general facing sexual harassment charges has accused the State of trying to destroy his client’s future.

“If you want to bring an elephant down, you must do it with dignity and ethics,” Major Sabelo Magaga yesterday told the military court in Thaba Tshwane.

Magaga’s client is Major-General Mxolisi Petane – the SANDF’s Inspector-General. He is accused of fondling the breasts of a woman, who was previously a personal assistant to former deputy defence minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, in a hotel room in Stockholm, Sweden, in October 2003.

Magaga said Petane’s future was on the line. “He relies on his salary to support his family,” Magaga said.

He criticised the former personal assistant, describing her as “a perpetual liar”.

“Her evidence is inconsistent and she has demonstrated to the court that she is capable of lying,” Magaga said.

He said the complainant had failed to immediately inform Madlala-Routledge – who was in Sweden for defence talks with her Swedish counterpart – about Petane’s alleged behaviour in the hotel room.

“This is an indication that nothing actually happened in the hotel room and that she had nothing to report to the deputy minister.”

Magaga accused the State of having dirty hands. “Of concern to us is the fact that the complainant’s statement was commissioned in Pretoria while she was in Cape Town. We find this disturbing because the rules state a person making an oath must be present when the statement is commissioned,” said Magaga.

Prosecutor Desmond Thanjekwayo disputed Magaga’s statement stating that he (Magaga) was present when arrangements were made to obtain the sworn statement from the complainant.

“I used his computer to print the sworn statement which was later faxed through to the complainant in Cape Town,” said Thanjekwayo.

He argued that the complainant was a competent witness who was clear, concise and credible before the court. “The fact that the complainant failed to immediately inform the deputy minister about the incident does not mean that it did not take place.

“The complainant has made it clear to the court that the accused fondled her breasts,” said Thanjekwayo.

He conceded that there were some discrepancies in the complainant’s evidence and that of her office manager Buddy Ntsong.

The complainant had previously told the court that she had decided not to inform Madlala-Routledge about the incident because she feared that she might act “irrationally” and cancel the defence talks with her Swedish counterpart.

This was disputed by Ntsong who said Madlala-Routledge would have waited for the talks to be completed before confronting Petane with the allegations.

“Whether the complainant believed that Madlala-Routledge would cancel the talks or not is immaterial,” said Thanjekwayo.

Military court judge Captain Rendani Masutha will deliver judgment today.

‘If we don’t deal with these allegations in an open and truthful manner, they will come back to haunt us for years and years.”

These were my words to ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe in mid-2001 after giving him information I had in relation to the controversial arms deal. Over the preceding months I had similarly warned Tony Yengeni (then chief whip in Parliament), Jacob Zuma and ministers Manuel, Erwin and Lekota. Soon afterwards, I resigned as an ANC MP in protest against the government’s refusal to allow an unfettered investigation into the deal.

During my time as the ranking ANC member on Parliament’s public accounts committee (PAC), I had listened to all of these ministers and the president vociferously deny that there was any corruption in the deal. In fact, in a vitriolic letter, the president wrote (but had Zuma sign) that he accused Gavin Woods and the PAC of questioning the integrity of the Cabinet, the government and “prestigious international companies” of high standing (that is, the arms manufacturers who won contracts to supply South Africa with tens of billions of rands of weapons).

The president went on to say, on at least two occasions, that those of us who were attempting to investigate the deal were attempting to bring down the government. All we were doing was performing our constitutional responsibility as members of Parliament and, in my case, as a proud member of the ANC.

As recently as last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the president restated that there was no corruption in the deal. He also implied that, just as Tony Blair had shamefully closed down a long-standing investigation into corruption in the world’s largest arms deal between Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, the British prime minister should abort his country’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into the South African deal.

So the view of the ANC and the South African government is clear: no corruption in the arms deal and nothing to hide.

But what do we now know: first of all, the ANC’s chief whip at the time and former chairperson of Parliament’s defence committee, Yengeni, who made elaborate and intimidatory attempts to stop the PAC even starting its investigation, has been jailed for covering up his receipt of a large discount on a luxury vehicle from one of the bidders in the deal. The relevant senior official at EADS, the company concerned, has admitted guilt in a Munich court and paid a fine of around 15 000 marks.

Schabir Shaik, financial adviser to then deputy president Zuma, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for fraud and corruption. One of the counts against him concerns hundreds of thousands of rands received on behalf of Zuma. In return for this money, Zuma was to further the interests of one of the “prestigious corporations” so beloved of the president, Thomsons CSF (now Thales), and to protect it from investigation in relation to the deal.

So, bidders for the contracts made payments in cash or kind to senior members of the government who would decide who received those contracts. On the basis of these two facts alone, both proven in courts of law, there was corruption in the arms deal.

But there is more, lots more: as reported in the Mail & Guardian , the UK’s SFO is investigating payments of between £70- and £80-million allegedly made on behalf of BAE to various middlemen, officials and politicians involved in the deal. They have already identified a significant payment allegedly made to Joe Modise’s adviser, Fana Hlongwane. We do know that BAE won its contract despite of the fact that its main competitor’s jet, which was half the price of BAE’s, was the preferred choice of the South African Air Force. The Cabinet sub-committee, chaired by Thabo Mbeki, went to extraordinary lengths to award the contract to BAE. It even decided to omit cost as a criterion in what is still the single biggest procurement in our democratic history.

In last week’s M&G , the former secretary of defence, Pierre Steyn, admitted that he resigned from this position in 1998 because it was clear to him that then defence minister Modise had decided that BAE would win the contract before bidding even started. Was this because BAE had made a donation of R5-million to the MK Veteran’s Association of which Modise was life president? Or might it have had something to do with a part of the £70-odd million that the SFO is investigating?

Meanwhile, in Düsseldorf, German prosecutors are investigating payments of $25-million made by Thyssen (part of the German Frigate Consortium, GFC) to similar actors in the transaction. On Monday, the highly regarded German magazine, Der Spiegel , provided compelling evidence to suggest that “Chippy” Shaik (head of acquisitions in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) at the time of the deal and brother of the more famous Schabir), allegedly solicited and received $3-million from Thyssen.

Within the procurement process, it was understood that two non-German companies had been short-listed for the contract to build corvettes. But after a visit to Germany by then deputy president Mbeki, the tender was reopened. A third Shaik brother, Mo, surprisingly became South Africa’s consul-general in Hamburg, home to the consortium, for a few months and, lo and behold, the GFC won the contract. In addition to the alleged $3-million that might have gone to Chippy, Schabir’s company ADS became the GFC’s BEE partner in South Africa. And what role might the balance of Thyssen’s $25-million of alleged payments have made in this decision?

Not that I was surprised to read these allegations. At the time that the PAC was looking into the arms procurement, I was told an almost identical story by two separate bidders. They described meeting Chippy at his Pretoria office and being taken down to a coffee shop in nearby Church Square. Over their steaming beverages, Chippy advised that if they wanted to be successful in their bids for main contracts they needed a BEE partner to whom they would, in turn, give sub-contracts. Both sources claim that Chippy suggested they contact his brother, Schabir, in order to reach such an agreement.

This information led me to believe that pressure on the companies bidding for the main contracts compelling them to appoint favoured sub-contractors before they would be awarded the main contracts was a crucial flaw in the procurement process. Government disingenuously continues to say that it had nothing to do with the sub-contracts.

I also always suspected that Chippy Shaik, by dint of his powerful position in the SANDF, his role as secretary to the Cabinet sub-committee and his participation on most of the bodies involved in the decision making, was the fulcrum on which the deal turned.

In addition to these extremely serious allegations in Der Spiegel , it is known that Chippy misled Parliament when he appeared before the PAC in 2001. He claimed to have physically recused himself from meetings, in which his brother’s interests were discussed. In fact, when we were given copies of the original minutes of at least one of the meetings it was clear he hadn’t left the room and had, in fact, continued to participate in the discussions.

I alerted the then speaker of Parliament to this information, suggesting that action should be taken against Chippy to protect Parliament’s integrity. She never replied and no action was ever considered. This was but one instance of many in which the ANC undermined the integrity of Parliament in order to ensure that the deal was never properly investigated.

The neutering of both the PAC and the subsequent investigation in order to prevent the full truth of the arms deal emerging was, I believe, the beginning of the loss of accountability, humility and integrity that had characterised the early years of the ANC in government. It created the environment that allowed the catastrophic delays and obfuscation in relation to the HIV/Aids pandemic to flourish with far more tragic consequences than a corrupt arms deal.

And before anyone suggests that corrupt arms deals are a particularly African phenomenon, let us not lose sight of the allegations of Mark Thatcher’s receipt of £12-million from the Saudi arms deal or the role of the “prestigious international companies” that continue to make these payments around the world. For where there are corrupted politicians and officials, so too are there corrupting corporations and governments.

That corruption was evident in South Africa’s multi-billion rand arms deal is proven. What we do not yet know is how deep that corruption runs. We still need answers to the following questions:

<ul>

Did the late Modise receive any benefit himself from the deal, as has been alleged by numerous people within and outside the ANC?

In addition to Modise’s now proven interference, what influence did then deputy president Mbeki have on the two highly dubious decisions that favoured the British and German bidding companies?

Is it true, as I was told by a senior member of the organisation’s national executive committee, that the ANC received money, directly or indirectly, from one or more of the successful bidders

</ul>?

The arms deal and the subsequent cover-up were the beginning of a sad moral decline in the ANC, a decline that, in the words of its president, has left this most remarkable of political movements facing “the greatest crisis in our history”.

The ANC-led government now has a clear choice: either start to regain some of the moral high ground by allowing an unfettered, indepen-dent investigation into all aspects of the arms deal, or wait, impotent and tawdry, as international investigations reveal more and more of the detritus that characterised this stain that continues to haunt both the ANC and our extraordinary, young democracy.

President Thabo Mbeki has commended the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) for its participation in peace keeping missions on the continent.

In his State of the Nation Address delivered to a joint sitting of Parliament on Friday, he said South Africa would continue to work with people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, the Comoros and Sudan to ensure that peace and stability was attained.

"We are proud, as South Africans of the role our people played in helping to bring about peace in other African countries," said President Mbeki.

He commended members of the SANDF and employees of public and private institutions who gave their time to ensure that the African dream found practical realisation in the DRC.

"However, while we are fully justified in celebrating Africa's achievements and her endeavour to achieve peace and development, we cannot underplay the challenges that we face in dealing with the remaining areas of conflict," he said.

These included the general peace process in Sudan, Darfur, Cote d'Ivoire and Somalia.

Speaking during the last day of the 8th African Union (AU) Summit of the Heads of State and Government in Ethiopia last month, President Mbeki said the AU, United Nations and the government of Sudan had agreed to speed up peace missions in that country.

South Africa has over the years been supplying defence force personnel to war-torn countries such as Burundi and Darfur as part of the UN peacekeeping mission.

More than 1000 military personnel have been deployed in peacekeeping missions in other parts of Africa.

The President said today government would respond appropriately and "as our capacity permits" to the call of the African Union for assistance to the people and government of Somalia.

"Critical in this regard, are the initiatives under way to ensure that the protagonists within Somalia interact with one another to find a solution that is inclusive and practicable, based on the need to achieve national reconciliation."

South Africa decided it would not be sending any soldiers to the North African country as its peacekeeping force was stretched in other missions on the continent.

This decision was taken as the country's military personnel were deployed in other peacekeeping mission in the DRC, Ivory Coast, Burundi and Sudan's Darfur region.

However, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota is consulting relevant departments to determine what other assistance government can provide to the African Union peace-keeping force in Somalia.

The minister would then make a recommendation to President Mbeki.

A senior SANDF general has denied claims that former Deputy Defence Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge would have cancelled talks with her Swedish counterpart if she had known about sexual harassment allegations levelled against him.

Major-General Mxolisi Petane, the Inspector-General of the SANDF, told the military court in Thaba Tshwane yesterday that there was no truth to claims that Madlala-Routledge would have acted “irrationally” and cancelled the high-level talks in Sweden in 2003.

“The stakes in Sweden are high. South Africa has bought Gripen aircraft from Sweden and I do not see how the deputy minister would have cancelled the talks with her Swedish counterpart,” he said.

Petane is accused of fondling the breast of Madlala-Routledge’s former personal assistant – who has since left the defence force – and indecently rubbing against her in a Stockholm hotel in October 2003, when he was South Africa’s military attaché to that country.

Petane has denied the allegation.

“This is a non-event and the complainant did not report the incident to the deputy minister because she had nothing to report,” Petane said.

He said that he had known Madlala-Routledge to be rational. “I cannot agree that South Africa is led by irrational leaders,” said Petane.

He said Madlala-Routledge would have confronted him after the defence talks if she was made aware of the sexual harassment allegations against him.

Petane told the court that the complainant had sufficient time to inform Madlala-Routledge about the sexual harassment claims while they were in Sweden, but she failed to do so.

“There was a time when the complainant and I were together with the deputy minister, her husband and South Africa’s ambassador to Sweden. We sat in the VIP lounge at the airport in Stockholm. The complainant did not mention the incident to any of the people.

“Instead she phoned her office manager Buddy Ntsong in South Africa to inform him about the incident,” said Petane.

Earlier, Petane said in response to a question from prosecutor Captain Desmond Thanjekwayo that he did not make women uncomfortable.

Thanjekwayo asked Petane what his reaction would be if a female stranger undressed in front of him.

Petane said he could not offer any comment because he had never been in such a situation. He later told the court that he would close his eyes, turn around and ask the woman not to do that (undress in front of him).

Petane insisted that he accidentally bumped the woman while putting on his jacket in her Swedish hotel room on October 15 2003.

“She is lying when she says I fondled her breast,” said Petane.

He said he did not know why the woman had brought the charges against him.

All eyes will be on parliament this Friday when President Thabo Mbeki delivers his state of the nation address.

As in previous years, the president is likely to cover a variety of issues, ranging from the economy and poverty to government programmes and foreign relations.

There is no doubt that crime will be raised. But I hope that it is not going to be mentioned just in passing.

The time has come for the government to take crime seriously. South Africans are sick and tired of the ongoing terror at the hands of criminal thugs who have absolutely no respect for our lives or property.

In recent months there have been many attacks on ordinary citizens and prominent personalities. Yet the impression is being created in political circles that all is well and that the situation is under control.

Mr President, we need to tackle the crime problem, and we need you to be at the forefront of the war on crime. This criminal mayhem is a serious threat to our democracy.

While some have chosen to debate whether or not crime is out of control, the reality is that millions of South Africans are living in fear.

It is a fact that thousands of people are murdered, robbed and raped each month. If this is not a crisis, then I wonder what is. It is a crime to say that the situation is under control.

It is the government’s responsibility to protect us, but we also need to establish partnerships to reduce crime.

Communities can no longer protect criminals. We must expose those who break the law and ensure that they are put behind bars.

Last week, a government minister mooted the idea of compulsory conscription. But why not bring in the thousands of soldiers who are sitting at military bases around the country to patrol our neighbourhoods and assist the police?

It’s no secret that the cops are underresourced. The SANDF can make a difference.

Is the government scared to bring them in because it might affect our country’s image?

Let’s face it, the blood that is flowing in our streets is already having a major negative effect on South Africa’s international image.

It now appears that criminals are increasingly targeting Pretoria. Lately, not a day has gone by without a violent crime being committed in the capital.

These thugs are becoming more brazen. In broad daylight, they opened fire at the Zwartkops Raceway on Saturday with automatic rifles, injuring two people and making off with money. An international race event was under way at the time.

We need action now. We must all unite and fight crime. There has to be political will. The police must act. The public must help.

The public expects our head of state to declare openly that he is going to make crime government’s priority.

Mr President, you don’t need a bank to lead a campaign to urge you to do so, just look at what’s happening around you. If you fail to act, and decide to side-step this issue, you will be failing our nation.

Then, despite all the good you are doing for South Africa, you run the risk of being remembered for not protecting us.

We keep on hearing the same old tune from authorities: “Crime is stabilising or decreasing.”

Yet the number of incidents is far too high. For someone who has lost a loved one, “stabilising” or “decreasing” crime statistics mean nothing.

Criminals are destroying our beautiful country and we cannot create the impression that all is well when it is not.

It’s time for real action!

n Yusuf Abramjee is Group Head of News and Talk Programming for Primedia Broadcasting, owners of Talk Radio 702, 94.7 Highveld Stereo, 567 Cape Talk and 94.5 Kfm. He writes in his personal capacity.

A senior administration clerk who allegedly defrauded the South African National Defence Force of more than R1.1 million appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Monday.

The case against Zelda Wolmarans, 44, was postponed for the State and defence to continue negotiations regarding a plea bargain aggreement.

Her children, stepchildren and other accused also appeared.

Wolmarans was arrested on April 21, 2006 on a charge of fraud and later released on bail of R20,000.

Her two children, Chrizelle, 24, and Pieter Jacobus Stephanus van Vuuren, 21, and her three stepchildren, Dirk Jacobus, 25, Maria Fransina, 19, and Christina Johanna, 24, Wolmarans were arrested that same day and were each granted bail of R5,000.

Five months later Anna Marie Leona Rudman, 36, of Virginia, Louis Johannes Fourie, 57, of Welkom and Shona Heydennych, 54, of Valhalla were also arrested as part of ongoing investigations.

Rudman and Fourie were released on warning, while Heydennych was granted bail of R5,000.

On Monday State prosecutor Peter Serunye informed the court that the State and defence had not yet reached an agreement regarding a possible plea bargain with Wolmarans.

He added: "Depending on the outcome of the negotiations, the state will take a decision on the other accused."

He asked for a postponement to March 8 for further negotiations.

It was earlier alleged that Zelda Wolmarans was employed at the SANDF in August 1993 to "capture" information, of army reserve force members being called up for courses or training sessions, on the Department of Defence's salary system.

Investigators apparently discovered that Wolmarans used false information, claiming that part-time reserve force members were called up for courses and training.

By claiming for these alleged fictitious attendances, payments were generated on the department's salary system.

Money intended for these fictitious attendances were allegedly paid into Wolmarans' account and those of her children and stepchildren.

According to the State the other eight accused acted with a common purpose with Wolmarans to defraud the SANDF.

There is also an alternative charge that these co-accused received "affected" gifts from Wolmarans.

Shortly after Wolmarans' arrest the Asset Forfeiture Unit also seized fixed properties in Pretoria, six motor vehicles, a 125cc Honda motorbike, a Sanlam policy, department of defence pension benefits and numerous bank accounts belonging to the accused.

Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana has suggested – and peremptorily been shot down by his party for it – that military national service be reinstated.

His reasoning is, on the face of it, not unreasonable: he believes that by instilling discipline in our young people we will lead them away from the temptations of a life of crime.

But is it a workable idea?

Let’s first deal with the recent history of compulsory military service in this country. It is a subject fraught with controversy – especially now, with recent books and documentaries that look at the experiences of white conscripts who fought in the Border War. Only now, as we witnessed more than a decade ago with America and its need to explore its Vietnam experience, can we begin delving into one of the more politically shameful periods of our own military history.

Yet many veterans still feel they can’t speak candidly about their service without being metaphorically tarred and feathered; many black South Africans still feel too keenly about abuses committed by the apartheid-era security forces to be even remotely dispassionate about it.

Will this history cloud people’s perceptions of a new form of conscription? Probably – memories of the bad old days are still fresh. Times may have changed, we are no longer at war (and are unlikely for the foreseeable future to fight a war on our own borders), and we have a new defence force, but the fact remains that conscription is a tainted concept.

Then there’s the matter of practicality. Can we afford to reinstitute conscription? Without thinking hard about it, I would suggest not. Under the previous regime it was only white men – who make up a tiny proportion of our population – who were called up. Now, in our non-racist, non-sexist constitutional dispensation we would have to call up all young men and women of fighting age. Even a ballot system, in which, say, one in three potential conscripts is actually recruited, would not easily stand up to scrutiny.

In addition, the SANDF would have to completely restructure itself from a professional force back to a pre-1994 set-up. This would reverse what has been a long, painful and pricey exercise for the SANDF.

Let’s get to the matter of instilling discipline in our youth. I have no doubt that a controlled, strict environment such as the army would have a positive effect on many of our PlayStation-generation kids. They would learn leadership, teamwork and honour – virtues they would carry with them for the rest of their lives. They would learn that they are tougher and more resourceful than they ever imagined.

But discipline? One only needs to look at the front-page article in The Star on Wednesday to realise that the SANDF is grappling with a massive discipline problem. Reportedly, the latest list of recorded criminal cases against SANDF members numbers 287, including murders, attempted murders and assaults. The SANDF faces civil claims amounting to almost R1-billion over these cases.

It’s also worth noting that many of our cash-in-transit robbers and other criminals – including the infamous Ananias Mathe – honed their tactical and musketry abilities while in uniform. This only serves to illustrate how important it is for ex-soldiers to be reintegrated into society. Is it any wonder that some of them put to bad use the skills they learnt in the army? Perhaps the minister, whose job it is to create jobs, also has a suggestion about this?

I was a conscript, and I learnt a lot in the army, but I definitely know this now: if I had really had the choice, I would never have gone. And I’ll be damned if any child of mine is made to wear a military uniform – especially if it’s because parents and schools didn’t do their jobs right and produce decent young adults, and the government failed to build an economy that creates jobs and security for all.

The revival of the call to reintroduce conscription to instil discipline and so forth in the youth is based on several fallacies, obviously as a result of advice from people who have no direct knowledge of the former national service system and how it functioned.

First, conscription cannot instil discipline and teach values to recruits. By the time a youth reaches conscription age (his 18th year) his basic values, good or bad, have already been formed. At best conscriptive service can strengthen good values. At worst it will strengthen bad ones.

Secondly, the SANDF simply would not have the capacity to train, house, pay, clothe, equip, arm and feed the hundreds of thousands of conscripts who would flood into it once or twice a year. Under the former conscription system, the SADF was hard put to handle even the 35 000 or so white youths called up every year, plus several thousand more black, coloured and Indian two-year volunteers, and it was better funded than the SANDF is today.

Thirdly, what would the medium-term effects be? You would spend two years training efficient soldiers and then shoot most of them back into civilian life, where their prospects would be as bleak as when they went in. What are the chances of at least some using their military skills for criminal ends out of sheer necessity?

Fourthly, the present scheme is not the launching platform for universal conscription. It is basically a scheme to assist a small number of carefully selected youths to improve their academic and other skills, with some being allowed to apply to enlist in the regular armed forces.

Fifthly, what would the government do with thousands of trained conscripts? Even in the SADF days it was a battle to find meaningful day-to-day duties for them, in spite of deployments internally and on the border.

In my opinion the country would be better served by the establishment of a local version of President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1930s-era Civilian Conservation Corps, which took huge numbers of youngsters who had no prospects in the immediate aftermath of the Great Depression and deployed them in a mammoth public works programme.

The CCC was deeply involved in building roads, dams and bridges, conserving and improving forests and many other things. In the process its workøers not only got the chance to earn regularly for the first time in their lives, but also learnt many useful skills, ranging from driving bulldozers to performing clerical tasks. In addition, the country benefited from the improvement to its infrastructure.

So I beseech all those who talk so lightly about reintroducing military conscription as some sort of cure-all for our ills to heed the lessons of history and think again.

The Cape Times (31 January) quotes me welcoming Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka’s idea of using the SANDF to assist with the anti-retroviral rollout.

Her idea is worth considering, but there are also thousands of people living in high HIV-prevalence communities who want to help with the rollout. Many need training, but some have already developed useful skills that are desperately needed in our health clinics.

Employing community members to help with HIV-counselling, testing, patient education, treatment support, data capturing and a myriad other tasks in our clinics would help alleviate some of the burden on doctors and nurses.

Unless we do this, many clinics will be unable to cope with the crises they face.

The suggestion came from nowhere and is not in accordance with government policy. It is probably also unconstitutional. These matters apart, it is a concept worth exploring.

We have a plethora of programmes aimed at reducing unemployment and increasing skills – the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (Asgisa), Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas) and a plethora of other acronyms. And there lies the heart of the problem – too many bureaucracies, too few results.

Then, serendipitously, a day after Mdladlana’s suggestion, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka proposed the SANDF be used to help deliver antiretrovirals (ARVs) to HIV patients. Perhaps here lies the beginning of the phenomenon described as synergy.

On the supply side, there are armies of unemployed young people, desperate to work, but lacking the skills to attract employers. On the demand side, there are enormous needs, ranging from HIV/Aids through to housing and public infrastructure.

It is clear that lobbing about 500 000 conscripted young people at the SANDF every year and asking it to keep them busy and train them is not an option, from any point of view. The development of schemes entailing voluntary, paid, set-term, unskilled work, which involves a training component, certainly is.

Two points need making. First, the deputy president is in charge of Asgisa, EPWP and, ultimately, the ARV programme. The overall responsibility for the government’s role as a co-ordinator of both the supply and demand sides should perhaps fall to her.

Equally important as consolidation is the simple truth that the government cannot, and should not even try to, do everything itself. The resources it has can very often be used more effectively and more efficiently by specialist organisations, rather than random bureaucracies.

Perhaps Mdladlana and Mlambo-Ngcuka should have a chat.

The SA National Museum of Military History is making a civil claim against the SA National Defence Force over a raid on the museum in 2005.

Museum director Major John Keene confirmed on Thursday that there was a claim underway, but would not divulge for how much or any other details.

"I don't think [this matter] is appropriate for public consumption," he said.

According to a report in Beeld, the claim could cost the defence force up to R3 million for unlawful arrest, detention without medical care and pain and suffering.

SANDF spokesman Colonel Petrus Motlhabane would not disclose any details, but said the matter was currently under litigation.

"The matter has not been settled yet and subsequently no payment has been made," he said in a statement on Thursday.

In January 2005 Keene and two curators, Susanne Blendulf and Richard Henry, were arrested after military intelligence and police raided the museum in Saxonwold, Johannesburg. This after receiving information that "war-capable weapons and vehicles" were being stored on the premises.

"Police and the SANDF have accused us of stockpiling weapons as if we were preparing for a war," the museum's acting director Sandi Mackenzie said at the time.

Three armoured cars and another military vehicle were confiscated. Motlhabane said the vehicles were seized for "police and forensic investigation".

When the arrests took place, Keene was at the Pretoria Eye Hospital undergoing surgery to his retina.

"Upon hearing of the drama at the museum, he went there and was also arrested. After his arrest, he was taken to the hospital under armed guard," said Mackenzie.

The three were later released without charge.