Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

THE Department of Defence is taking a pilot to the Cape High Court for repayment of money it paid to have him trained.

The department says the pilot was supposed to work for the state for eight years but that he did not do this.

In court papers, the department says it agreed for Gareth Smith, now 30, to be trained by the South African Air Force as a pilot in March 1997 when he was 20.

The state would pay for the training and he would also receive full pay as a member of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

However, the conditions of the agreement were that Smith had to serve the SANDF for eight years after he completed the course.

If he failed to comply, he would have to reimburse the state for the cost of his training, calculated at R945 per hour spent on the ground or in the air.

Smith left the SANDF in March last year – 12 months before his eight-year period had expired.

The Department of Defence is claiming the R24 000 it cost to train him as well as R397 000 he received in benefits, as well as interest on the amounts.

The application is to be heard in the Cape High Court on April 19.

Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and his defence counterpart, Mosiuoa Lekota, came under fire during the defence budget vote this week, for the apparent lack of adequate funding and the perceived crumbling of discipline in the defence force.

While the National Assembly’s portfolio committee Chairman and ANC MP Thandi Thobias lashed out at Manuel for holding back the pennies, the Inkatha Freedom Party called for Lekota’s resignation citing his apparent loss of control over his troops.

“The numerous embarrassing revelations of poor discipline and lack of proper command and control in the South African National Defence Force over the past few years point to a growing crisis in the defence force,” IFP MP Velaphi Ndlovu told MPs.

He said that 80 South African soldiers serving abroad were facing 117 charges and that, between April 2005 and September 2006, local military police had to deal with 1 106 cases of theft, 391 house burglaries and 272 cases of assault against soldiers.

These figures, added to the fact that the United Nations claimed South African soldiers were responsible for 26% of all sex crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo where they were serving as peacekeepers, were embarrassing.

“What is urgently needed is for the minister to display the political will and courage by taking stronger control of the SANDF,” Ndlovu said.

If he was unable or unwilling to take stronger command then he should step aside, thus making way for another more capable mini-ster.

Tobias, meanwhile, added her voice to a number of opposition parties who decried the scant budget with which Manuel expected the SANDF to carry out peacekeeping duties on the continent.

Mandate

“I wish that the honourable minister of finance was here today to hear what the committee was going to say when it pleads with him to augment the budget in the near future.”

She said the R25.9 billion – which was expected to grow to R28.6 billion over the medium-term expenditure framework – was not adequate for the SANDF to fulfill its regional peacekeeping and disaster management mandate.

Apart from sending troops to a number of African countries, the SANDF has again been called to assist flood victims in Mozambique.

Tobias argued that peacekeeping missions were not just about putting boots on the ground, but was intertwined with building long-lasting peace and security.

She also urged Lekota to suggest to the cabinet that South Africa purchase an aircraft carrier because no strategic defence procurement package was complete without one.

Saying it would be the “pride of South Africa”, Tobias said that she felt Manuel should give it serious thought.

Former SANDF chief General Siphiwe Nyanda had misunderstood a key military act when he insisted on the appointment of a certain senior officer against a panel’s recommendations, the Pretoria regional court ruled yesterday.

After the incident he laid charges against the members of the panel for disobeying his orders.

Yesterday the five high-ranking SANDF officers were acquitted by the court on a charge of disobeying a lawful order.

The magistrate found that Nyanda had acted without authority when he appointed a Colonel Mnisi to a top legal position, contrary to the Military Discipline Supplementary Measures Act.

Magistrate Peet Johnson ruled that the matter “should never have been brought to court” as there was no evidence against the accused. He said that the prosecution was a fruitless exercise.

Brigadier-General Alan David Luck (47) of Valhalla, Rear-Admiral Charles Henry Smart (48) of Clubview, General George Mabandla Woco (53) of Grootfontein, Brig-adier-General Jacobus Johannes Smit (50) of Centurion, and Colonel Peter Jonathan Paul Freeman (46) of Thaba Tshwane, were accused of disobeying a lawful command given by their superior officer in the execution of their duties between August and September 2004, as they facilitated and authorised the re-appointment of a Colonel Mardon at the SANDF’s legal services.

They were also accused of causing the SANDF “unauthorised wasteful” expenditure as Mardon was appointed in the same post as the person who Nyanda, SANDF chief at the time, had appointed.

The men, arrested in September 2005 and released on bail of R1000 each, had pleaded not guilty.

Nyanda yesterday testified that during a meeting in August 2004, attended by Luck and Smart, he decided that Mnisi should be appointed.

“It was my decision, my prerogative, to make the recommendation to the minister of defence. I am not aware that Luck was entitled by any statute to make appointments,” the former chief said.

Referring to Smart, Nyanda claimed he could make certain recommendations, but where the rank of a colonel was concerned, the appointment was determined by the chief of the SANDF.

Nyanda said he was later made to understand that Mardon was put in the post he had intended for Mnisi.

Defence advocate Jaap Cilliers stated that Nyanda himself ordered that Mardon be appointed as part of a special task team in January 2005, therefore the colonel could not have been in the post intended for Mnisi.

Cilliers said Nyanda did not have the authority to appoint someone in a legal position, as the Military Discipline Supplementary Measures Act gave authority for this to the head of the SANDF’s legal services, a position Smart held.

“This authority was taken away from you. How can you give an order that contravenes the act and appoint legal personnel?” Cilliers asked.

Nyanda insisted that he had the authority, but Cilliers pointed out that the supplementary measures act overrode all others.

After the State closed its case, the defence applied for a discharge.

“This was an absurd prosecution right from the start. I ask the court to discharge them as not to waste the court’s time further.”

Johnson said it was clear Nyanda had no authority to appoint or suggest the appointment of Mnisi.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota told MPs yesterday that a new world war could be closer than they imagined.

Defending South Africa’s need for a defence force and its continued role as a continental peacekeeper, Lekota said not enough people were paying enough attention to subtle warning signs.

“I think it’s important for members of the House and all of us to reflect on the current problems that confront the whole world,” he said. “And many people have not observed or taken very seriously into mind that the world was under similar conditions when the First World War started.”

He was speaking in reply to the debate on his department’s budget vote.

World War 1, which had started as a small conflict in the Balkans before it went out of control, could very easily be repeated in Africa.

“At that time, the struggle for resources in those areas was nothing compared to the volume of resources that are being competed for in Africa,” he said, providing MPs with a history lesson that secured him a rare two minutes extra debating time.

He said the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, was the focus of much international interest that could lead to fights over its vast resources.

“Those of us who are close to the situation there understand what is going on. We see what is going on. In fact, even South Africa’s role is not quite welcome because we are insisting on stabilising, on bringing peace, on privatising the interests of the development of the people of the DRC as part of the development of the people of the continent.”

He argued that the R26 billion the government spent on defence was not a lot if it helped prevent war.

And even though the country does not face any external threats, one could not wait until the last minute to buy weapons because the war would be long over by the time they arrived, he told MPs.

Meanwhile, Lekota and Finance Minister Trevor Manuel also came under fire from comrades and enemies alike for not spending enough on defence.

Safety and security committee chair Thandi Tobias said: “I wish that the honourable Minister of Finance was here today to hear what the committee was going to say when they plead with him to augment the budget in the near future.”

Tobias said the R25.9bn was not “adequate” for the SANDF to fulfil its regional peacekeeping and disaster management mandate. She demanded an aircraft carrier be added to the strategic arms procurement package shopping list, as it “would not be complete without one”.

Rejecting the budget, the DA said its projection at 1.2 % of GDP was below the 2% international norm. The ACDP said it was regrettable in view of the Budget’s R1bn surplus, that the Defence department did not receive more money.

The South African National Defence Force has come under pressure again over its announced intention to drastically cut the flying hours of the R13,7bn Gripen and Hawk aircraft that are a key part of the strategic defence package.

MPs across all political parties last week asked defence secretary January Masilela how he would keep the air force properly skilled and operationally ready if it was intended to scale down flying hours over the next three years. Some wanted to know why the aircraft -- Gripen fighters and Hawk trainers -- were bought in the first place.

MPs in the defence committee turned to the issue after a presentation to the standing committee on public accounts 10 days ago when acquisitions chief Otto Schur said the aircraft would be used less, as there was no conventional threat to SA. Air force chief Carlo Gagiano has said that with underfunding and loss of skilled personnel, the planes will not be used at optimum levels.

Democratic Alliance MP Andries Botha told a defence delegation the cuts in flying hours were of extreme concern. "How can the air force be 100% capable and operational if you are cutting back on flying ?"

Masilela agreed "100%" with him on flying hours. In reprioritising budget items, this would be addressed urgently, he said.

As South Africa celebrates Human Rights Day, the most basic of these rights, enshrined in Section 12 of our constitution – “to be free from all forms of violence” – remains as elusive as it was 13 years ago.

Despite its daily reminders of our lack of freedom from this fear, the media has recently been criticised by the Media Monitoring Project for failing in its duty in reporting on crime.

Given its extensive coverage, what more could the media do?

The SANDF’s plan to build a new training facility for fighter pilots while at the same time rationing flying hours did not make sense, according to an opposition MP.

A new facility for the training of fighter pilots was to be constructed at the Makhado air force base, defence secretary January Masilela told the national assembly’s defence committee.

MPs were told that in a bid to mitigate the deterioration of equipment and ground support infrastructure, the department planned to scale down flying hours.

Democratic Alliance MP Andries Botha pointed out that cutting back flying hours for pilots, while building a new training facility for fighter pilots, did not make sense.

Botha highlighted the fact that defence had recently acquired expensive fighter jets and asked what the point of the exercise was if flying hours were being rationed.

The Freedom Front Plus has renewed its call for a fresh investigation into certain aspects of the controversial multi-billion rand arms deal.

The party wants the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and German prosecutors, to probe whether "any promises were made" prior to arms deal contracts being finalised and signed, to any of the 29 people on a list who received discounts on vehicles from the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company ( EADS).

"If that is the case, it is corruption," FF Plus spokesman Pieter Groenewald told a media briefing at Parliament on Thursday.

Earlier this week, Groenewald said the list of names was well known, having been published in the media early in 2003.

He said Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota had "confirmed" the names in an answer to a question he posed in Parliament, on March 19, 2003.

However, Lekota's spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi repeated on Thursday that the minister did not release the names on the list.

"The minister has never released any names to Parliament," Mkhwanazi told radio news programme AM Live.

According to the official Hansard transcript, Groenewald asked Lekota whether any members of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) had received discounts on vehicles from a certain company [ EADS] and what the details were.

Lekota replied: "Yes. I have a list available, which was published in the press, listing all those persons who bought motor vehicles at a discount and what that discount amounted to."

On Thursday, Groenewald maintained that with this answer, Lekota had confirmed the names.

It was true Lekota had not released the list, but "he confirmed it. That is enough", Groenewald said.

The FF Plus had decided to provide the list to the media on Tuesday, because of the current speculation about who was on it, and as a reminder that it was not new.

Groenewald said Lekota had been fully aware of the list since 2003 and had "done nothing about it".

Hence the FF Plus renewed its call for an investigation.

The names included those of the former head of the Defence Force, General Siphiwe Nyanda, the former head of the Air Force, General Roelf Beukes, and the former executive chairman of Armscor, Llew Swan.

These people, and others on the list, had key positions and played a key role in awarding contracts.

"It could rightly be asked whether these favours had not already been promised before the awarding of the contracts. If it turns out to be so, it boils down to corruption," Groenewald said.

Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille on Wednesday laid criminal charges against the 29 people on the list.

She told AM Live on Thursday that the allegations first arose in 1999. The 29 names were published in a newspaper in 2001 and Lekota had confirmed the names were out in the public in 2003, she said.

Asked if the defence ministry would investigate the matter, Mkhwanazi replied: "De Lille has taken the matter where it belongs -- the matter must be investigated. If anyone has done something wrong then the law must take its course."

De Lille said former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni's case had set a precedent, and she queried why he had been the only one prosecuted in the matter.

NPA spokesman Panyaza Lesufi said it was unfair to say that the NPA had dragged its feet over the matter, following De Lille's accusation that the agency had moved slowly.

The NPA, the Public Protector and the Auditor-General had met last Thursday to discuss whether the allegations deserved a joint investigation.

It was decided that each government agency would investigate the matter separately.

Asked why legal action had been taken only against Yengeni, Lesufi replied that the NPA had investigated the allegations.

"After the NPA made its own investigation, analysed the information at its disposal, it felt that it wouldn't be appropriate and correct to proceed with any form of prosecutions."

The NPA would deal with the matter "as quickly as possible" once it was received after the police investigation.

Cabinet agreed yesterday to extend the deployment of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers in various peacekeeping missions on the continent. The deployment of 22 SANDF members helping with integration and training in the DRC will also be extended by a year, government communications head Themba Maseko told a media briefing at parliament after the cabinet’s fortnightly meeting.

Mozambique soccer team, Desportivo de Maputo, will lodge a formal complaint with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for allegedly being humiliated during a recent visit to South Africa, Vista News reported yesterday. The chairman of the team, Michel Grispos, said the team was booked into a hotel which “did not have good conditions and it was not possible for journalists to cover the event”.

Ban on elephant safaris

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals hopes that government’s proposed elephant management regulations will lead to elephant-back safaris being abolished. The draft rules, released for comment last week, propose stopping the capture from the wild of anything other than orphan elephant calves. “The NSPCA opposes elephant-back safaris and would like to see these practices abolished,” said NSPCA executive director Marcelle Meredith in a statement yesterday.

Tax amnesty deadline

The tax amnesty for businesses with a turnover of less than R10 million per annum expires on May 31 this year, the SA Revenue Service (Sars) warned on Monday. To date SARS had received close to 18 000 applications for amnesty, said spokesman Adrian Lackay.

Twenty people were injured when a petrol tanker went out of control and crashed into five vehicles on the N4 east of Pretoria yesterday morning. Tshwane Metro Police spokeswoman Louise Brits said none of the motorists and passengers sustained serious injuries. They were taken to various hospitals in Pretoria. The accident happened on the N4 heading west between Rossouw and Watermeyer offramps.

Restore old SA schools

Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane is leading a project to revitalise South Africa’s historic schools. “We want to restore and preserve these schools for future generations,” said Ndungane yesterday. “We want them to be centres of cultural and educational excellence, rooted in their communities, feeding into the universities, a source of pride and leadership for our children and our children’s children.”

South Africa has extended by a year its peacekeeping troop deployments to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur and along the Ethiopian-Eritrean border, the government announced Tuesday.

The cabinet approved the extension "as part of our commitment to contribute to peace and stability on the continent, and to fulfill our international obligations to the United Nations and the African Union," said a statement issued after Tuesday's fortnightly cabinet meeting in Cape Town.

The deployment of 750 troops to the troubled western Sudanese region of Darfur, 1,264 to the DRC and 10 to the volatile border between Ethiopia and Eritrea were all to have expired within the next three months, government spokesman Themba Maseko said.

The term of 22 South African National Defence Force personnel assisting with military integration and training in the DRC was also extended by a year.

"The meeting further approved the deployment of five SANDF personnel to be part of the UN Political Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) as military observers and staff officers," the statement said.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) would not say on Sunday whether Shamin "Chippy" Shaik was being sought in connection with arms deal investigations.

"We've not made any public pronouncements on it," said NPA spokesman Panyaza Lesufi.

"It's not an issue for the NPA at the moment."

Shaik was the head of procurement at the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and is the brother of convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik. German authorities are currently investigating allegations that Chippy Shaik was paid a US$3 million (R21m) bribe by German arms manufacturer ThyssenKrupp to secure contracts with the SANDF.

The Sunday Times reported that Shaik could not be found and was rumoured to be trying to flee the country for Australia, although his family denied this. The newspaper reported that he holds several passports.

On Sunday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) questioned how many passports Shaik held.

"The Democratic Alliance will this week submit parliamentary questions to the department of home affairs to establish how many passports they have issued to Chippy Shaik," said DA MP Eddie Trent.

"If these rumours are indeed true and Mr Shaik has fled the country, it raises even more questions about his alleged involvement in the arms deal and makes it all the more necessary that those authorities investigating this matter do so with the greatest urgency."

On Thursday, NPA head Vusi Pikoli, Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana and Auditor General Terence Nombembe met to discuss the possibility of a joint investigation into the new allegations of corruption around the multi-billion rand arms deal.

Mushwana's office said the allegations would not be jointly investigated by the three state agencies but would be dealt with separately in terms of each institution's mandate.

Two policemen were killed when they disturbed a burglary in progress at an auto-fitment centre in Midrand, Gauteng police said on Sunday.

Superintendent Thembi Nkwashu said constables M M Manoko and M J Mbelekwana, both stationed in Midrand, responded to a complaint about a burglary at the Authorised Fitment Centre on Saturday morning. When they arrived, they were met with gunfire.

"The suspects saw them coming... they were surprised by the shooter," she said.

One of the men died on the scene and the other died later at a Johannesburg hospital.

Nkwashu said two vehicles, one stolen, were found on the scene, as well as three firearms -- an R4 rifle and two 9mm pistols.

The Sunday Times reported that a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) member was questioned in connection with the incident.

Nkwashu said she could not confirm this.

She said the R4 and one of the pistols were legally licensed weapons and still had identification numbers. R4 rifles are standard military issue.

"We know the suspects... we are in their footsteps. Arrests will be made soon."

Several tracking devices had been loaded into the two vehicles but they were left behind when the burglars fled following the shooting.

The "cold-blooded killing" of the policemen was on Sunday condemned by Gauteng Safety and Security MEC Firoz Cachalia.

He paid tribute to the pair for their bravery and commitment and expressed condolences to their families and colleagues.

It is a warm autumn day in Cape Town but inside Dr Wouter Basson’s consulting rooms it is chilly. Colourful pictures adorn the walls of his rooms in Durbanville, Cape Town.

Basson comes out to greet me – he has a pleasant smile and a surprisingly loose handshake. He leads me to his office.

“Sit down. I will turn off the aircon,” he says as he notices my shivering.

Basson leans back in his chair. His desk is covered with patients’ files. His phone suddenly interrupts the niceties and he speaks for about a minute. In the meantime, my mind goes blank and I forget which questions to ask. I page through my notebook but the questions are not there. Basson gets off the phone.

“How much time do you have?” I ask him. He says about 30 minutes. He is scheduled to perform surgery later.

I start by asking him who Wouter Basson really is.

Is he really the monster that the media has made him out to be?

“No. I am not a monster. Anyone who knows me will tell you that. Yes, there is this perception out there, but it is all lies,” he says, giggling.

Basson, the son of a policeman, was born in Cape Town. The family left the Mother City when his father was transferred to Pretoria.

“I never wanted to leave Cape Town – I went kicking and screaming. Children have to do what their parents tell them to do. Nevertheless, I had a happy childhood.”

After high school, he studied medicine at the University of Pretoria. He wanted to specialise in gynaecology. But that dream faded fast.

“I went to the army in 1975. My father arranged that I work as a cardiac specialist at its Military Hospital. I never specialised in gynaecology – cardiology kind of stuck. Afterwards, I went to study in London and thereafter I became involved in the then government’s biological warfare programme. I was in charge of research and development.”

In May 2000, Johan Theron, a former information officer of the apartheid government’s Special Forces, confessed in a packed courtroom how he was involved in the deaths of more than 200 anti-apartheid political prisoners between 1979 and 1987. He said he was following orders given to him by his superior, Basson.

According to Crimelibrary.com, Theron claimed Basson told him to tie up three prisoners to a tree overnight and smear their bodies with jelly-like lethal toxins.

The primary aim was to test the toxic agent to see if it was capable of causing death. But the men did not die as easily as he expected.

He claimed Basson readily supplied him with the lethal drugs, which he used on most of his victims.

And it was Theron’s testimony that was a critical part of Basson’s trial for alleged human rights abuses.

He was implicated not only in supplying the drugs used to kill anti-apartheid political prisoners, but also in administering them himself.

News reports have said that Basson was thought to have been involved in about 24 “death flights” between 1979 and 1987. These were where prisoners – most of them Swapo guerrillas captured during the war in Namibia – were loaded on to a plane, given paralysing drugs and then tossed out of the aircraft thousands of feet above the chilly Atlantic Ocean off the Namibian coast.

In October 1999, Basson was put on trial for the attempted murder of three men thrown from a plane, as described by Theron. He also faced 63 more charges including murder, fraud, embezzlement, drug possession and trafficking.

And so Basson became known as “Doctor Death”, a name given to him by the Sunday Times and one still used by the media today – even after the court found him not guilty.

“It is so stupid. It does irritate me a lot, but it doesn’t bother me that much. I have asked them to stop and they refused. I could take action against them, but I hate court procedures.

“The trial was a very stressful time for me and my family. I exercised a lot during that time; I think I was more fit than all the prosecutors put together.

“But I still maintain that I never did anything that was unethical. It was not unethical under the then government. There is no proof. A competent judge gave his verdict. Why can’t people accept that?”

Basson describes the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings as “strange and unbalanced”.

“The TRC was a one-sided situation. There was never any kind of debate. How can we move forward without engaging with each other? There were many witnesses, but we never got to cross-examine those witness.

“But during my court case, we did get that opportunity – and they fell apart, every one of them.”

He says despite the not-guilty verdict, the media continue to persecute him.

“The media is such a powerful institution. They made me out to be some weird monster.

“We live in such troubled times and people love this so they can get their minds off their own problems.”

Last year it emerged that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was still paying Basson about R50 000 a month, despite suspending him from his job. At the time the SANDF refused to comment.

But Basson explains exactly what had happened and why he was still getting paid for doing nothing.

“It was June 1999, just months before the general elections. The SANDF – I think it was actually the ANC – decided to suspend me. They just wanted to make a political statement at that time. I even signed a contract that stated that I would be suspended with pay. Yes, I am still getting paid, for doing sweet nothing.

“Who am I to argue? What would you do?” he asked. “Would you say: ‘No thank you, I don’t want the money’? I don’t think you would.

“The day after the court case concluded, I went straight back to the Military Hospital, ready and able to work again. I thought the suspension had now been lifted. It had not. I went there every day for a month, then once a week, then once a month. Nothing happened. But just the other day, I was told that it is now finally being sorted out. I am hopeful.”

Basson has been practising privately as a cardiologist from his rooms in Durbanville for two years and has helped more than 4 000 patients in that time. He also has patients at three hospitals in both Cape Town and Pretoria.

“I do not believe that I am one of the best cardiologists in the country, but I am great. I would love to work for the defence force again because I think I am the best that they will ever have. And I think I can make a valuable contribution to the operation.”

Earlier this year, complaints were lodged with the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) about Basson’s role in Project Coast, a top-secret programme that included attempts to develop bacteria capable of killing black people or make them infertile. The complaints were lodged by Professor Lesley London of the Health and Human Rights Project at the University of Cape Town and Dr Ralph Mgijima, former superintendent in the Gauteng health department.

“Medicine is my life and I intend to keep practising. I will defend myself. They (the HPCSA) have set down two weeks in June for the hearings. We’ll see what happens.”

Basson says that this is probably the last interview he will give to the media and now just wants to be left alone.

“I have been defending myself since 1992. I need a rest now. I have been stuck in this defensive mode for such a long time, I want it to stop. I need to grow, but I can’t do that if I’m not left alone,” he says.

After joining the army, he gave up gynaecology for cardiology. Kashiefa Ajam speaks to the mandubbed Dr Death – who spearheaded apartheid South Africa’s biological warfare programme

It’s a warm autumn day in Cape Town but inside Dr Wouter Basson’s consulting rooms it is chilly. One wonders whether it may be a taste of what is to come next. But it’s not. Colourful pictures adorn the walls of his rooms in Durbanville Cape Town. Basson comes come out to greet me – he has a pleasant smile and a surprisingly loose handshake. He leads me to his office.

“Sit down. I will turn off the aircon,” he says as he notices I can’t control my shiver.

Dressed in what looks like an expensive suit, Basson leans back in his chair. His desk is covered with patients’ files. His phone suddenly interrupts the niceties and he speaks for about a minute.

In the meantime my mind goes blank and I forget which questions to ask. I page through my notebook but the questions are not there. Basson is now off the phone.

“How much time do you have?” I ask him. He says about 30 minutes. He is scheduled to perform surgery later.

I start by asking him who Wouter Basson really is. Is he really the monster that the media has made him out to be?

“No. I am not a monster. Anyone who knows me will tell you that. Yes there is this perception out there but it is all lies,” he says while giggling.

Basson, a son of a policeman, was born in Cape Town. His family had to leave the Mother City because his father was transferred to Pretoria.

“I never wanted to leave Cape Town – I went kicking and screaming. Children have to do what their parents tell them to do. Nevertheless, I had a happy childhood.”

After high school, he studied medicine at the University of Pretoria. He wanted to specialise in gynaecology. But that dream faded fast.

“I went to the army in 1975. My father arranged that I work as a cardiac specialist at its Military Hospital. I never specialised in gynaecology – cardiology kind of stuck. Afterward I went to study in London and thereafter I became involved in the then-government’s biological warfare programme. I was in charge of research and development.”

In May 2000, Johan Theron, a former information officer of South Africa's apartheid government's Special Forces confessed in a packed courtroom how he was involved in the deaths of more than 200 anti-apartheid political prisoners between 1979 and 1987. He said he was following orders given to him by his superior, Basson.

According to Crimelibrary.com, Theron claimed Basson told him to tie up three prisoners to a tree overnight and smear their bodies with jelly-like lethal toxins. The primary aim was to test the toxic agent to see if it was capable of causing death. But the men did not die as easily as he expected.

He claimed Basson readily supplied him with the lethal drugs, which he used on the majority of his victims.

And it was Theron's testimony and confession which was a critical part of Basson’s trial for alleged human rights abuses. He was implicated not only in supplying the drugs used to kill anti-apartheid political prisoners, but also in administering them himself.

News reports have said that Basson was thought to have been involved in around 24 “death flights” between 1979 and 1987. These were where prisoners – most of them SWAPO guerrillas captured during the war in Namibia were loaded on to a plane, given paralysing drugs and then tossed out of the aircraft thousands of feet above the chilly Atlantic Ocean off the Namibian coast.

In October 1999, Basson was put on trial for the attempted murder of the three men thrown from the plane, as described by Theron. He also faced 63 more charges including, murder, fraud, embezzlement, drug possession and trafficking.

And so Basson became known as Dr Death, a name given to him by the Sunday Times and one still used by the media today – even after the court found him not guilty.

“It is so stupid. It does irritate me a lot but it doesn’t bother me that much. I have asked them to stop and they refused. I could take action against them but I hate court procedures.

“The trial was a very stressful time for me and my family. I exercised a lot during that time, I think I was more fit than all the prosecutors put together.

“But I still maintain that I never did anything that was unethical. It was not unethical under the then-government. There is no proof. A competent judge gave his verdict. Why can’t people accept that?”

Basson describes the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings as “strange and unbalanced”.

“The TRC was a one-sided situation. There was never any kind of debate. How can we move forward without engaging with each other? There were many witnesses, but we were never got to cross-examine those witness.

“But during my court case, we did get that opportunity – and they fell apart, each and every one of them.”

He says despite the not-guilty verdict, the media continued to persecute him.

“The media is such a powerful institution. They made me out to be some weird monster. We live in such troubled times and people love this so they can get their minds off their own problems.”

Last year it emerged that the South African National Defence Force was still paying Basson about R50 000 a month despite suspending him from his job. At the time the SANDF refused to comment.

But Basson explains exactly what had happened and why he was still getting paid for doing nothing.

“It was June 1999, just months before the general elections. The SANDF – well I think it was actually the ANC – who decided to suspend me.

“They just wanted to make a political statement at that time. I even signed a contract which stated that I would be suspended with pay. Yes I am still getting paid, for doing sweet nothing.

“Who am I to argue? What would you do?” he asked. “Would you say no thank you I don’t want the money? I don’t think you would!

“The day after the court case concluded, I went straight back to the Military Hospital, ready and able to work again. I thought the suspension had now been lifted. It was not.

“I went there every day for a month, then once a week, then once a month. Nothing happened. But just the other day, I was told that it is now finally being sorted out. I am hopeful.”

Basson has been practising as a cardiologist privately from his Durbanville. Cape Town, rooms for two years and has helped over 4 000 patients in that time. He also has patients at three hospitals in both Cape Town and Pretoria.

“I do not believe that I am one of the best cardiologists in the country, but I am great. I would love to work for the defence force again because I think I am the best that they will ever have.

“And I also think I can make a valuable contribution to the operation.”

Earlier this year, complaints were lodged with the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) about Basson's role in Project Coast, a top-secret programme which included attempts to develop bacteria capable of killing black people or make them infertile. The complaints were lodged by Professor Lesley London of the Health and Human Rights Project at the University of Cape Town and Dr Ralph Mgijima, former superintendent in the Gauteng health department.

“Medicine is my life and I intend to keep practicing. I will defend myself. They (the HPCSA) have set down two weeks in June for the hearings. We’ll see what happens.”

Basson says that this is probably the last interview he will give to the media and now just wants to be left alone.

“I have been defending myself since 1992. I need a rest now. I have been stuck in this defensive mode for such a long time, I want it to stop. I need to grow, but I can’t do that if I’m not left alone,” he says.

The International News Safety Institute (Insi) report shows that embedded journalists – those stationed with and accredited to armed forces – have a far higher survival rate than those brave “unilaterals” who operate independently.

Over the past decade, 248 unilaterals operating without a military or police escort were killed on duty, while those with an escort who were killed numbered only 15. Only six embeds were killed out of a total of 269 killed in war zones between 1996 and 2006.

This revives the debate among journalists on the desirability of embedding.

Last year, this newspaper reported on a South African National Defence Force live-fire exercise at the Army Battle School in Lohatlha in the Northern Cape at which, for the first time, a proposed new SANDF doctrine on embedding was tried out.

The experiment, the final outcome of which may see the creation of an accredited war correspondents’ corps, was useful both to military correspondents and to the armed forces involved, but several issues still need to be cleared up before an acceptable formula is found. The main, controversial restrictions sought by the SANDF are:

l that correspondents get permission from the minister of defence before they report from enemy lines;

l that they report only on what has already happened, not what is planned;

l that if censorship is imposed, all news materials be submitted for clearance prior to publication or broadcast.

The Insi report urged military forces to respect the right of journalists to move freely within the battle space, including the right to un-embed and to operate independently when needed. But such questions are far from easy in fast-changing situations where some embeds choose to wear military uniform, where guerrilla (and regular) forces sometimes deploy their own writers and camera operators, and where reporters’ ancillary staff may for safety reasons have to include armed private security details.

Insi also called on news organisations to provide proper training for their journalists on conflict reporting: “No journalist should go to war without proper training and preparation, including knowledge of first aid and munitions.”

And it urged journalists not to assume that “the safety of the media is a prime concern of soldiers under fire”.

In that light, South African journalists are at great risk in war zones: senior colleagues polled said none were ever paid danger pay; all had to make their own security arrangements, including emergency evacuation plans, with little support from their news organisations; and almost none had received any special training for covering conflicts.

Some were even sent into danger without any proper situation briefings or protective equipment such as helmets and flak jackets – this was the experience of SABC radio crews covering last year’s war in Lebanon, a shameful indictment of their news editors.

The South African National Defence Force has spent R5.95 million on the use of private security firms over the past three years, says Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota.

He was responding yesterday to a written parliamentary question by the Democratic Alliance.

Lekota said that his department’s policy was not to outsource guard duties, but to use its own forces. However, Lekota added that his department would “continue to outsource in areas where it is prudent to do so”.

The defence force is one of many government departments, including the SAPS, which employs the services of private security firms at a cost of millions of rand.

Last week, in response to a similar written parliamentary question, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said that his ministry had paid R100 million for private security in 2005 and 2006.

Nqakula said that the SAPS had made use of private security to free fully trained police officers to perform their core functions, which was to prevent and combat crime.

“Private security is employed for access control purposes and to safeguard property,” Nqakula said in a written reply to a question by DA MP Donald Lee.

Nqakula said that an internal investigation conducted into the outsourcing of security services had found it was more cost-effective for this type of service to be performed by the private sector.

He said that the security firms had been hired on a contractual basis.

The SANDF says it will take action against its beleaguered Inspector-General, Major-General Mxolisi Petane, for buying pool cars worth R1.8 million without permission.

Defence secretary January Masilela told members of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) that Petane had “erred”.

The inspector-general made headlines recently when he appeared before a military court on sexual harassment charges.

He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence.

Masilela was forced to come to Petane’s defence when he rejected suggestion by ANC MP Gerhard Koornhof that Petane had “ordered a vehicle for himself at possibly a nice discount” at the time he bought the pool cars.

“It’s not true that the I-G himself ordered a vehicle but, indeed, for his section, he ordered five VIP vehicles to the tune of R1.8m,” said Masilela.

The unauthorised purchases were three Mercedes- Benz C130s, two Mercedes C180s, one E-class and two minibuses.

They had been bought to shuttle visiting VIPs around.

“But he erred on this and we have taken action, because we are still working as the Department of Defence on a policy on pool cars,” he said.

At present, all divisions of the SANDF were relying on hired cars.

A task team had been established to work out the most cost-effective option.

Petane had “jumped the gun”. The cars had been withdrawn and were now on the department’s account.

Asked by Koornhof whe-ther action would still be taken against Petane, Masilela said: “Yes, we will. We will.”

This issue was one of several raised by Scopa as it interrogated Masilela and his entourage on why the SANDF had again received a qualified audit from the auditor-general for its 2005/06 annual report.

The department was hauled over the coals for its apparent lack of systems and management of financial processes.

Even its annual report stated it was for 2006/07 instead of 2005/06, a mistake picked up by Koornhof, to the embarrassment of Masilela and his team.

Barry Wheeler, responsible for the Defence Department account in the A-G’s office, said the root cause of the SANDF’s problems was that there were no independent management reviews and policies and procedures were not complied with.

Scopa chairman Themba Godi said non-compliance was a serious matter, especially for an organisation where orders and discipline were the name of the game.

It had to be recognised that the non-compliance was either because there were insufficient skilled personnel to carry out the task or people were failing to carry out orders.

“The department does ap-pear to have a serious problem with keeping documentation and command at unit level. Some things I have heard from this report are very scary.”

A “strong hand” was needed if systems were to be in place to achieve an unqualified report by March 31 next year.

Masilela argued that contrary to the opinions of Scopa and the A-G’s office, there was a vast improvement.

Exact figures are classified but up to 2,000 reserves are deployed at any time by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

Reservists are currently in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi with plans to use reserves in the "unlikely event of a threat" along South Africa's borders, said Chief of the Defence Reserves, Major-General Roy Andersen (SUBS: ANDERSEN).

The reserve force and its role will be highlighted at a symposium hosted by the SANDF from Tuesday to Thursday in Midrand.

The role of the reserve force had increased significantly over the last few years, said Andersen.

"We are using reserves and plan to build up the numbers -- to play an important role in the conventional capability of our defence force."

The current strength of the force was not disclosed but Andersen said the plan was to build it up to 35,000 members.

The symposium will be addressed by speakers from Botswana, Nigeria, Kenya, India, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

"We felt that we were at a crossroads with the reserve force," said Andersen.

"We needed to check that we had the best system and the best model to result in a totally transformed, representative and professional reserve."

Andersen -- who is also chairman of Sanlam and Murray Roberts -- said all reservists were volunteers who had previously served either under non-statutory forces such as Umkhonto we Sizwe and Apla, under the old South African Defence Force, or under the new SANDF.

Reservists were not paid until called up, he said.

This meant the SANDF could have a large reserve force that was briefly retrained for between four and six weeks and deployed, returning to work once the mission was finished.

"They are the most economic route to government -- the most economic route for a state to plan its defence other than immediate reactions which are staffed with regular defence force members."

The army had most reservists but members also served under the air force, navy and medical services in troops such as the Natal Carbineers, the Transvaal Scottish and the Cape Town Highlanders.

Troops in Burundi and Congo were "performing very well" in United Nations peace-support operations, Andersen said.

When asked what motivated volunteers to sign-up for duty, he said: "An element of adventurism, genuine pride in the country and for some, a source of income -- but we don't want people to do it purely for the income."

Disciplinary action will be taken against the defence force’s beleaguered Inspector-General Major-General Mxolisi Petane for purchasing vehicles to the value of R1.8 million without permission, Parliament’s public accounts watchdog Scopa heard yesterday.

Defence secretary January Masilela told members of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts that Petane “had erred” and that action would be taken against him.

Petane recently made headlines when he appeared before a military court on sexual harassment charges. He was, however, acquitted when it was found there was not enough evidence to convict him.

Yesterday Masilela was forced to come to Petane’s defence when he denied questions from ANC MP Gerhard Koornhof that the inspector-general had “ordered a vehicle for himself at possibly a nice discount” at the time he bought the pool cars.

“It’s not true that the I-G himself ordered a vehicle but indeed, I-G had, for his section, ordered five VIP vehicles at R1.8 million.”

He said three C130s, two C180s, one E-class and two Mercedes-Benz kombis had been bought to shuttle visiting VIPs around.

“But he erred on this and we have taken action because we are still working as the Department of Defence on a policy of pool cars and because currently all divisions are relying on hired cars,” he said.

A task team had been established to work out what the most cost-effective option would be.

He said Petane had “jumped the gun”. As a result all the cars had been withdrawn and were now in the department’s account.

This issue was one of several raised by Scopa yesterday as it interrogated Masilela and his entourage as to why the SANDF had again received a qualified audit for its 2005/06 annual report from the Auditor-General.

The department was also hauled over the coals for its apparent lack of systems and management of financial processes.

Scopa chairman Themba Godi said a “strong hand” was needed if the department planned to have systems in place to be able to achieve an unqualified report by March 31 2008.

The Rooivalk and South Africa’s national pride rests on whether Turkey decides to purchase the helicopter, MPs heard yesterday.

Denel is competing against the deal’s other preferred bidder, Agusta Aerospace of Italy, for the estimated|$2 billion tender to supply between |100 and 200 helicopters.

Not only could this be the first Rooivalk sale internationally since the development programme started in the early 1980s but it would also mean the survival of the helicopter’s programme.

The SANDF has purchased 12 at an approximate cost of R500 million each, but if Turkey does buy Rooivalk helicopters it will reduce the actual cost of the aircraft “significantly”.

Yesterday the Rooivalk development programme, estimated at between R6 billion and R7 billion, raised the eyebrows of parliament’s public accounts watchdog, Scopa, when the embattled SANDF appeared before it again for qualification in their 2005/06 annual report.

ANC MP Pierre-Jeanne Gerber said while it was difficult for him as a “proud South African” to question whether the “astounding amount of money” used to develop the Rooivalk was justified when the South African government was the only customer, it had to be done.

But the defence department’s chief director of operations, Major-General Otto Schür, said the development cost of the helicopter only appeared expensive because only 12 had been sold.

He nevertheless said the figures were a concern.

Finally, 13 years into democracy, a final frontier in the battle for military transformation has been breached with the appointment of Captain Bubele “Kitie” Mhlana to the command of SAS Isandlwana, one of the navy’s four new Meko A 200 frigates.

Female and black South African officers have been appointed to senior managerial roles in the navy, but none to actual command of the fleet’s newest and most important assets, the frigates.

The fact that the process has taken so long puts Captain Mhlana’s success into sharper relief.

He has had to compete with the best officers of his peer group at home and abroad.

In the words of Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota: “Command of the (frigate) is limited to those who truly excel and who have indicated the required intellectual potential and psychological resilience.”

As we salute Captain Mhlana on his achievement , it is right that we doff our cap to the SANDF’s continual efforts to break through the artificial ceilings of race and gender in other traditional white male combat enclaves.

The controversial arms deal has made headlines for all the wrong reasons, but it is important to note that it has given us not only our first black African frigate captain, but also our first-ever female fighter pilot in SAAF Captain Catherine Labuschagne.

The South African Defence Force and its Ugandan counterpart signed an agreement Tuesday, to renovate the O R Tambo School of leadership, where many exiled South African freedom fighters studied.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and Ugandan Defence Minister Cripus Kiyonga signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Armscor in Pretoria, to bring to fruition, two years of talks on refurbishing the school.

During apartheid, South African freedom fighters exiled in Uganda studied at the school in Kaweweta, while some were also buried on the school grounds.

The project of renovating the OR Tambo School of Leadership includes ensuring that graves of former cadres of Umkhonto weSizwe are not in danger of being lost due to spreading human settlements in the country's capital, Kampala.

The project will also deal with the renovation of the OR Tambo Great Hall and ablution block, the construction of administrative blocks and commanding officers' residences.

Offices, staff quarters for doctors, nurses and seven extra classrooms are to be built.

"I'm glad that we are signing this agreement on a big day in the history of Africa when Ghana is celebrating its 50 years of independence from British colonial rule," Minister Lekota said.

He also expressed gratitude to the Ugandan delegation on the strong links South Africa has had with their country, dating back to the days of the liberation struggle.

"Many of the bones of our people are still in your country and will be a permanent reminder of the relationship that South Africa and Uganda had," he said.

The Defence ministry indicated that the remains of six cadres buried near Kampala, would be exhumed after the school's renovation and reburied next to their comrades on the school grounds.

The renovation project also involves the departments of Foreign Affairs and Public Works, as major partners of the Defence Department.

President Thabo Mbeki expressed South Africa's commitment to the project during his visit to Uganda in 2005.

"Our government views this project as an acknowledgement of the role that Uganda played in support of the struggle of our people against racial oppression," President Mbeki said at the time.

South African army deployed a joint task force of about a hundred experts to Mozambique on Tuesday morning to provide humanitarian relief.

The South African National Defense Force (SANDF) said the task force will provide transport for the delivery of food supplies and will help with water purification.

Ronnie Jonsson, an SANDF colonel and the mission commander, said: "The mandate is flood relief work, not rescue work, therefore the emphasis is on delivering food and fresh water. The team also consists of 45 engineers that will be establishing water points to deliver fresh water to the people."

The Mozambican government has requested South Africa's department of foreign affairs and provincial and local government to assist them to deal with the impact of the floods.

The troops will be deployed for six weeks.

The force is 101 men and four aircraft strong.

Jonsson said: "It is the two Oryx helicopters that will do the main supply of food to the camps, an Augusta 109 helicopter will do liaison work and to determine the damage and the floods and then one Casa 212 transport aircraft will transport people between Beira and Caia."

About 120,000 Mozambicans are stranded in remote areas without food or water since Favio, a tropical cyclone, caused extreme floods when it struck the northern and southern parts of Mozambique late last month.

Favio was formed in the western Indian Ocean about 1,200 km from Madagascar on Feb. 14. It gradually moved southwest, passing well offshore of Reunion and Mauritius islands.

By Feb. 20, it was just off the southern shore of Madagascar as a well-formed, mature storm.

While the storm system had largely skirted around populated areas to that point, forecasters were concerned about its behavior as it entered the warmer waters of the Mozambique Channel.

The storm was forecast to reach category four strength before coming ashore and tracking inland through Zimbabwe and Zambia, bringing heavy rains to already flooded areas.

Jonsson said: "The Zambezi River is in flood, although it is receding at the moment, there are roughly 120,000 people that need to be fed in assembly points. The dilemma is you cannot reach the camps by road, therefore air transport is the only means of delivering food to the people."

MICHAEL SCHMIDT quotes Leon Engelbrecht’s study A Guide to the SANDF and the implication that the new SA Navy’s Valour class corvettes are inadequately armed (Weekend Argus, February 24).

It is general practice in navies around the world that, in their early life, such ships are lightly armed. The emphasis is on getting the platform (the hull and machinery) right first. The platform is going to be around for 25 or so years and it is difficult to modify and upgrade it during its life so it’s worth getting that right at the outset.

Weapons systems, however, improve frequently and quickly. Threats, too, change. A weapons system today can be outdated in a few short years (as is the case with most electronically based engineering).

New weapons systems are developed rapidly and can be integrated without too many technical problems into existing surface platforms to regularly improve the capability of ships. Submarines are a different matter due to their complexity and cramped space.

Having been involved in other navies’ new ship projects where “getting the platform right as a sound base for continuous improvement of the weapons systems” was the design criteria, I believe the South African Navy has adopted the correct approach.

I expect (and trust) it will have put funds aside to continuously improve its vessels by upgrading its weapons systems regularly over the years, as the need and technical capability changes.

In that way we will have a navy that keeps itself up to date and ready for whatever task the nation requires of it.

Illegal migrant workers are often assaulted and robbed by South African officials and are exploited by farmers, an international human rights body said in a damning report released this week.

The 115-page report, released on Wednesday by Human Rights Watch, says undocumented migrants – mainly Zimbabweans and Mozambicans – are routinely arrested, detained and deported by officials who often contravene immigration laws.

Human Rights Watch spokesperson Norma Kriger said police, immigration officers and SANDF personnel conducting border patrols often abused illegal foreigners after arresting them. Officials also often extorted money from migrant workers, she said.

She said there were almost three million undocumented Zimbabweans in South Africa due to the deteriorating political and economic conditions in their country. Since 2005 more Zimbabweans than Mozambicans were being deported every year.