Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Leonard Ramatlakane’s comments that tourists would not be comfortable with troops patrolling the mountain are interesting (August 27).

I travel extensively and all over the world I have seen troops in uniform protecting tourist sites. Tourists, in fact, welcome the presence of security personnel. Maybe Ramatlakane hasn’t seen the big guns slung over the shoulders of police at OR Tambo Airport. What would the tourists say about that? I suspect his comments have more to do with face-saving as it might be perceived that the police cannot handle the situation.

It’s the same response we get when we say bring the troops in to help with the crime situation. The law, in fact, provides for the SANDF to support the police in special circumstances.

The National Strategic Plan (NSP) target to place another 120 000 adults and 70 000 children on antiretrovirals by the end of the year was not simply a government matter, Health department Director-General Thami Mseleku told journalists yesterday.

Addressing the parliamentary media in Cape Town as part of a briefing by the social cluster, Mseleku said it was important to take a few steps back when addressing the NSP targets.

"We need to look at whose targets are they? The NSP was not drawn up by Government, but all stakeholders. The targets are ambitious and must be, but there is also agreement that we need to work together to achieve these targets," said Mseleku.

He added that the department was committed to "work in a manner agreed, through the SA National Aids Council".

Mseleku's comments came in the wake of a demand by Aids activists that government ensure the targets are met by the end of the year.

The DG confirmed that 300 000 people were accessing ARVs in the public sector, but was unable to say how many patients were complying with their treatment.

"Our impression is that not many people are not staying on treatment," he said, adding that there was concern over the growing need to move people to second-line drug regimens as resistance increased (due to patients being on the first line regimen for a long time).

Mseleku said second-line regimens would cost 500% more.

Essop Pahad, Minister in the Presidency who chaired the social cluster briefing in the absence of the ministers of health and social development, said the review of the current state of poverty in South Africa was expected to be completed by March next year while the Anti-Poverty Framework was currently being developed.

Pahad said ward based actions were being initiated to verify indigent registers and the current package of support provided to identified families.

Indigent households are being registered with the Expanded Public Works Programme and municipalities to work on projects for a guaranteed number of days per year.

Efforts were also being made to strengthen the National Health Information System by training and appointing 2300 unemployed matriculants.

The number of NGOs funded for supporting the implementation of health programmes including the response to HIV, Aids and TB will be increased.

Several projects have been established as part of Household Food Production Programme to improve the food security amongst the most food insecure and vulnerable communities.

More than R1, 9 million was disbursed to 89 farmers between April and June 2007 as part of the farmer support programme.

On ARV treatment, the cumulative total of patients who started ARV treatment was estimated at 300, 000 as at the end of June 2007.

A total of 342 facilities have been accredited to implement this treatment including 10 Correctional and 7 SANDF Centres.

Pahad said lack of adequate health professionals still remained a key challenge to both the Departments of Health and Correctional Services in expanding the number of sites.

Efforts were underway to open nursing colleges at, amongst others, Dora Nginza Campus in the Eastern Cape, Bona Lesedi at Leratong Hospital and the Coronation Nursing College at the Chris Hani Baragwanath - Gauteng province. Three new campuses were established at Madadeni, Prince Mshiyeni and Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-Natal for a four-year nursing diploma.

Pahad revealed that Cabinet had also agreed for an amount of R105 million to be made available for the 2008/2009 financial year to accelerate the training of Family Social Workers at professional and auxiliary levels with at least 3000 Social Auxiliary Workers being trained in the current year.

A flotilla of warships is expected at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on Tuesday afternoon.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (Nato) naval marine group one --consisting of ships from the navies of Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United States -- is expected to sail into the harbour on Tuesday afternoon, the SA Navy's Commander Jaco Theunissen said.

The Nato force will take part in exercises with the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) which would include most of the SA Navy fleet, including the four new frigates and the new submarine.

The exercises will only take place next week and in the meantime the public would be invited to over the weekend to board some of the most sophisticated warships in the world.

While the South Africans might throw out the welcome mat this week it would be all business during next week’s exercises during which the SA Navy with air and medical support would stage “attacks” on the Nato group.

It would be the first time that South Africa would exercise both its newly acquired frigates as well as its submarine capability with a foreign force in local waters.

“The exercise will provide an unprecedented opportunity for us to hone our skills in numerous maritime disciplines,” Theunissen said.

“Exercising with Nato will allow the SANDF to consolidate its proficiency in operating frigates to the highest of world-class standards,” he added.

It would also give the forces and opportunity to test their "inter-operability" with other forces.

the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which incorporates 14 (and potentially 15) countries, held its 27th Ordinary Summit Meeting of Heads of State and Government in Lusaka, Zambia. To emphasise its importance, the Summit Meeting was attended by all the SADC Heads of State and Government.

(Seychelles, a member of SADC for many years, was not represented because of a continuing discussion about the membership dues it must pay. The Lusaka Summit, fully sympathetic to the concerns of Seychelles, expressed its determination to do everything possible to ensure that this island-state, geographically and otherwise part of Southern Africa, resumes its rightful place as a fully-fledged Member of the Development Community.)

The SADC Brigade

Undoubtedly, one of the high points of the Summit Meeting was the launch of the SADC Regional Peace-keeping Brigade. This military-police-civilian brigade is made up of personnel drawn from 11 of the member states of SADC. It has been constituted to respond to the challenges of peace, security and stability that face our region.

At the same time, it constitutes a component part of the African Union (AU) Standby Force which Africa is forming to ensure that it has the organised and multi-skilled force to enable it to respond expeditiously to all situations of conflict on our Continent. Thus the launch of the SADC Peace-keeping Brigade represented, in concrete terms, the resolve of our region and continent to rely on its resources effectively to ensure peace and security throughout Africa.

It was indeed very moving to see the 11 mixed formations, each behind its national flag for purposes of identification, assembled on the parade grounds at the Lusaka City Airport. Nobody present at the launch ceremony could have avoided being moved by the fact that despite the variety of the national flags that led and identified the various formations, all the members of the Brigade marched and drilled with great precision, responding to the commands of one Commanding Officer.

Clearly, here, at the Lusaka City Airport, the combined political leaders of our region were presented with a palpable example of the readiness of our region of Southern Africa to act together, to promote African unity, to bind all countries of our region to the cause of peace, to guarantee peace, security and stability on our Continent, and to create the necessary conditions for the defeat of poverty and underdevelopment in Africa.

For us, as South Africans, the ceremony to launch the SADC Brigade had a special significance. We were very happy and proud to see members of our National Defence Force and our Police Service parade together with their comrades from the rest of our region. We felt immensely proud when Colonel Botman, of the SANDF, was called upon to assume the position of the bearer of the flag of the Brigade on the very day that the SADC Brigade was born.

Armed and peaceful

In earlier years, the apartheid armed forces, organised in the SADF, had brought death and destruction throughout our region. They had acted as an instrument of destabilisation, destruction, subversion and regime change in the service of the apartheid regime. Their presence, operations and incursions into virtually all the SADC countries had brought death, suffering and misery to thousands of people throughout our region.

Undoubtedly, among the officers from the rest of our region present on the parade ground at Lusaka City Airport, were nationals of various countries who had had to take up arms to defend the independence of their countries, which was under armed attack by forces of aggression that falsely claimed to represent our interests as South Africans.

At the same time, there were officers from the rest of our region who had worked with the commanders and cadres of Umkhonto we Sizwe, and the rest of our movement, out of the public eye even in their own countries, to contribute to the intensification of the struggle to defeat the apartheid crime against humanity. They did this knowing that inevitably, the apartheid regime, with a benign nod from the major Western capitals, would carry out terrorist acts in their countries, targeting both unarmed members and supporters of our movement, and the civilians of our host countries.

Recalling all these painful circumstances, during which the apartheid regime supported the LLA in Lesotho, Super-ZAPU in Zimbabwe, RENAMO in Mocambique, and UNITA in Angola, and various political formations, we could not but be moved to tears by the concrete representation of the fact that democratic South Africa has dedicated all our military capabilities to the cause of peace, friendship, solidarity and development in our region and Continent.

We were moved that men and women of the military, police and associated civilian forces from our region, and their political leaders, openly and unreservedly expressed confidence in our security forces as reliable partners in the common struggle to consolidate our region as an African perimeter of peace, democracy and development.

As President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia said at the opening session of the SADC Summit Meeting, it was indeed an important matter of note that SADC was meeting in Lusaka for the first time since its formation in the same city in 1980 as the SADCC. As was correctly observed, this was only possible because since 1980, following the independence of Zimbabwe, both Namibia and South Africa had been liberated, ending the long period of colonialism and white minority rule on our Continent.

Regional solidarity

This statement was significant not only as a celebration of victory, but also as a signal of what Southern Africa must do to accelerate its advance towards the eradication of poverty and underdevelopment throughout our region, in the interest of the masses of the people of our region, who had carried the burden of the struggle finally to end colonialism and apartheid in Africa and the world.

Accordingly and correctly, the Lusaka Summit Meeting focused on the urgent task to transform the economies of our region, to ensure that as an integrated whole, they meet the aspirations of the masses of the people of Southern Africa.

In this regard, the Lusaka Summit Meeting was exposed to what can be done. President Bingu wa Mutharika announced that Malawi would donate 5 000 metric tons of maize each to Lesotho and Swaziland, in the light of their food shortages, caused by drought. President Mwanawasa also announced that Zambia had donated 10 000 metric tons of maize to the World Food Programme (WFP) to be made available to any SADC country in need.

The Zimbabwe economy

The Summit Meeting also approved the urgent initiation of a process that would identify the measures that the SADC region should take to assist in the economic recovery of Zimbabwe. The report prepared by the SADC Secretariat in this regard says:

"The restoration of the country's foreign exchange generating capacity through Balance of Payments support is crucial: however, the most urgent action that is needed to start this process is to establish lines of credit to enable Zimbabwe to import inputs for its productive sectors, particularly for agriculture and foreign currency generating sectors.

"SADC should do all it can to help Zimbabwe address the issue of sanctions, which is not only hurting the economy through failure to get BoP support and lines of credit, but also through reduced markets for its products. Sanctions also damage the image of Zimbabwe, causing a severe blow to her tourist sector.

"Zimbabwe on her part must continue to implement robust policies to reduce the overvaluation of the exchange rate, to reduce the budget deficit and to control the growth of domestic credit and money supply which fuel inflation, and to reduce price distortions in the economy. Equally important is the need to avoid frequent changes in policy initiatives, which have caused uncertainties and led to the view that the policy environment is unpredictable."

In this regard, on Monday, August 20, the Business Day newspaper published a wholly fabricated story alleging that the SADC leaders were divided over this report, describing a discussion at the Summit Meeting that never took place. This is consistent with an unethical practice in sections of our media in terms of which they manufacture news and information and communicate complete fiction as the truth.

The newspaper manufactured an unbridgeable "rift" resulting in a non-existent paralysis among the leaders, arising out of the discussion that never took place. The fact of the matter is that, acting on the recommendation of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, (the Organ), the SADC Summit Meeting accepted the report on the Zimbabwe economy, as well as the proposal of the Organ that our Finance Ministers, in consultation with the Government of Zimbabwe, should use the report to elaborate specific interventions that could be made by our region.

The hostile allegation that our countries have recklessly turned their eyes away from the problems of Zimbabwe, because of the imperatives of solidarity, has always been nothing more than a product of propaganda, which all thinking persons would recognise as such. The reality is that in a very real sense the problems of Zimbabwe are our problems, in the same way that the problems of the rest of Southern Africa are problems for Zimbabwe as well. Our entire region stands to benefit most directly from the recovery of Zimbabwe, in much the same way as Zimbabwe benefits from the progress of the region of Southern Africa, of which it is an integral and inalienable part.

The Lusaka Summit Meeting reconfirmed these fundamental positions, which include unqualified respect for the sovereignty of Zimbabwe and the right of its people to determine their destiny. At no point will SADC and its member states act as a super-power that has the right to expropriate the people of Zimbabwe of their right to self-determination, as imperial Britain did.

African unity & regional economic integration

The Lusaka Summit Meeting agreed that the 2008 normal SADC Summit Meeting, which will be held in our country, will launch our regional Free Trade Area. This Summit Meeting will also discuss the decision to transform the SADC region into a Customs Union by 2010. Before then, detailed work will also be done to prepare the basis for the radical improvement of all elements of the regional infrastructure. All this indicates the serious commitment of SADC rapidly to advance the critically important objective of mutually beneficial regional integration.

As we have reported before, the July 2007 AU Summit Meeting decided that the African Regional Economic Communities must serve as the driving force towards the political and economic unity of Africa. This important decision adds an important dimension to the historic obligation SADC has, seriously to attend to the issue of our region's integration, and its cooperation with other regions of our Continent.

This is particularly important in the light of the fact that our region conveyed a united view at the Accra AU Summit Meeting, insisting that the only rational and possible way to proceed towards the realisation of the objective of a United States of Africa is "from the bottom up", with the RECs, such as SADC, serving as the critical building blocks of the architecture out of which will be realised the age-old continental dream of African unity.

The 27th Ordinary Summit Meeting of SADC confirmed the determination of our region to respond to this challenge. The launch of the SADC Brigade, the first component of the African Union Standby Force, represented a practical demonstration of the commitment of the peoples of Southern Africa to help give meaning to the resolve of the peoples of Africa to take their destiny into their hands. This is confirmed by the fact that the entirety of the AU/UN "hybrid force" for Darfur, which will include SANDF and SAPS personnel, will be composed of African personnel.

As we knew and said during the difficult years when Lusaka served as the Headquarters of the ANC, Africa will be free!

Premier Ebrahim Rasool has been formally asked to request military assistance to fight crime on Table Mountain.

The request came from the city's Mayco member responsible for tourism, Simon Grindrod, in an "urgent" letter.

This is one of the proposed plans to solve the crime problem on the mountain, an issue which is being addressed in a series of urgent high level meetings that got under way this morning.

Grindrod said in his letter that the logistics of providing effective security to the vast area of the Table Mountain National Park were "stretching both city and provincial law enforcement resources beyond capacity".

"I therefore strongly urge you to consider formally and urgently requesting military assistance from the minister of defence in terms of increased security patrols and visibility in the park.

"The SANDF already use the park for training and I would see this as merely an extension of the existing utilisation of the park by the military.

"The SANDF are permitted in law to support and assist other law enforcement activities when called upon by the competent authority," Grindrod wrote.

Asked to comment on the proposal, Defence Ministry spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi said: "Fighting crime in this country is the constitutional mandate of the police."

But, he said: "In terms of the secondary role of the military, the military can assist any sphere of government or local authority on request."

Meanwhile, the ID has called for the city and the province to release emergency funding by this weekend to boost security patrols in the TMNP.

This call came as the DA denied the ID's earlier allegations that some of its councillors were compromising mountain safety by using the park's request for funding of R45.66 million over four years including R5.4m for visitor safety as "leverage" to wring concessions on controversial pine plantation harvesting.

Tokai ward councillor Leon van Rensburg said pines were a concern, but that the decision to harvest had been taken some time ago by a higher authority.

"What we did ask was for some kind of mechanism whereby residents who were directly affected by the felling are consulted about the future use of those areas."

Van Rensburg said no one had ever suggested that safety on the mountain was being compromised because of delays by the city in approving the park's funding request "not even by the park's representatives when they came to the portfolio committee".

He said safety on the mountain was paramount and confirmed having had individual discussions with park manager Brett Myrdal.

Myrdal met a Western Cape police delegation, headed by two senior officers, at Cape Town Central police station early today. The meeting had not adjourned by the time of going to press.

Another meeting with city councillors and officials was due to take place a few hours later.

The park has invited provincial and city officials to a workshop on September 17 at which safety on the mountain will be discussed.

"We have always maintained that the park, being in an urban area, is a susceptible to crime as any other part of the city," Myrdal said.

The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company chief executive, Sabine Lehmann, said: "We are extremely concerned about these crimes and want to be part of the solution, but it's business as usual for the cableway.

"However, Cape Town's reputation as a safe destination is at stake and that affects everyone in the tourism industry."

Ian Neilson, the mayoral committee member for finance and senior DA leader in the city, also said the issue was not about the city withholding money from the national park.

"But if we fund them, we have to ensure that the park is working in a way that satisfies the people we represent," he said.

Details of the proposed spending by the park needed to be resolved, as did questions of financial responsibility.

For example, it was "very difficult" to justify funding for the park to ratepayers when Cape Town was facing "very critical needs" but some of the park's profits were spent elsewhere in the national park network.

Another concern was the "incredibly high salaries" paid by national parks, Nielson said.

"We can't simply hand money over where we see there are issues around financial responsibility that we don't see as appopriate.

DA councillor for the Simon's Town area Nicky Holderness, who has been pushing the city to fund baboon management, agreed with Neilson particularly around the issue of the park's surplus funds being used in other national parks.

"There may well be one or two councillors (who are using pine tree harvesting as 'leverage') but personally I don't think that's a valid argument. The issue is far broader," Holderness said.

In its funding proposal document to the city, the park states under the heading "Undertakings":

"The Table Mountain National Park agrees to ring-fence City funds exclusively for projects in the mutual interest of the City of Cape Town and the Park."

"What we did ask was for some kind of mechanism whereby residents who were directly affected by the felling are consulted about the future use of those areas."

Van Rensburg said no one had ever suggested that safety on the mountain was being compromised because of delays by the city in approving the park's funding request "not even by the park's representatives when they came to the portfolio committee".

He said safety on the mountain was paramount and confirmed having had individual discussions with park manager Brett Myrdal.

Myrdal met a Western Cape police delegation, headed by two senior officers, at Cape Town Central police station early today. The meeting had not adjourned by the time of going to press.

Another meeting with city councillors and officials was due to take place later.

The park has invited provincial and city officials to a workshop on September 17 at which safety on the mountain will be discussed.

"We have always maintained that the park, being in an urban area, is a susceptible to crime as any other part of the city," Myrdal said.

The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company chief executive, Sabine Lehmann, said: "We are extremely concerned about these crimes and want to be part of the solution, but it's business as usual for the cableway.

"However, Cape Town's reputation as a safe destination is at stake and that affects everyone in the tourism industry."

Ian Neilson, the mayoral committee member for finance and senior DA leader in the city, also said the issue was not about the city withholding money from the national park.

"But if we fund them, we have to ensure that the park is working in a way that satisfies the people we represent," he said.

Details of the proposed spending by the park needed to be resolved, as did questions of financial responsibility.For example, it was "very difficult" to justify funding for the park to ratepayers when Cape Town was facing "very critical needs" but some of the park's profits were spent elsewhere in the national park network.

Another concern was the "incredibly high salaries" paid by national parks, Nielson said.

"We can't simply hand money over where we see there are issues around financial responsibility that we don't see as appopriate.

DA councillor for the Simon's Town area Nicky Holderness, who has been pushing the city to fund baboon management, agreed with Neilson particularly around the issue of the park's surplus funds being used in other national parks.

"There may well be one or two councillors (who are using pine tree harvesting as 'leverage') but personally I don't think that's a valid argument. The issue is far broader," Holderness said.

In its funding proposal document to the city, the park states under the heading "Undertakings":

"The Table Mountain National Park agrees to ringfence City funds exclusively for projects in the mutual interest of the City of Cape Town and the Park."

Denel was expected to spend R98.25 million during the next two years to complete the missile programme of the Rooivalk attack helicopter for the SA National Defence Force (SANDF), defence minister Mosioua Lekota said in a written reply to a question posed in parliament by official opposition MP Hendrik Schmidt.

But Lekota pointed fingers at Denel – whose chief executive, Shaun Liebenberg, announced earlier this year that the Rooivalk programme was completed – and referred in his answer to the development of the Rooivalk as being “hampered by problems” at Denel.

Liebenberg had indicated that the Rooivalk was not commercially viable and that Denel would not spend any new money on the helicopters or be able to look after the air force’s fleet in the future.

Things are looking rosier for former SANDF acquisitions chief Chippy Shaik.

Two weeks after justice minister Brigitte Mabandla told Parliament he had never been the subject of a criminal investigation and that he was not in the NPA’s sights, the furore over his two passports has been resolved.

A department inquiry found that Shaik was in possession of two valid passports and he was instructed in writing to return one of them, according to home affairs spokesman Jacky Mashapu.

“In response, the person concerned indicated that the passport was lost and he reported the matter to the police.

“After the department had received an affidavit confirming the loss, the department cancelled the passport in question on the electronic passport register,” he said.

Shaik now only had one valid passport, Mashapu said.

In May, Shaik told the Cape Argus he was packing for Perth, saying “the situation in this country is toxic for me and my family”.

“There has been an ongoing campaign against me, obviously as a result of (brother) Schabir’s troubles.”

Shaik was speaking in the context of renewed bribery allegations against him in the media, and reports that he had cheated on his mechanical engineering doctoral dissertation, as well questions about his two passports.

Of the latter, Shaik, who is still living in South Africa, complained that it created the impression “I was some kind of scumbag gun runner”.

The United Nations has asked South Africa to send more troops to Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region, Deputy Defence Minister Mluleki George said yesterday.

These were expected to form part of a joint UN-Africa peacekeeping force.

He did not reveal the size of the contribution South Africa was expected to make towards what would become the biggest UN-controlled peacekeeping operation in the world.

But Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad revealed later it would be “substantial”.

“Obviously South Africa has to make a major contribution to what is going to be a (mostly) African force in Sudan. By its very nature it would not only include personnel but we are one of the few armies that have logistical and other back-up and, obviously, we’ll have to supply that as well,” Pahad said.

Defence spokesperson Sam Mkhwanazi said yesterday the UN request was being studied by the defence force chiefs who would then report back to Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota.

“From there it will be taken to President Thabo Mbeki and the cabinet,” Mkhwanazi said.

However, earlier this year, Lekota warned parliament that peacekeeping efforts had already stretched the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to the limit.

In March, the National Assembly’s defence committee’s chairperson, Thandi Tobias, also lambasted the finance minister for expecting the SANDF to carry out is regional duties on the allocated budget.

“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 – expected to grow to R28.6 bn over the medium-term expenditure framework – was not adequate for the SANDF to fulfil its peacekeeping and disaster management mandate.

Like all air force pilots she is a bit of a show-off, coming in low, doing a flypast with the multimillion Rand piece of military hardware before setting it down, and then, just for the television crews, taking off and doing it all over again.

On the ground waiting for her were Deputy Minister of Defence Mluleki George and senior SA National Defence Force generals and a large media contingent.

A scene that might be all a bit daunting for someone who recently turned 21 -- but not for Second Lieutenant Phetogo Molawa.

She is the first black female helicopter pilot in the SA Air Force and on Wednesday she made her presence known by landing a Oryx helicopter at the National Women in Defence conference taking place outside Pretoria.

“It is excellent fun, I don’t think there is anything better, I think it is the best thing ever,” she said about getting behind the controls of the large Air Force transport helicopter.

Later, at a media conference, she said she had chosen a helicopter pilot career because of the versatility of the aircraft and the diverse nature of the work.

“You’ll never have the same thing twice, every day is a new challenge, and that is how I want to live my life, and the type of career I want to pursue,” Molawa said.

Added into the mix of responsibilities she mentioned was “flying into hostile situations,” which is also the purpose of the conference: looking at the role of women in combat.

Although South Africa is not currently at war, it has women soldiers deployed as part of United Nations and African Union peacekeeping operations on the African continent.

"In interacting in peacekeeping missions we are beginning to see the benefit of deploying women more so in addressing questions of gender-based violence,” said the SANDF's most senior woman, Major-General Nontsikelelo Motumi.

“We see women focusing more on the community needs. It's no longer only about what the warlords are doing and what they are up to but also about supporting communities,” she added.

However, luring women into the military has not been easy, George admitted.

“We have got a big challenge. Sometimes when we spoke about transformation theoretically we never understood that it was such a big challenge. It's not easy because it deals with human beings,” the deputy minister said.

This notwithstanding, the defence force has all but reached its target of 30 percent women representation at the lower ranks, George said.

The remaining challenge lay in promoting them to higher ranks.

“The Department of Defence is not like other state departments where you can bring people in, all people must go up the ranks,” George said.

Figures released by the SANDF on Wednesday show that women make up 23.8 percent with men at 76.2 percent of the uniformed members.

Most women, a number of 3,720, hold the rank of private, while 1,458 are corporals and 1,356 sergeants.

Of the 214 generals in the defence force, only 23 are females.

“Our reality is that we cannot hope to achieve women’s representation in all decision making structures of the organisation if women are not represented in the management of defence,” George said.

In trying create a better feeder system for women’s advancement through the ranks, the SANDF plans to increase its intake of females next year to 40 percent.

George said female officers, such as Molawa, would be sent to remote areas of the country to show young girls what horizons could be reached in a career with the military.

South Africa’s replacement for its Ratel armoured infantry combat vehicle is twice as expensive as the same vehicle bought by the Europeans, costing taxpayers R30 million apiece or a grand total of R8.4 billion. This is more than it cost the country over 23 years for the Rooivalk attack helicopter.

That’s according to defence analyst Leon Engelbrecht in a paper entitled Taking a look at Hoefyster – the name of the project in which the Ratel (Afrikaans for honey badger) is now replaced by the Finnish Badger.

Engelbrecht questioned why the contract was awarded to a foreign company when South Africa’s leading expertise in the mine-protected vehicle field is unchallenged worldwide.

Why was the Ratel fleet not simply upgraded at a fraction of the cost, estimated at R1m apiece instead of R30m apiece for the Finnish Patria Badger?

A retired high-ranking officer in the industry said there would only be a limited role in future for upgraded Ratels. The six-wheelers were not true mechanised infantry which are normally “tracked vehicles that can keep up with tanks”.

Perhaps, Engelbrecht suggested, the deal was more about salvaging financially troubled state arms manufacturer Denel than with re-equipping the SANDF’s mechanised infantry, armour and artillery formations.

Engelbrecht said the government could have better shown its trust in local industry by buying an entirely local product. “The tail is wagging the dog; government is overly eager to show how it can attract foreign direct investment at the expense of the actual needs of the army.”

In May, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin announced the awarding of the contract to a consortium lead by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (Eads), which co-owns Patria with the Finnish government, to deliver 264 Badgers between about 2010 and 2020.

The first 30-40 armoured hulls will be built in Finland by Patria, and the remainder by Benoni-based BAE Land Systems OMC (OMC). Eads will provide the Badgers’ electronic warfare suites, Denel is the lead contractor and local Land Mobility Technologies is the custom designer.

In February 2005, when all bids were due, only the Eads-led consortium tendered. Six South African companies who had been approached failed to bid because, said an industry insider, they were not prepared to carry the risk and expense of building prototypes.

So the Eads-led consortium was a shoo-in. But Engelbrecht said it appeared possible the decision to purchase a Finnish product was tied to the Finnish navy’s 2002 purchase of Denel’s Umkhonto surface-to-air missile system: “The… acquisition may, of itself, be part of an offset.”

The awarding on Thursday to OMC of a R1bn contract to build 600 armoured vehicles for the United States Marine Corps underlined, Engelbrecht stress-ed, the continuing ability of South African armour-manufacturers to produce sought-after world-class vehicles.

“Then there are the ongoing financial woes of Denel to consider and attempts by the Department of Public Enterprises to tie up Denel with foreign partners to stem the financial bloodletting and secure export markets for Denel, something they were hopeless at when left to their own devices.”

Engelbrecht said the purchase of too few Badgers (there were 1 200 Ratels at the height of the fleet) meant “the mechanised infantry will be stuck with two completely incompatible in-fantry combat vehicles”.

But his main gripe is the price: the Finns bought the Badgers for, $2.03m a piece but South Africa bought them for $4.32m each, double what the Europeans paid.

A SA Air Force sergeant was yesterday found guilty of murdering a Burundi teenager while serving as a VIP protector in that country.

The Thaba Tshwane military court also found Flippie Venter (35) guilty of assaulting a Burundi security guard and convicted him on a charge of non-attendance under the Military Act as he did not report back to his base before the curfew.

However, the court acquitted him on the rape charge and the claim that he had tried to bribe a Burundi taxi driver to lie about his whereabouts on the night of the murder.

Flown in from Bujumbura, Burundi, the victim’s aunt and uncle, Marie Jeanne Kamikazi and Jean-Paul Ndizeye, with whom the victim, Therese Nkeshimana, lived were satisfied with the judgment.

Venter earlier denied that he had raped and strangled Therese (14) on the night of September 19/20 2004 in Bujumbura.

It was alleged that he also assaulted a hotel security guard that night after the man refused to give Venter and the girl a room.

Taxi driver Claude Damacene claimed that he was the last to see Venter and Therese together, and that the accused allegedly tried to bribe him a few days later not to tell the police.

Yesterday military judge Colonel Johan Crouse said on that night the normal curfew of 9pm was extended to 11pm due to a social event in Bujumbura.

“The accused knew the curfew was a standing order. Witnesses said he was not back at the base before 4.20am.

“If he did not hear about the extended time, he would have been back by 9pm,” Crouse said.

The witnesses who were with Venter that night left by 10pm. Venter did not want to leave with them and obviously had no intention of returning to the base on time, Crouse said.

Referring to the other charges, Crouse said it was all part of a series of events.

Venter was looking for a sex worker. Damacene took him to a club and from there the two men left with Therese looking for a hotel.

Damacene and the security guard, in their evidence, corroborated each other regarding Venter’s attack on the guard.

The court found Venter’s admission to two SANDF officers that he had strangled Therese that night after she refused to have sex with him was admissible. Venter knew his rights before he spilled the beans, the court ruled.

“The accused walked with the victim in the direction where she was later found dead.

“When a person is strangled, she first loses consciousness before dying.

“The accused must have known he was cutting off the girl’s airways, therefore having the intent to kill her,” the court found.

Venter was acquitted on the rape charge. Although he admitted to “forcing” the girl into a sexual act, it did not prove that penetration occurred, it was found.

Acting prosecutor Lieutenant-Colonel Rikus Slabbert said after judgment that Venter had completed 14 years of military service. His current military duty would “expire” on August 31 this year.

Although there were no previous military offences against Venter, Slabbert asked the court to take into account that Venter was currently serving a 10-year sentence for the murder of his two children in April last year.

Sentence proceedings will continue on August 27.

Des responsables américains réagissent aux critiques de ce nouveau commandement des États-Unis.

Le rôle précis du Commandement que l'armée des États-Unis a récemment créé pour l'Afrique consistera à établir des partenariats durables pour livrer l'aide humanitaire et à faciliter l'autonomie en aidant les pays africains à bâtir des démocraties fortes et efficaces.

The family of the murdered and raped Burundi teenager were specially flown to Pretoria by the South African National Defence Force to hear the judgment in the court martial against a South African Air Force sergeant.

But the climax in this internationally high profile case failed to materialise yesterday.

The matter had to be rolled to tomorrow as there was a “problem” with the appointment of the presiding judge of a bench of three military judges.

Colonel Johan Crouse, who has been the presiding judge since this case started in Bujumbura, Burundi, in March 2006, retired recently. Although he is apparently still a military judge, he has to be appointed to the SANDF’s Reserve Force before he can continue to preside in this matter.

It appears that the SANDF has not completed this formality yet.

Yesterday, accused Flippie Venter (34) arrived at the Thaba Tshwane military court from the Nelspruit prison where he is serving a 10-year sentence for killing his two children and shooting his wife.

The family of the victim, 14-year-old Therese Nkeshimana, arrived at the court in a minibus, but were told that the judgment would not be given and and they promptly left.

It is believed that arrangements have been made to allow them to remain in South Africa until tomorrow.

Venter earlier pleaded not guilty to a charge that he had raped and strangled Therese on the night of September 19/20 2004 while he was working as a VIP protector in Burundi.

Apparently Venter also assaulted a hotel security guard that night after the complainant refused to give him and the girl a room. Venter then allegedly tried to bribe taxi driver Claude Damacene who was the last to see Venter and the girl.

There is also a charge of non-attendance under the Military Act against Venter as he apparently did not report back to his base before the curfew.

The trial was originally held in Bujumbura as part of an agreement between South Africa and Burundi, the African Union and the United Nations, so that Nkeshimana’s relatives could attend and see justice being done.

During the trial in Burundi, Venter’s wife Millie supported him.

However, soon after their return to their home at the Hoedspruit Military Base, Venter apparently had a mental breakdown in April 2006 and killed his two children with a R4-assault rifle and injured his wife.

He pleaded guilty in the Nelspruit high court and was sentenced to 10 years in jail.

Former SANDF acquisition’s chief Chippy Shaik was never the subject of a fully-fledged criminal investigation by the Scorpions as there was not “sufficient credible” evidence to warrant one, says Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla.

Nor was he currently in the National Prosecuting Authority’s sights.

Referring to the so-called De Lille dossier that alleged corruption against several politicians and officials, she said the Scorpions were unable to use it during their arms deal probe “given that it contained no substantial evidence of value to a criminal investigation”.

Mabandla was replying in writing to a parliamentary question from the DA’s Eddie Trent on whether Shaik was under investigation.

“Although the allegations against the person referred to by the Honourable Member were accordingly considered under the broad auspices of the initial preparatory investigation conducted by the DSO, no sufficiently credible evidence was found to expand this league of the investigation into a fully fledged criminal investigation.

“Consequently his role in the process was not investigated and he is likewise currently not the subject of an investigation by the DSO,” she said.

Shaik, who has indicated he will leave South Africa to live in Perth, Australia, has been in the media spotlight again this year, following several foreign news reports alleging that he received a R21 million bribe during the arms deal from a German arms company.

Trent said he would be asking further questions about the matter in the light of three international investigations into the arms deal – by Germany, Britain and Switzerland – that had yet to be concluded.

“We find it unbelievable that the NPA is not actively pursuing this investigation. A possible explanation is that, should the NPA pursue a case against Mr Shaik, who was intricately involved in the procurement process, he could name names and cause tremendous difficulties at an extremely sensitive period for the ruling party in general, and for the president specifically,” Trent claimed.

In May, Shaik told the Cape Argus he was packing for Perth, stating that the “situation in this country is toxic for me and my family”.

“And it has been this way for years. There has been an ongoing campaign against me, obviously as a result of (brother) Schabir’s troubles.

“I don’t need it. I especially don’t need to live in a place where my two kids, aged 14 and eight, can open the newspaper and see me being maligned and humiliated”.

He was speaking in the context of the renewed bribery allegations against him in the media, and reports that he had cheated on his mechanical engineering doctoral dissertation.

Trent earlier this year issued a statement in which he implied that Shaik was leaving the country to avoid the long arm of the law.

Two robbers were shot and killed in an attempted housebreaking in Krugersdorp on the West Rand yesterday morning, Netcare 911 said. The emergency service said the two men gained entry to a home in Rangeview around 4.30am. The house owner’s mother-in-law heard a noise in her room, saw the intruders and started screaming, before running out of the room. Her husband, who was still in his room, sustained injuries to his right leg and suspected rib fractures after he was kicked and beaten by the men. The owner of the house went to the aid of his in-laws, and in the ensuing gunfight, both attackers were killed. The father-in-law was taken to hospital and is in a stable condition. – Sapa

A former homeland defence chief will head the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) Joint Operations, it was announced yesterday. Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said Lieutenant-General Themba Templeton Matanzima, who once headed the former homeland Transkei’s Defence Force, would assume his new position on September 1. The position has been vacant since November last year, when Lieutenant-General Sipho Binda died after minor surgery. Major-General Derrick Mbuyiselo Mgwebi would take over as lieutenant-general from Matanzima. – Sapa

President Thabo Mbeki visited the University of Limpopo in Polokwane yesterday for a briefing on preparations for the ANC’s national conference in December. The visit by Mbeki and other senior party members followed media reports casting doubt on the university’s readiness to host the event. A subsequent ANC national executive statement confirmed its decision to hold the conference in Limpopo. ANC spokesperson Steyn Speed said Mbeki, national chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota, the treasurer, the deputy secretary-general and five other NEC members attended the meeting. “The general message is that all the requirements are in hand. Obviously there are logistical challenges, given the infrastructure at the university, but these shouldn’t derail the conference,” Speed said. – Sapa

Task teams have been established to investigate bomb attacks on automated teller machines in every province where they had taken place, police said yesterday. National police spokesperson Superintendent Ronnie Naidoo said each province had its own task team to investigate the ATM bombings. He said the task teams were co-ordinated at national level. Already some suspects had been arrested after being linked to ATM blasts. Naidoo added that investigations in these cases could lead to more arrests. – Sapa

Two South African Defence Force soldiers were killed and three injured in an accident on the N1 highway near Bloemfontein yesterday. Police spokesperson Superintendent Annelie Wrensch said the accident happened around 10am about 25km south of Bloemfontein. “Five SANDF members stationed at 44 Parachute Regiment at Tempe were travelling to Tierpoort in a Land Rover to attend a course.” Wrensch said the driver apparently lost control of the vehicle and it collided with a tree. All the injured are being treated at 3 Military Hospital.

A former homeland defence chief will head the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) Joint Operations, it was announced on Thursday.

Lieutenant General Themba Templeton Matanzima, who once headed the former homeland Transkei's Defence Force, would assume his new position as Chief of Joint Operations on September 1, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said in a statement.

The Chief of Joint Operations is responsible for the deployment of South African troops on peacekeeping and other operations, the biggest task the defence force currently has.

The position has been vacant since November last year when Lieutenant-General Sipho Binda died shortly after having minor surgery.

Major General Derrick Mbuyiselo Mgwebi, the first South African to command a United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping operation would be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and take over from Matanzima as Chief of Human Resources.

Matanzima led the Transkei Defence Force during the integration in the 1990's and was appointed as General Officer Commanding of the Transkei Defence Force Closing Down Headquarters.

He was later appointed as the General Officer Commanding Eastern Province Command in 1996.

During this time he applied for amnesty, which was granted, from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for his role in training soldiers and supplying arms to the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress between 1989 and 1994 in the Transkei.

Matanzima held several positions in the SANDF including Chief Director Corporate Services at the Army Office, Chief of Personnel and thereafter Chief of Joint Support.

He also held the position as Chief of Corporate Staff on the staff of Chief of the South African National Defence Force in 2004.

In August 2005, Matanzima was appointed as Chief of Human Resources, the position he currently holds.

Mgwebi, who succeeds Matanzima as Chief of Human Resources began his military career in 1978 and he held positions including Director Special Forces and then Director Training and Operations, General Officer Commanding of the SA Army Infantry Formation and also served as General Officer Commanding Joint Operations Operational Headquarters.

In 2004 he has served as the Force Commander of the African Union Mission in Burundi.

He subsequently became the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Burundi.

He is currently the Chief of Army Force Preparation.

Two South African Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers were killed and three injured in an accident on the N1 highway near Bloemfontein on Thursday.

Police spokeswoman Superintendent Annelie Wrensch said the accident happened at 10am about 25 kilometres south of Bloemfontein.

"Five SANDF members stationed at 44 Parachute Regiment at Tempe were travelling to Tierpoort with a Land Rover to attend a course."

Wrensch said the driver apparently lost control of the vehicle and it collided with a tree.

Corporal M. Mtshiki, 39, died at the scene while Corporal P.A. Mintoor, 28, died at 3 Military Hospital at Tempe.

The driver of the vehicle, Sergeant B. Bhejane, 44, suffered serious injuries to his head, neck, chest and shoulder.

Police said the other passengers in the vehicle were Warrant Officer A. de Bruyn, 44, who sustained light injuries and Corporal C. T. Mafumbuka, 38, who suffered head injuries.

All the injured are being treated at 3 Military Hospital.

Wrensch said a case of culpable homicide would be investigated.

Six navires de l'OTAN vont effectuer trois mois durant sous commandement américain une tournée autour du continent africain, une première pour l'Alliance, a annoncé mercredi le ministère néerlandais de la Défense.

La mission des six navires, appartenant aux marines néerlandaise, canadienne, allemande, danoise, portugaise et américaine, "doit montrer que l'Alliance est opérationnelle à tout moment partout dans le monde", précise le ministère dans un communiqué.