Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

L'idée de faire réciter aux écoliers sud-africains un serment de loyauté évoquant les "injustices du passé" a plongé la Nation arc-en-ciel dans une nouvelle crise identitaire, quatorze ans après la chute de l'apartheid.

Evoqué par le président Thabo Mbeki dans son discours sur l'état de la Nation début février, l'ébauche du texte, qui pourrait entrer en vigueur en mars, a été présentée la semaine dernière et a immédiatement créé des remous.

A leading Scorpions investigator – who was arrested for drunk driving last month – has been named as one of the men behind an “extremely inflammatory”, “dubious” and “illegal” intelligence report on Jacob Zuma.

This is according to parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence (JSCI), which yesterday identified Western Cape Scorpion Ivor Powell as the man who produced the controversial December 2006 “Browse Mole” intelligence report.

Last month, Powell was arrested in Cape Town in the company of fugitive and alleged Americans gang leader Igshaan Davids and is currently on R1 000 bail on charges of drunk driving and defeating the administration of justice.

He was yesterday too ill to comment on the claims against him.

The JSCI also accused the Directorate of Special Operations (Scorpions) of falling “prey to dubious activities of information pedlars”, some of whom were linked to foreign governments that aimed to create divisions within the ANC.

The JSCI’s attack on the Scorpions comes days after Zuma tried to use Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla’s complaints about the Browse Mole report – made to justify the suspension of prosecuting boss Vusi Pikoli – to try to persuade the Mauritian Supreme Court that the investigation against him was political.

The 2006 Browse Mole report claims that Zuma was being bankrolled by Angola and Libya to support his presidential ambitions.

It claimed Zuma was involved in a conspiracy to topple President Thabo Mbeki’s government. This conspiracy was apparently driven by left-wing groups, like the SA Communist Party, Cosatu and the ANC Youth League, alienated by Mbeki’s government.

The Browse Mole report further alleged that former SANDF chief Siphiwe Nyanda had raised the possibility of military support for Zuma and a possible military coup against Mbeki’s government during a meeting at the Nasrec exhibition centre outside Joburg in early 2006.

Others suspected of involvement in the conspiracy included lawyers for the killers of SACP general secretary Chris Hani and people associated with slain mining magnate Brett Kebble – whose murder reportedly sparked the Scorpions’ investigation into National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi.

According to the JSCI, the Scorpions believed the information contained in the Browse Mole report and “had in fact acted on it in order to pursue or consider prosecution”.

Following the report’s leak to Cosatu and later the media, the government’s National Security Council set up a task team to investigate its origins and the way in which the report had been compiled.

The JSCI’s special report, presented by chairperson Siyabonga Cwele, found that the motivation behind the report’s production was “primarily directed and targeted at gathering information on a known individual … the (then) deputy president of the ANC, Jacob Zuma”.

But the JSCI also revealed that the leaked Browse Mole report was not the same one that was finally given to Pikoli and Intelligence head Manala Manzini.

“The task team (investigating the leak) has demonstrated that the leaked document originated from senior special investigator Mr Ivor Powell and thereafter found its way to the public through pedlars and the media.

“In this regard, the task team found that (Scorpions head) Leonard McCarthy did not want to accept that the Browse Mole report was leaked by Ivor Powell. Yet it is not clear why Mr McCarthy refused the task team access to the computers of the Directorate of Special Operations and in particular of Powell.”

Derek Bock of Green Point’s letter “SANDF a laughing stock” (Weekend Argus, February 16) is to be applauded.

I, too, was drafted into the army in the early 1960s and served nine months of intense training followed by various camps during the ensuing years. There was no choice, we had to go.

Being in the military changed my life forever. The discipline, pride in being part of the military machinery and the do-or-die attitude for your country was drummed into us.

It was up at 4am, swimming in freezing pools, gym till 7am, then breakfast, then all-day marching sessions till we became hardened no-questions-asked machines.

We learned discipline, to think as one, and that one man’s folly affected 500 others.

I was transformed from a skinny civilian into a proud soldier.

Today’s military are a joke by comparison. Troops are overweight, ill- disciplined and a disgrace to the armed forces.

This so-called party that Bock writes about was a disgraceful, disrespectful aberration of the military code, and those responsible for allowing it, participating in it and organising it should be courtmartialled and removed from the military.

The accountants at the Treasury finally seem to have heard the desperate pleas from the Department of Defence.

While the defence budget is set to increase by 6,1% (more or less in line with inflation) in the next three years, the gradual winding down of major equipment acquisitions means slightly more is going to be left over to keep the military functional.

Of key importance is the ramping-up of repair and maintenance costs by nearly half a billion a year for the next three years. It is a welcome, but overdue, response -- the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has long complained of a developing infrastructure and equipment crisis because of a lack of spending on upkeep.

The budget also gives an estimate of the final real cost of the infamous arms deal, which will weigh in at R47 401-billion, though this does not appear to include the four maritime helicopters to go with the four frigates.

Spending on defence acquisitions is not going to go away, though, holding firm at between R9-billion and R10-billion a year. However, it will decrease as an overall proportion of defence spending as the defence budget rises to R32-billion by 2010/11.

The main reason the acquisition budget will stay high as the costs of the arms deal recede is that South Africa is buying Airbus A400M military transport aircraft, though the budget does not disclose exactly how much is being paid for them.

The A400M, which is being developed jointly by nine countries -- including a minor role for South Africa -- is already running up to a year behind schedule and is more than €1-billion over budget.

Other points of interest in the defence allocations include the alignment of the medium-term budget with the changed priorities of the Defence Update 2007 , the new defence policy document that has yet to be released publicly.

The Defence Update seeks to refocus the SANDF to have a greater capacity for rapid-deployment peacekeeping operations in Africa.

The new policy would make the landward forces -- the backbone of South Africa's peace and stability initiative on the continent -- more flexible and mobile by modernising and renewing the main equipment in the next 30 years.

The first priority will be the light and mobile forces, airborne forces, intelligence and engineer elements used mainly in the support of international commitments.

The budget estimates also reveal that South Africa is playing a strategic role in the Central African Republic (CAR), which has some of the continent's most important uranium reserves. About 300 troops will conduct so-called "capacity building" with the CAR armed forces, while SANDF special force members will protect the CAR's president.

I could not resist the temptation of responding to Max Du Preez’s article on the national defence force (Pretoria News, February 14).

His submission is driven by white old order politics, as he wittingly or unwittingly associates professionalism and the culture of discipline with the notorious apartheid-era army.

The SADF was never brought to book for its crimes, including the rape of young girls and their mothers in townships like Dimbaza in the Eastern Cape.

I have no doubt that Max would be forced to eat humble pie were the full scale of the SADF’s atrocities revealed.

It would seem that Max is yearning for the old days when there were no trade unions in the army.

There is no organisation that is above the constitution, and the armed forces are no exception. We are living in a democracy with rights and obligations.

Those who serve in the SANDF are expected to enjoy their rights and honour their obligations. Some of us bear the scars of having been discriminated against and abused in the SANDF by the very SADF officers whom Max is defending today. The white officers colluded against former liberation soldiers and had at every conceivable opportunity resisted and even sabotaged transformation in the SANDF. By comparison, who is the worst culprit: the one who rapes and murders or the one who threatens protest action for a better living wage?

While Du Preez’s complaint of dropping standards of professionalism might have merit, defending an army of hooligans that kicked down our doors as they were searching for the so called “terrorists” cannot be justified. In Mthatha, the SADF brutally murdered the Mpendulo children (Samora and Sadat -twins, and their friend, Sandiso Yose) while they were sleeping in their beds. The Mpendulo house was riddled with bullets in every room.

We have not forgotten that SADF paraded grandparents and parents naked before their children.

This is an army that had no respect for humanity. Today we are made to believe that they were a professional and highly disciplined armed force.

My own experience in SANDF has taught me that we have professional and unprofessional men and women across colour lines.

If we are to critique the SANDF, let us do so objectively not through rose-tinted glasses that obscure the truth.

The case against 12 military health students who face charges that include prejudice to military discipline was postponed in the Pretoria Military Health Service Court this week.

The case was postponed to February 27 for investigations to be finalised.

Eleven men and a woman face charges of riotous and unseemly behaviour, public violence, disobeying lawful commands, malicious damage to state property and prejudice to military discipline.

The charges against the 12 follow clashes with military police on February 4. The accused allegedly took part in a drinking binge and violently tried to stop police who attempted to intervene.

They were allegedly part of a larger group that barricaded roads with dustbins, tables and chairs as they partied at the Military Health Training Formation outside Pretoria.

Reports stated that military police tried to storm the three barracks where the parties were taking place, but were forced to retreat, driven back by students armed with fire extinguishers and broken furniture.

Last week, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota was compelled to threaten stern action against serving and former SANDF members who, under the ambit of the South African National Defence Force Union (Sandu), had planned to disrupt the opening of Parliament in an attempt to make their grievances heard.

Such incidents should not be seen as characteristic of every unit, argued Henri Boshoff of the Institute for Security Studies. The problems were structural.

The military in post-apartheid SA consists of two main divisions: the civilian arm, which determines policy and is headed by the defence secretary. There is also the operational arm, which falls under the chief of the SANDF.

Boshoff said the civilian arm was yet to fully establish itself. "I think it is still trying to find its feet." Yet, following the transformation phase of its early days, the SANDF was in a consolidation phase characterised by substantial expectations to deploy in many of Africa's trouble spots.

But the SANDF was still not free from the problems of a "skewed rank-age profile" -- consisting of much less deployable older members caught within the lower ranks. The army has to contend with aging equipment and the incidence of HIV, which is estimated at slightly higher than the national average.

Leadership, too, is one of the military's weaker areas. "The chain of command is not functioning optimally -- in fact the human resources management is dismal," said Stellenbosch University defence analyst Lindy Heinecken.

It also did not help matters that SANDF head Godfrey Ngwenya was believed to be unwell, although the effect of his illness on his abilities was unknown. "They knew this when they appointed him," said Heinecken.

The SANDF has also failed to deal with labour issues. Heinecken blamed Lekota for "consistently" undermining the collective bargaining process, "which has meant that grievances have heaped up, leaving Sandu with no choice but to constantly bargain on the courts to intervene".

The union was pushing for a negotiated salary increment, among other issues.

But defence spokesman Sam Mkhwana zi said although it was a recognised union, Sandu had not proved it ha d a membership of at least 15000, a prerequisite for it to sit on the military bargaining council.

Twelve SA Military Health Services students arrested for allegedly being involved in drinking binges have appeared in court.

They appeared in a military court in Thaba Tshwane yesterday and are facing charges ranging from common assault and public violence to disobeying a lawful command.

More than 50 students were arrested after the SAPS flying squad and several local city police station members raided barracks at the Military Health Services training formation in Thaba Tshwane after receiving calls for help from the Military Police.

The latter called for help after they were forced to retreat when students, who had barricaded roads and seized control of stairwells and corridors, allegedly threw bottles and furniture at them and sprayed them with fire extinguishers when they tried to enter the barracks.

During yesterday’s court appearance before a military judge, Lieutenant Colonel Morné Botha, two more students were added to the original 10 on the charge sheet.

Botha postponed the case for further investigation.

GERMAN warships and aircraft have joined the SA National Defence Force for a month of military exercises around Cape Town.

Exercise Good Hope III marks the third time the countries have conducted military exercises in South African waters. But for the first time this year, the combined forces will split into two mixed-nationality groups for a series of war games.

“The whole aim of this is not to pit our forces against their forces but for both our forces to learn from each other,” said SA Navy spokesperson, Lieutenant Commander Greyling van den Berg.

Van den Berg said the SA Navy hopes to learn from the experience of the Germans’ naval force while sharing their expertise of navigating around the South African coastline.

The exercises were designed to foster trust and co-operation between the German armed forces and the SANDF, provide practice for each country’s armed forces and to practise multinational operations, which require a common language and set of terminology.

More than 1 800 personnel, 15 ships and 16 aircraft are to take part in the exercises.

Germany has sent two frigates, two combat support vessels, six Tornado fighter aircraft and two Lynx helicopters to the SA Navy base in Simon’s Town to participate in the exercises.

The German ships and aircraft arrived on Monday and will refuel and stock up before next week’s training and missile-firing exercises.

Also planned for late February and early March are the mixed-group war games, anti-aircraft drills and anti-submarine exercises, including mock torpedo attacks.

The German vessels will also be on public display at the V&A Waterfront on March 1 and 2 and at the annual Navy Festival in Simon’s Town, to be held from March 14-16, before returning to Germany.

The SA Navy is contributing three frigates, a submarine, two strike craft, two minehunters, two inshore patrol vessels and a combat support vessel to the exercises. The SA Air Force is providing six Cheetah fighter aircraft and two Oryx helicopters.

The police are confident that the country will meet the stringent security requirements of Fifa, the global soccer governing body, to ensure that the 2010 tournament is free of terrorist and other threats.

Andre Pruis, the national deputy commissioner of the SAPS, told a media briefing at the Ysterplaat air force base yesterday that the police had drafted a detailed plan that could withstand any security scenario during next year’s Confederations Cup and the duration of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

The plan ranged from countering international terrorism and hooliganism right down to safety on the soccer pitch, Pruis said.

He added that the police were working with the security agencies of other countries to ensure that the SAPS was fully briefed about potential trouble-makers or known hooligans.

The police had also asked the South African intelligence services for a complete assessment of the security risks in the run-up to and during the tournament.

“We are 100% in line with preparations to provide Fifa with a concept plan for the World Cup,” Pruis said.

The security plan has been strengthened with a R1 billion budget.

Pruis said the police would use the additional funds to purchase water cannons, aircraft and new patrol vehicles.

The police would deploy a dedicated force of 41 000 personnel to ensure security at the World Cup.

A joint operational and intelligence structure, comprising the SAPS, SANDF, intelligence agencies and other government departments has also been established.

This will co-ordinate all security activities around the 2010 soccer tournament.

Over the past four days, the structure has been conducting joint security exercises called Operation Green Point.

The exercises are aimed at honing the skills of SAPS specialised units on how to deal with various security scenarios, including the hijacking of an aircraft.

They were conducted within 50 nautical miles of Cape Town International Airport and entailed the identification of simulated or real aerial threats by the SA Air Force and the police’s air division.

According to the security services, these exercises are aimed at enacting emergency contingency plans in order to neutralise any form of aerial threat to the Western Cape during the World Cup.

Pruis applauded the exercises as being highly successful in preparing the police and other organs of the security establishment for the 2010 tournament.

“I think we can do it. We have been to other world cups and seen what they have done.

“We think we can do it,” Pruis said.

The exercise in the Western Cape was the second to be mounted by the country’s security services since South Africa won the right to host the World Cup.

Similar exercises are planned for other host cities towards the end of the year.

The ANC has mooted an independent agency to root out Scorpions members who undermined the party and tried to destabilise the country.

This “clean-up” would be extended to all security structures, including the military, intelligence services and police.

In an interview with Weekend Argus, former SANDF chief Siphiwe Nyanda, who chairs the ANC peace and stability sub-committee, confirmed the Scorpions were the prime target and said the purge should be done by an independent agency to ensure fairness.

“We said we need an audit process, so that we don’t take the rotten apples and incorporate them in the South African Police Service (SAPS),” he said.

“We need a review of security agencies. As far as Scorpions are concerned … audits must be carried out by agencies that are independent … we want the good guys who are capable of fighting crime.”

Nyanda dispelled criticism, especially from opposition parties, that the ANC was determined to disband the Scorpions after the elite police unit investigated allegations against party president Jacob Zuma and other party leadership.

“The disbandment of the Scorpions will have no effect whatsoever, in accordance to at least the construct of the ANC resolution, on the case against anybody, particularly (the case of) comrade Jacob Zuma because we are not saying do not prosecute if you have evidence, if you a case (against) Jacob Zuma or Jackie Selebi because the NPA will still exist,” he said.

DA leader Helen Zille has requested a meeting with Zuma in an effort to save the elite unit, while several legal challenges against its dissolution have been threatened.

Nyanda made it clear that the “conduct of some of the Scorpions agents against the party and the country” would cost them their jobs.

“We don’t want people who have given the Scorpions a bad name, (nor) people responsible for destabilising the country (or) trying to undermine the ANC,” he said.

“If you look at the Browse report … it is clear that there are people who are bent on undermining the country, destabilising the country, and undermining the ANC. Those people have to be uprooted. I am not talking about old-order people only.”

The so-called Special Browse report, which alleged that ANC president Jacob Zuma received money from Libya and Angola to topple President Thabo Mbeki, was leaked last May, but its authors remain unknown.

An official investigation blamed agents from the old order and foreign intelligence with links to the current security establishment, but unofficially fingers have been pointing to the Scorpions.

The ANC security head’s comments came in a week when the Scorpions’ fate seemed to dominate the state-of-the-nation debate in Parliament, with Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula, in a surprise move, apparently contradicting Mbeki by putting the last nail in the elite unit’s coffin.

Nqakula, a close Mbeki confidante, appeared to have toed the line of the new Zuma-aligned ANC leadership.

In his reply to the debate, Mbeki set out to clarify the apparent contradictions, confirming that the Scorpions would be disbanded and incorporated under the SAPS or a new specialised crime fighting unit.

Nyanda said Nqakula and Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla would meet his sub-committee at Luthuli House tomorrow.

A joint press conference by the two ministers, scheduled for last Wednesday, was cancelled shortly after Nqakula’s surprise remarks that the Scorpions would be dissolved. It is now due to be held on Tuesday.

Nyanda also sought to give reassurances that the ANC would still want to retain professionals and their skills.

Nyanda said the Scorpions were not modelled on the original idea mooted by the ANC, which had been twisted by “government and bureaucratic crafters”.

As a result, it would appear the ANC would want to micromanage the disbandment process closely.

“What we want to know from the ANC is what practical steps are going to be taken, how these resolutions are going to be effected. Even though they (the ministers) spoke to the (ANC) officials … we are going to be informed of the details by government and comment on the details … (and see) whether we are satisfied with the details, with the thinking of government and how it is going to happen. One of the things we should not do is diminish the capacity of the security establishment.”

Earlier this month, he walked out of Bayview Police Station, where he was stationed, and shot himself. Friends and family were unsure what drove the 47-year-old policeman to take his own life, but believe work pressure may have driven him over the edge.

Venkatesan is just one of the many police officers who are under tremendous stress, and resolve to kill themselves.

IFP spokesman for safety and security, Velaphi Ndlovu, said South Africa had become one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a police officer.

The emotional damage it caused was clearly visible in the increased number of police suicides in the second half of 2006, he said.

“Between 2000 and 2005, 506 police officers took their own lives. Between January and June 2006, 23 policemen and women committed suicide,” Ndlovu said.

“Last year the IFP wrote to Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula requesting figures on how many police officers committed suicide between July 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006, to which he replied three for every 10 000.

“Statistics show we had 155 532 police officers in 2006, which means the number of suicides during that period was 46, double the number in the first half of 2006. Serious questions must be asked why this figure increased so sharply.”

Ndlovu said to make matters worse, police psychologists were leaving the force in high numbers. But the minister said in his written reply that only 19 had left in 2006, which Ndlovu said was “questionable”.

Forty-six police officers were killed in the line of duty between July 1 and December 31, 2006.

“The South African Survey for 2006/2007 concluded that more policemen were killed in the 11 years after 1994 than in the 11 years before 1994,” he said.

“The survey says that between 1983 and 1993, 1 152 police officers were murdered. Between 1995 and 2005, 1 894 police officers were murdered. The highest number of police killed in a single year peaked at 280 in 1993, a year before South Africa’s political transition.”

In his book, Suicidal Behaviour in South Africa, published by UKZN Press, international suicide expert Prof Lourens Schlebusch, of the Department of Behavioural Medicine at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, said the number of police suicides had been reported as being five times higher than in police services in some other countries.

“Compared to the statistics for the general population, there are some occupational groups in which suicide figures have been much higher, like in the case of the SAPS and the SANDF (South African National Defence Force),” Schlebusch said.

High risk

“Across the nine provinces, the Northern Cape (36 per 10 000) and the Free State (29 per 10 000) had the highest suicide rates in the country in 1997. More contemporary research reflects police suicides per 100 000 as ranging from 110 in 1999 to 130 in 2000.

“The high-risk provinces include the Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, North West and Gauteng.

“The suicide figure was as high as 10.58% in uniformed police members with the highest being among black police members. Research indicates that suicide internationally by members of the police force is frequently higher than in the general population,” Schlebusch said.

Most police who committed suicide used their service pistols, and many of the deaths were crimes of passion in which they killed their partners, according to Nqakula.

The Cape Times reported on March 27, 2006, that Nqakula said that in 79% of suicides by police from 2004 to 2006, the officers used their own service firearms.

He said other methods of suicide included hanging, medication overdoses, gassing and shooting with a private firearm.

Nqakula said a 2005 study into the causes of police suicides indicated a general combination of family problems like marital challenges, problems with teenage children, substance and alcohol abuse, financial problems, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, work-related factors, intra-personal problems and the aftermath of irresponsible actions, accidents and criminal offences.

Superhuman

Pretoria-based Supt Piletji Sebola of SAPS Communication and Liaison Services last month said police suicides and family killings would continue as long as society expected “ordinary cops to be superhuman”.

“Society must stop expecting police officers to be immune to the horrors they face. The notion that cowboys don’t cry is a falsehood,” Sebola said.

“It must be put on record that the South African Police Service is committed to improving police officers’ lives and mental health.

“However, police suicides can only be significantly reduced if the problem is accepted and treated by society at large.

“All police officers are part of the community and lead ordinary community lives just like anyone else.”

Like ordinary members of the community, police officers needed care, empathy, love and protection, Sebola said.

Police suicides received media attention simply because of their social status, he said. The media should report not just on the suicides, but highlight the remedial efforts put in place by the SAPS, such as the establishment of Employee Assistance Services.

“The services are intended to address social and emotional problems experienced by employees and their families.

“They are provided free of charge on a 24-hour basis by professionals within the SAPS.

“The Employee Assistance Programme call centre under the wing of the service is manned by social workers, psychologists and pastors who offer professional and confidential counselling to members and their immediate families,” Sebola said.

Insp Andre Swart, of Employee Assistance Services, said on the programme’s website that the centre acted as a national link.

“Referrals, telephone counselling and assistance are provided to all employees and their immediate family.

“The personnel who render assistance in the support centre are stationed at Psychological Services, Social Work Services and Spiritual Work Services in head office,” Swart said.

“When a member or an employee’s family member phones the centre, they are not obliged to mention their names or give their telephone numbers to the counsellor and the content of their conversation will remain confidential.

“Sometimes problems become so big that people lose perspective and it feels as if the problem is under control, but counsellors will always focus on possible solutions and options to solve those problems.

“Counselling enables you to make the decisions that are best for you, and in the process stress and uncertainty are reduced.”

About 2 332 members have telephoned the centre for assistance since October 2003.

The helpline can be reached at 0860 1030 55.

The Cassinga controversy continues. As a historian, allow me to make a few observations about the exchange in your columns about how the events of May 4 1978 are still being contested. I will confine my response to certain of Colonel Jan Breytenbach’s comments published in The Sunday Independent on February 3.

Breytenbach suggests that Randolph Vigne should approach Willem Steenkamp, implying that the retired Cape Times military correspondent is a reliable source of information about Cassinga. But Steenkamp is by no means impartial; indeed, this sometime national serviceman and citizen force reservist wrote what amounted to a South African Defence Force-sanctioned version of Operation Reindeer in his book Borderstrike! (1983).

And if Cassinga “has come to assume a unique place in the annals of the SADF”, this is in no small measure due to Steenkamp’s own special pleading. Steenkamp’s version of events has become a virtual template for all subsequent SADF apologist accounts.

Notwithstanding his disclaimer that his narrative “is not a glowing chronicle of shining invincible heroes and dastardly but bungling villains” [but]… “of ordinary (and a couple of extraordinary) men…”, Steenkamp is effusive in his praise for the conduct of the men who carried out the air-borne assault, especially of their ability to adapt to the setbacks caused by the landing that went awry and in fending off a Cuban counterattack from Techamutete.

Steenkamp undoubtedly relished telling the story of the exploits of the SADF paratroopers and their South African Air Force support crews.

Steenkamp accepts at face value the Vorster government’s insistence that Cassinga was a Swapo military training base rather than a centre for civilian refugees and that the raid 250km into Angolan territory was justified as a pre-emptive strike to prevent PLAN soldiers from infiltrating Namibia. It is simply assumed that such actions are necessary in conflict situations.

Similarly, Breytenbach has expressed the view that he has no regrets for what he did on behalf of his country; he was a professional soldier who followed orders – a rather amoral defence for a man who while in SADF uniform apparently displayed considerable independence of mind. Although the politicians should have been held primarily accountable for actions in the name of the apartheid state, the SADF was complicit in the destabilisation of the region. And the truth and reconciliation commission certainly did not condone Cassinga.

Breytenbach dismisses claims that “his” paratroopers killed innocent civilians in Cassinga. He assures Vigne that those who dropped into the camp were not armed with bayonets for they were no longer standard SADF infantry issue by 1978.

At least one participant source contradicts this. Steenkamp cites Breytenbach’s 2IC Commandant Lewis Brand who recalls that: “The lads went in [the engineer complex] with grenades and bayonets and killed the terrs inside.” Is he mistaken? Or was Brand inclined to embellish his story for greater effect?

The statement was presumably recorded in Brand’s diary but it is difficult to know because Steenkamp is not in the habit of referencing his sources. On at least two other occasions, Steenkamp cites and then “corrects” statements attributed to Brand. Why did the veteran professional journalist miss this opportunity of correcting Brand if he had again got it wrong?

The master’s thesis on the Cassinga Raid to which Breytenbach alludes is the work of a former paratrooper in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), McCall Alexander. His failure to acknowledge the author of what is arguably the most comprehensive examination of Operation Reindeer to date seems to be because Breytenbach regards him as having betrayed his fellow paratroopers by casting aspersions on their integrity. He takes issue with McCall Alexander for insisting that women and children refugees were killed in the bombing raids and ensuing firefight; for likening the SADF’s conduct of war to that of the United States in Vietnam and Iraq.

Why take umbrage at what is clearly a feature of all modern wars: civilian casualties? Even Magnus Malan, then chief of the SADF, has since admitted that “there may possibly have been civilian adults and children” at Cassinga, in his book, My Life with the SA Defence Force.

Breytenbach accuses Heywood of bias in The Cassinga Event. There is little doubt that her account verifies Swapo’s own version of events. But her work was not officially endorsed by Namibia’s ruling party.

What Heywood’s work really lacks, though, is an appreciation of what Cassinga has come to mean for Namibia’s narrative of nationhood. Cassinga’s symbolic value far outweighs the importance of the historical project committed to the quest for the “full and sober truth”.

The liberation movement is seeking to establish its legitimacy as the government of post-colonial Namibia. Having been accorded recognition as the “sole and authentic representative of the Namibian people” by the United Nations general assembly during the war of national liberation, Swapo now has to justify its right to rule by appealing to its struggle record. This includes an image of itself as having fought on behalf of the victims of Cassinga.

If Swapo remembers Cassinga as an atrocity on a par with My Lai, former SADF paratroopers recall it as a military engagement or battle. There have been no outright admissions of culpability in the wanton killing of women and children by participants. There has been only one isolated media report in which an SADF soldier has confessed to having to carry out orders to summarily execute wounded survivors of the operation.

At the TRC hearings, a witness confessed to being haunted by the memories of what happened at Cassinga. Athough he declined to elaborate on what he had witnessed or participated in on the fateful day, his statement hints at the unwillingness of the SADF to treat captured cadres and non-combatants as POWs.

These two instances might represent the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Former SADF generals insist, however, that they observed the rules of engagement although not officially being at war with Swapo and that their code of conduct was strictly enforced. But the same cannot be said for the SADF’s collaborators.

While no accusations or reports of atrocities by the SADF at Cassinga itself have been substantiated, there is the possibility that a code of silence prevails among these former comrades in arms. Or are they more than willing to talk to “outsiders” as Breytenbach claims?

I, for one, would welcome an invite into their ranks to hear their stories.

l Gary Baines is an associate professor in Rhodes University’s history department. He is co-editor of a forthcoming book “Beyond the Border War: New Perspectives on Southern Africa’s Late-Cold War Conflicts” (Unisa Press) and the author of the article, “The Battle for Cassinga: Conflicting Narratives and Contested Meanings”

SANDF’s ‘conduct unbecoming’ makes us the laughing stock of the world

I refer to an article in last week’s Saturday Star, “Soldiers’ orgy leads to running battle with cops”.

As a proud ex-South African National Defence Force officer I was saddened and disgusted by what I read. I have to ask: What has become of the once mighty defence force?

I served my country for close on 19 years and have never regretted it. I was proud to serve both the old regime and the new democratic order. But had I acted like those so-called soldiers, I would have been court-martialled and booted out of the SANDF.

The behaviour by these ill-disciplined soldiers makes the SANDF the laughing stock of the world. One of the problems is that the SANDF top brass are too scared of what the unions will do if stern action is taken against these soldiers. Stuff the unions; any army in the world runs on discipline!

If you cannot enforce discipline, you have hooligans running the army. How can we expect these soldiers to protect our country?

This incident is nothing less than a total collapse of military leadership at the highest level. It would be good if the following questions could be answered truthfully: Why did the officer on duty at the college allow this to happen? How did civilians enter a military base without the duty officer knowing about it? What action will be taken against the officer commanding of the Medical Training Formation? He is responsible for the action of his soldiers and cannot simply say he was not aware of it.

The minister and chief of the SANDF must be held accountable for this lack of discipline. These captains of the SANDF are steering it to disaster.

What will happen on the battlefield when soldiers disobey an officer’s order to march into battle?

The excuse that the soldiers were in the minority holds no water; the bottom line is that the SANDF’s image is in tatters. If this is indeed the argument, then act decisively against these thugs and hooligans, as there is no place for them in the SANDF.

To all my ex-colleagues with whom I served: imagine this happening when Jan Holiday, Pep van Zyl or even Witkop Badenhorst were around. Those troops would still be running today!

Derek Bock

No sentient being should be kept in a zoo

I’m writing about the article (February 2) misnamed “When animal rights go wrong”, about a polar bear kept in Berlin Zoo. As an animal rights activist I take offence at the bid to discredit the movement with a story about a zoo! No animal rights activist would condone the keeping of sentient beings in a zoo (prison).

Perhaps, instead of trashing the animal rights movement (a movement about which the author of the article clearly knows nothing), the article should have been labelled “Zoos are stupid!”

Sarah Harrison

Out of the quicksand, just to be preyed on

As someone who workshopped the National Credit Act (NCA) in its constitutional context, I find that the fee guidelines proposed by the National Debt Counsellors’ Association (NDCA) to be outrageous, and contrary to the spirit and ethos underpinning the NCA.

To expect people drowning in debt to pay a “restructuring fee” of R3 000 is like adding more weight to a drowning person. I submit that this is unconstitutional. Who will speak for the debtors, that silent majority seeking a way out of the quicksand, with vultures flying overhead?

I suggest that there be an all-inclusive debate and discussion involving the legal profession as well as the NDCA and the National Credit Regulator and the various structures to settle the issues, lest those who get their way be seen as fleecing the poor.

Saber Ahmed Jazbhay

A possible solution for Eskom

With regard to all the load shedding we have to endure, I have information that might just help a bit.

Just outside the town of Sabi, Mpumalanga, on the Hazyview road, is an old defunct hydroelectric plant, that would – if renovated – provide enough power for the entire Panorama area, including Sabi, Pilgrim’s Rest, Graskop and more. All that Eskom need do is fix it up. All the parts are still there!

AJM

Are blacks who murder whites not racist?

Compensation for victims should be spread to victims of every racial attack where people have been left without breadwinners and loved ones.

On the same day that Skierlik made headlines, three black men were sentenced in Port Shepstone for gang-raping a white female missionary; in Bethlehem, a black man appeared in court for tying up a young white woman with wire and burning her in her car; and two black men were sentenced in KZN for murdering a visiting Danish soccer player.

Sadly, only the Skierlik sickness was called racist. I believe all murderers and rapists should face the death penalty – not life imprisonment.

A key figure from South Africa’s scandal-plagued arms deal is embroiled in a new investigation by German prosecutors involving Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems (TMKS), the company that led the consortium supplying four corvettes to the South African Navy.

Former Rear Admiral Johnny Kamerman, who was project director of the South African corvette acquisition programme, features prominently in a new probe by the Dusseldorf Prosecutors office -- which is also investigating allegations of corruption in the South African deal.

The German magazine, Der Spiegel, reported on Monday that investigators probing the South African matter had come across indications of corruption in a proposed deal to sell one corvette and three coastal patrol vessels to the Angolan navy.

Although Kamerman, who now works for TKMS, is not a suspect, information obtained by the Mail & Guardian indicates that he played a key role in marketing the €700-million deal to the Angolans.

A source close to the German naval industry also claimed that Kamerman’s premises had been searched in raids carried out last year as part of the Dusseldorf investigations and his laptop computer had been seized.

The same source said he believed important information about the South African deal had been obtained from Kamerman’s laptop, together with details about South African military technologies and developments.

In August 2006 Kamerman was a senior member of a TKMS dele-gation that presented a “budgetary offer” to Angolans during a two-day visit to Luanda.

Kamerman had been suddenly appointed vice-president of sales at TKMS while apparently still in Germany, where he was posted by the South African Navy to manage the corvette handover in the South African deal.

In November 2006 Kamerman also hosted an Angolan delegation’s visit to the Blohm & Voss shipyards of TKMS in Hamburg and a lunch for the Angolan ambassador to Germany, General Alberto “Kabulo” Ribeiro. Ribeiro is considered to be close to the powerful Angolan minister for military affairs, General Manuel Hélder Vieira Dias “Kopelipa”.

The German probe has apparently identified three suspects in the Angolan matter, though the investigation is considered to be on shaky legal ground given that no deal has yet been struck.

Two sources told the M&G that in September last year German prosecutors offered TKMS a plea bargain on the South African deal that included a large fine and an offer to drop the Angolan probe.

It is understood that TKMS rejected the offer. The company has always maintained its innocence, but observers say TKMS probably also balked at an admission of guilt which could trigger huge penalties in terms of the supply agreements for the South African Navy.

The South African contracts make provision for a penalty of up to 10% of the contract price if a seller or its representatives are convicted of corruption.

Kamerman’s revolving-door move from managing the acquisition process for the buyer to hired gun for the seller, TKMS, is also highly controversial.

The supply contracts make provision for an eight-year ban on sellers employing any South African National Defence Force member who played a role without the written consent of the chief of the SANDF.

Kamerman’s TKMS employment fell within this period and the navy has confirmed that no such permission was granted to him.

Attempts to get the ministry of defence to explain why no action has been taken regarding this breach in the supply contract proved fruitless.

In response to M&G questions, TKMS confirmed that the Düsseldorf public prosecutor had been conducting “preliminary investigations” relating to the Angolan matter since mid-2006. “The prosecutors are investigating allegations of a violation of international anti-corruption law. Searches have been conducted as part of these preliminary investigations.”

It said that while the investigations were aimed at “a number of company employees”, members of the executive board were not among them.

“We have a high level of interest in the complete clarification of the allegations and have formed a work group which is examining them with the help of external experts. We are cooperating fully with the public prosecutor.

“ ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems assumes, based on the internal examinations, that the allegations will not be confirmed by the public prosecutor’s investigations.”

The protection of marine resources will be a major role for the South African Navy’s new ships and the arrival today of four new maritime helicopters will enhance this capability, says Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota.

Speaking at the hand-over and commissioning of four new Super Lynx maritime helicopters to the South African government today, Lekota said the craft extended the command and situational awareness of the South African Navy’s four new frigates.

The helicopters were proof of the SANDF’s efforts to create “jointness”, he said.

The helicopters are part of the controversial arms deal package which recently came under the spotlight with a request by the DA that Scopa revisit the arms deal.

The post-freedom defence force is an ill-disciplined mess

I have for a very long time had the impression that our National Defence Force is in deep trouble. After last week I’m sure of it.

My morning paper last Friday carried a picture of a soldier with a Zuma T-shirt on the front page. He was the spokesperson of the soldiers’ trade union and he was threatening to disrupt the opening ceremony at Parliament. The soldiers’ protest action was in support of a demand for better salaries and the SANDF’s promotions policies.

But the police had refused the soldiers permission to march in Cape Town on the day of the opening of Parliament. The union leader then threatened revolt – they would invade Cape Town in their thousands and take on the police. “The Eskom crisis will look like a circus when we rise up,” he was reported to have said.

Soldiers threatening to make a major city ungovernable, threatening violent clashes with the police? It’s very clear and simple: it is sedition. In any other democracy this soldier would have been in detention barracks by the time the newspaper hit the streets and would be facing a court martial by now. Nothing happened to him.

Armies aren’t democratic institutions. A commander’s orders aren’t meant to be debated. By its very nature an army can only be successful if it is highly disciplined. It is, after all, a unit of men and women trained to kill and armed to the teeth to do it. It is the primary guardian of the state and of stability.

A lot can be said of the apartheid era defence force and the way it destabilised the neighbouring states. But it was a prime example of a highly disciplined force where party politics were banned; its members were loyal to the government of the day.

This culture of discipline and of being above party politics saved our transition to democracy from derailing. In 1993 and early 1994 a former SADF chief, General Constand Viljoen, mobilised thousands of white men under arms to threaten the negotiating politicians with a coup.

In March 1994 his force was poised to take the former Bantustan of Bophuthatswana to defend its “independence”. The then chief of the SADF, General George Meiring, quickly mobilised a force and for a while they (made up of mostly white Afrikaners) squared up against the Viljoen force (made of mostly white Afrikaners). Viljoen backed down.

A month or so later, Meiring stood next to Nelson Mandela on the podium as he was sworn in as South Africa’s new president. Helicopters that had been used a year earlier to attack the ANC and others opposing apartheid flew overhead with the new flag attached. From statements made after his retirement, we know Meiring didn’t like the deal made between the National Party and the ANC. But when he was head of the SADF, he followed the principle of staying loyal to the government of the day. He went on to assist with the integration of several forces into the new SANDF.

The problem is that two of the main components of the new SANDF, the ANC’s Umkhonto we Sizwe and the PAC’s Apla, were highly ideologised armies with low levels of training and very weak discipline. MK itself experienced several mutinies during its time. Apla was a virtual non-entity until after the all-party negotiations started, when it launched bloody and cowardly attacks against white civilians. Apla was at its most active ever in 1993 and 1994. (The Apla commander at the time, Letlapa Mphahlele, is about to be prosecuted for those crimes.)

Unfortunately the leadership in the SANDF wasn’t strong enough to turn it into a professional force after 1994.

The SANDF is still riddled with factionalism and too many soldiers still behave as if they belong to some African warlord’s private army. The force was quickly purged of most experienced soldiers of the old SADF and promotions to the highest ranks sometimes appear to come out of a lucky packet. Today, I’m told, less than half the personnel in the SANDF are battle-ready – the rest are apparently sick or live with HIV/Aids.

The SANDF is so weak now that it can’t even protect the border with Lesotho. Farmers along the border have been terrorised for years and Free State Agriculture is about to launch a serious Constitutional Court action against the government because it claims members’ constitutional rights have been violated by the state’s inaction.

It would have been acceptable if our defence force had merely become a place where pre-1994 soldiers could find employment and medical care, because we don’t really need a strong army. But having spent R50-billion on sophisticated arms and weaponry, we expect a lot more.

Instead of saddling our young children with an oath forever reminding them that the little white ones among them are evil seed, perhaps we should get all our soldiers in shape to stand on the parade ground early every morning promising to serve the Constitution only.

"As such, in the spirit of Business Unusual, government intends this year to intensify the campaign to identify specific households and individuals in dire need and to put in place interventions that will help, in the intervening period, to alleviate their plight," President Mbeki said delivering his State of the Nation Address on Friday.

"For this, we will require a National War Room for a War Against Poverty bringing together departments such as Social Development, Provincial and Local Government, Trade and Industry, Agriculture and Land Affairs, Public Works and Health as well as provincial and local administrations, which will work with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and business to identify the interventions required in specific households and implement them as a matter of urgency."

Specific priorities critical to the country's war against poverty, in pursuit of socio-economic inclusion, would also be attended to this year.

These include speeding up land and agrarian reform with detailed plans for land acquisition, better implementation of agricultural support services and household food support, and improving the capital base and reach of MAFISA to provide micro-credit in this sector.

MAFISA is the Micro Agricultural Financial Institutional Scheme of South Africa, which assists beneficiaries to run existing agricultural businesses, start new agricultural businesses and develop them into fully fledged commercial operations.

"Focus will be placed on areas of large concentrations of farm dwellers and those with high eviction rates, and we aim to increase black entrepreneurship in agricultural production by five percent per year, and the audit on land ownership will be speeded up."

President Mbeki said Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's budget on 20 February 2008 would provide for an increase in the social grant system.

This he said would be done by equalising the age of eligibility at 60, thus benefiting about half a million men.

The social assistance programme is helping to reduce poverty, contributing to social cohesion and having a positive impact on the economic opportunities of households.

This is according to research conducted by the Economic Policy Research Institute on behalf of the Department of Social Development in 2004.

The study found that the provision of grants contributed to an increase in the number of children enrolling in schools, while living in a household that receives grants is correlated with a higher success rate in finding employment.

The provision of social grants is the government's biggest poverty relief programme, paying out in the region of R50-billion per annum to over nine million South Africans.

Scaling up the National Youth Service programme including a graduated increase of the intake in the Military Skills Development programme of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) from the current 4 000 to 10 000, would also be intensified.

The President said R700 million had already been given to the SANDF to start scaling up the programme.

The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) would also increase the intake of young people in the programme to maintain public infrastructure.

"This would double the number of children enrolled in Early Childhood Development to over 600 000 through 1 000 new sites with more than 3 500 practitioners trained and employed, and increasing the number of care-givers.

"About R1 billion over baseline will be allocated to programmes that fall within the EPWP," President Mbeki reassured.

The EPWP is one of several government strategies aimed at addressing unemployment in South Africa.

A Cape Town based newspaper on Thursday reported that the South African National Defense Union (SAMDU) was mobilising its members to disrupt the opening of Parliament and bring attention to their grievances regarding working conditions.

The opening of Parliament and President Thabo Mbeki's State of the Nation Address will take place this morning.

Briefing the media on Thursday at his Parliamentary office, Minister Lekota said he was unable to deal with the union's complaints, until the union had resolved its internal leadership disputes.

He said SAMDU's leadership was split into two factions.

"This matter is currently before court which means that until this issue is resolved, one way or another, we are not in a position to negotiate an agreement on any issue that would be binding and valid on SAMDU," said Mr Lekota.

This, he said, meant his hands were tied. "The organisation is at war with itself. It has taken each other to court. The matter is sub judice," he said.

Mr Lekota also explained that if the union had complaints, they would have to be brought before the Military Bargaining Council.

"In terms of regulations, a trade union organisation can only qualify to participate in the Military Bargaining Council if it meets the threshold of 15 000 members.

"Shortly after the promulgation of these regulations, SAMDU succeeded in reaching that threshold which enabled them to be in the courts. But since then their members have fallen below 15 000," said Mr Lekota.

He said at present SAMDU's official membership stood at 14 578.

SAMDU has not been given legal permission to demonstrate, the minister said, adding that National Defense Force members were expected to display levels of discipline that enhances the stability, law and order of this country.

"We expect serving members of the SANDF to conduct themselves in keeping with the discipline of the SANDF."

Mr Lekota said anyone acting outside this discipline would be dealt with by the Chief of the SANDF.

The SA Police Service will be deployed "in full force" around Cape Town's city centre on Friday morning to ensure there is no disruption to Parliament's opening ceremony.

"Under no circumstances will the SAPS allow the opening of Parliament to be disrupted by any individual, group or organisation," Superintendent Andre Trout told Sapa on Thursday.

He was responding to a question on how the police planned to handle a reported threat by the SA National Defence Union (SANDU) to disrupt the event with an illegal protest, aimed at drawing attention to its members' salary and other grievances.

According to Die Burger newspaper on Thursday morning, SANDU has threatened to cause "chaos" at the opening.

Trout said the SAPS would not allow this.

"We will deploy in full force to ensure the ceremony will be incident free. We will monitor the situation closely, and if we detect any threat regarded as a security risk, we will deal with it accordingly," he said.

Earlier on Thursday afternoon, Defence Minister Mosioua Lekota said members of the SA National Defence Force who took part in illegal protests were acting against standing military orders.

Briefing the media at Parliament on the reported SANDU threat, he said SANDF members knew "mutinous behaviour" was not allowed.

"Members of the SANDF, as a ... standing order, do know that they may not transgress the law, that they may not act outside the discipline of the national defence force."

Asked whether specific orders had been issued to SANDF members not to participate in Friday's threatened protest action, Lekota said he had not checked with the SANDF chief General Godfrey Ngwenya "what specific steps he had taken" in this regard.

On what action would be taken against any SANDF member who participated in the protest, he said: "As in all defence forces, mutinous behaviour is not allowed."

Friday's opening ceremony gets underway officially at 10am.

Ten Military Health Services students, arrested for allegedly being involved in drinking binges and “wild sex parties”, have appeared in court.

Yesterday’s appearance of the 10 came as Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota blasted those caught in the early hours of Sunday morning by military and SA Police Service members.

SAPS Flying Squad and other police officers raided barracks at the Military Health Services Training Formation in Thaba Tshwane after receiving calls for help from military police.

The military police called for help after they were forced to retreat when students, who had barricaded roads and seized control of stairwells and corridors, threw bottles and furniture at them and sprayed them with fire extinguishers when they tried to enter the barracks.

The charge sheet, according to prosecutor Captain Elvis Hobyana, which has yet to be finalised, includes charges of public violence, disobeying lawful commands, prejudice to military discipline, riotous and unseemly behaviour, malicious damage to property and common assault.

According to a military lawyer, if found guilty of public violence, disobeying lawful command and riotous and unseemly behaviour, the soldiers could be dismissed from the SANDF.

The soldiers, who rank from privates to corporals, are stationed at SANDF bases across the country.

Appearing at a military court at 1 Military Hospital in Thaba Tshwane before Lieutenant-Colonel Bongani Xaba, the 10 were granted bail under strict conditions, including refraining from interfering with the investigation and witnesses, following all orders and rules, and not committing any offences involving violence.

Xaba postponed the case until February 19.

Several military police involved in trying to restore order said they had caught students “fornicating and having wild sex parties”.

“It was crazy. When we entered a room on the second floor we saw six people having sex. There were bottles of booze everywhere and people entangled with each other.

“We tried to stop them but others attacked us and chased us from the building,” said one officer.

Lekota’s spokesperson, Sam Mkhwanazi, said: “The minister views bad behaviour as unbecoming of a soldier, and any signs of ill-discipline from SANDF members will and can never be tolerated.”

Ten SA Military Health Services (SAMHS) students arrested for allegedly having drunken sex parties at the weekend have appeared in court.

Yesterday’s court appearance of the 10, whom court personnel declined to name, comes as Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota blasted those caught early on Sunday morning by Military Police (MP) and SAPS members.

SAPS Flying Squad and several city police station members raided barracks at the Military Health Services Training Formation in Thaba Tshwane after receiving calls for help from the MP.

The MP called for help after they were forced to retreat when students, who had barricaded roads and seized control of stairwells and corridors, allegedly threw bottles and furniture at them and sprayed them with fire extinguishers when they tried to enter the barracks.

The charge sheet, which has yet to be finalised, includes charges of public violence, disobeying lawful command, prejudice to military discipline, riotous and unseemly behaviour, malicious damage to property and common law assault, according to prosecutor Captain Elvis Hobyana.

According to a military lawyer, if found guilty of public violence, disobeying lawful commands and riotous and unseemly behaviour, the soldiers could be dismissed from the SANDF.

The soldiers, whose ranks vary between privates and corporals, are stationed at various SANDF bases across the country.

Appearing at a military court at 1 Military Hospital in Thaba Tshwane before Judge Lieutenant-Colonel Bongani Xaba, the 10 were granted bail under strict conditions.

The conditions include refraining from interfering with the investigation and witnesses, following all orders and rules and not committing any offences involving violence.

Xaba postponed the case to February 19.

Several MP members involved in trying to restore order described the chaos, claiming they caught students “fornicating and having wild sex parties”.

One, who did not want to be identified, said: “It was crazy. When we entered a room on the second floor we saw six people having sex.

“There were bottles of booze everywhere and people entangled with each other.

“We tried to stop them, but others attacked us and chased us from the building.”

A second MP alleged that he and colleagues found a student with two women in another building.

“People were throwing bottles and other objects at us when we entered the room. We tried to restore order, but could not,” he said.

A number of MPs who attended the hearing described the incident as disgraceful.

“You do not do this in the defence force. We are there to protect the public, not throw wild sex parties and have drinking binges. It brings shame to the army and is a disgrace. We are soldiers, not hooligans.

“We must be disciplined and proud of who we are, not hang our heads in shame.”

SAMHS spokesperson Colonel Louis Kirstein said it was important to have discipline at a military base.

“If soldiers do not adhere to the military code of conduct, we will act strongly against them,” he said.

Lekota’s spokesperson Sam Mkhwanazi said the minister viewed the alleged conduct in a bad light.

“We cannot afford to have soldiers tarnish the image of our highly professional and disciplined defence force.

“The minister views bad behaviour as unbecoming of a soldier. Any signs of ill-discipline ... can never be tolerated,” he said.

Scores of army medical students clashed with Military Police (MP) during early-morning raids following drunken sex orgies held at defence force barracks in Thaba Tshwane .

During the clashes, which forced the MP to call in help from the Pretoria Flying Squad and surrounding city police stations, defence force members were stoned with bottles, furniture and other objects as they desperately tried to restore order.

More than 100 students barricaded roads within the Military Health Training Formation compound in Thaba Tshwane with tables, dustbins and chairs as they partied through the early hours of yesterday morning.

MPs who tried to storm the three barracks were forced to retreat by students armed with fire extinguishers and broken furniture.

The students had taken control of strategic positions such as stairwells and passageways.

They were eventually overcome when the SAPS stormed the barracks.

Police armed with assault rifles, along with their military counterparts, battled for nearly two hours to restore order, kicking down doors and dragging the occupants from their beds and rooms.

Those who tried to resist by barricading themselves inside their rooms with upturned beds and closets were handcuffed and dragged kicking and screaming to awaiting police vehicles.

They were then carted away to the SANDF’s nearby MP compound.

It is believed that many of the students smuggled girlfriends and boyfriends, most of whom are not members of the SANDF, into the compound and barracks in the back of cars and bakkies, which apparently were also loaded with hundreds of bottles of alcohol.

The stench of alcohol permeated the passages as police picked their way through the glass-littered corridors.

As police stormed the barracks, several students tried to escape by jumping from the windows of their rooms.

Police, however, managed to stop them – handcuffing them before marching them to awaiting police vans.

An MP member, who asked not to be identified, said it had been chaos.

“They were throwing bottles at us as well as pieces of furniture and appliances such as radios every time we tried to enter the compound.

“Our biggest fear was that |they would try to set the building alight.

“They were well organised with several standing guard at entrances to raise the alarm when we came near.

“I have never seen anything like this. It is a complete and utter disgrace,” the MP said.

SANDF spokesperson Colonel Louis Kirstein confirmed that there was a “social gathering” held after hours without permission from the military authorities.

“When it was discovered, the officer on duty called in the MP to quell the disturbance and restore order.

“When the MP could not regain control, the SAPS was called in to come and assist,” he said.

Kirstein said that 10 students were arrested and detained by the MP.

“The case is under investigation,” he said.

Police confirmed the incident, saying they had helped to restore order by clearing the barracks and arresting the “troublemakers”.