Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

The annual report of the defence department from Lekota and the late January Masilela (secretary for defence), tabled in Parliament yesterday, also received a qualified audit report from auditor-general Terence Nombembe.

The report showed the most serious vacancies exist for engineers in all branches of service with 42,75% of posts vacant.

This was closely followed by a 36,95% vacancy rate in air crews. Recent reports indicated that the air force has been hobbled by the departure of pilots and technicians as they are poached by the private sector and foreign countries.

More than a quarter of the posts at the military equivalent of air traffic control are vacant, and a similar situation exists for technicians and military nursing staff as well as antiaircraft personnel.

The vacancy rate across all classes of employee -- not just the critical occupations -- at the department is 15,3% with about 14000 posts vacant, according to the report. Military intelligence was hardest hit with a vacancy rate of 37,45%. Landward defence was least affected with a 7,37% vacancy rate.

Nombembe reported that in the "employee benefit division: capped leave commitments" there were inadequate monitoring functions, and insufficient audit evidence provided for him to confirm the accounts relating to R865m.

He said that no alternative audit measures could be performed due to limitations in the information available.

In addition the auditor-general found problems to the tune of R360m in the management of tangible and intangible assets, and R504m regarding contingent liabilities.

According to the 2007 -08 Defence Annual Report released this week, the SANDF is facing serious vacancy issues in key defence areas, which could compromise SA's security.

Democratic Alliance (DA) defence spokesman Rafeek Shah said: "What these vacancy figures mean is that our military's force readiness and capacity to respond to internal and external requirements is substantially compromised.

"Not only are we facing serious issues with equipment suitability and resource shortages, but our day-to-day military functions are also not operating at full capacity.

"Such vacancy issues must also be affecting our ability to make use of the Arms Deal procurements.

"People with skills and expertise are leaving the SANDF for greener pastures.

"With better retention strategies, we could be motivating such people to stay, instead of incurring the costs of replacing them," he said.

"Last year alone, more than 6700 people left the SANDF and 1660 of these were from critical occupations."

"While the Military Skills Development System seeks to recruit and train new entrants into the military, these entrants have little or no experience, and are no substitute for departing personnel with years of work and combat experience," Shah said.

The potential impact of renewed political upheaval in South Africa dominated the recent African Aerospace and Defense show, with attendees deliberating the possible effects on military programs.

The struggle between President Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, the head of the ruling African National Congress party, resulted in Mbeki’s resignation as the air show ended. Zuma’s deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe, was expected to succeed Mbeki as president. The timing and schedule of military acquisition programs may fall foul of the strife.

The political machinations were a prominent subject at the show, held at South African Air Force Base Ysterplaat in the Cape region Sept. 17-21. Theoretically, the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) procurement and modernization efforts should be unaffected by the politicking. There remains the risk, however, that funded programs or new-start projects could be delayed.

South Africa’s force modernization package, launched in 1998, is nearing completion. The show was marked by the official delivery of the first four Saab Gripen fighter aircraft. Delivery of all 26 aircraft—nine two-seaters and 17 single-seaters—is due by 2011. Similarly, the last of the air force’s 24 BAE Systems Hawk 120 advanced jet trainer aircraft is about to be delivered.

In the rotary arena, the last five of the 30 AgustaWestland AW109 Light Utility Helicopters will be handed over in 2009, though there is a growing possibility that at least part of the option for another 10 will also be exercised.

The South African Air Force (SAAF) still anticipates taking the first of eight Airbus Military A400M transport aircraft toward the end of 2011, if development delays to the A400M program don’t interfere. All of the SAAF’s A400Ms are due to be delivered within a 24-month period once the handover commences.

But there is little else on the procurement horizon. Additional Cessna Caravan light utility aircraft may be purchased, but a direct replacement of old C-130 Hercules and re-engined C-47s remains tentative. A maritime patrol aircraft to fill the role of aging C-47 TurboDaks remains on the wish list only, as does the acquisition of some kind of airborne early warning aircraft.

In the near term, more procurements of unmanned aerial vehicles are likely, with local industry hawking several projects. Both the SAAF and industry are reluctant to detail further firm weapon acquisition plans for the Gripen and the Hawk, though. The Diehl BGT Iris-T imaging infrared dogfight missile is being purchased for the Gripen to provide an interim capability until development of the Denel Dynamics A-Darter missile is complete. This project is being developed with financial support from Brazil and the involvement of Brazilian guided-weapons company Mectron.

On top of the four AgustaWestland Super Lynx 300 helicopters the navy has received, the option for two more is expected to be converted into an order.

The country’s defense ministry appears to be pursuing a twin-track approach to sustaining the capability now provided by its 55-strong Oryx (Puma) medium-lift helicopter fleet. Some will be upgraded, but there is also an emerging requirement for a replacement earlier than previously planned. The new type would be embarked upon the two Landing Platform Dock ships being purchased through the Millennium program. While funding for Millennium is still 4-5 years away, discussions have begun over the purchase of 30-35 helicopters as part of the overall project.

The ambition with the Denel Rooivalk attack helicopter is to bring all 16 of the fleet to a common operational standard to reduce cost and simplify through-life logistics support.

Another factor impacting South African procurement plans is a shift in emphasis toward the army, which benefited little from the late-’90s arms package. As well as receiving a larger slice of the defense budget, the army is to get a greater share of any “special” acquisition plan. The focus is now on wheeled armored vehicles, protected trucks, light artillery, engineering equipment, infantry modernization and air defense, with the aim of forming two combined arms divisions, one mechanized and one infantry.

Even while big-ticket procurements for South Africa dwindle, the exhibition attracts aerospace and defense manufacturers as it provides a window on the region and the opportunity to meet delegations from other African states. The number of delegations was double that of the 2006 event.

photograph|image/tiff|GRIPEN INTERNATIONAL|The South African Air Force has formally taken delivery of the first four of 26 Saab Gripen combat aircraft it has on order.|

Ex-rivals in fight for better pension, writes Janet Smith

Old soldiers of the country’s many proud armies unite for the first time this weekend. And the launch of the South African National Military Veterans’ Association (SANMVA) is potent in symbolism as the country’s political centre threatens not to hold.

As the ANC’s Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans’ Association (MKMVA); the Council for Military Veterans’ Organisations (CMVO); the PAC’s military wing, the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (Apla); the Azanian National Liberation Army (Azanla); and the once-repressive Uncle Tom armies of the former TBVC (Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei) states gather at the Booysens Hotel in Joburg for a two-day conference to establish the association, they will be building on a sophisticated military tradition that includes Shaka’s fearless impis and the Boer commandos of the 1800s.

It is those memories of sheer guts that have helped to drive the formation of a body that, at last, intends to compel the government to take care of former soldiers and their families, irrespective of the uniform they wore or the side they were on.

While the ANC battles significant internal strife and the country holds its breath following Thabo Mbeki’s departure, the unity between veterans shows again how progressive forces in this country are able to overcome past iniquity.

Military historians will see the SANMVA as the logical conclusion of the fraught negotiations that led to the formation of the SA National Defence Force in 1994. At that time, about 12 000 former MK cadres were integrated into the SANDF, with nearly 40 000 former SA Defence Force soldiers, 6 000 ex-TBVC soldiers and 5 000 former Apla cadres. There were nearly 10 000 new recruits by the new century. The philosophy now is that veterans must also be watchdogs for a military that will never divide soldier from soldier again.

As last-minute details in the agreements and constitution were being defended at meetings primarily between the representatives of the CMVO and MK this week, MKMVA chairperson Kebby Maphatsoe and the CMVO’s chair, Godfrey Giles, agreed that a shared belief in justice for veterans kept them on track.

MK has been a significant force for unity. Despite years of struggling to be taken seriously by its own party under Mbeki – who was never a champion of ex-combatants, not being one himself – the MKMVA persisted in reaching out to its former tormentors, the SADF, and the armies of the TBVC states.

In his office in Luthuli House this week, Maphatsoe spoke about how the relentless pursuit of “a negotiated settlement” meant that there could be no revenge between former enemies.

“We had a situation where there were all these heavily trained former soldiers who were not being cared for, who could destabilise the country. We wanted to give them all a different way to deal with their problems, and to share their legacy. Although these terrible things had happened in the past, we wanted to see if we could share the same sentiments, and reach a common settlement.”

Disbanded in 1993 after suspending its armed struggle when the exiles returned home after the unbanning of the party in 1990, MK looked for examples from outside on how to achieve a common purpose with its former enemies, because the South African military situation was unique.

“We were not fighting the colonisers, like in Algeria or Angola or Mozambique,” Maphatsoe explained. “We were each fighting our own people, who were also South Africans like us. So there was no question of this or that party being expelled, leaving behind the one and not the other. We had to find a way forward together.”

There is no escaping the ironies, however. For 20 years, through the 1970s and 80s, MK was the target of an SADF that attacked it everywhere it could. MK would later retaliate with bombs of its own. Giles said this week that the CMVO agreed that the time had come to look beyond the painful histories.

“In fact, now we rather look at the fact that the memories of ordinary people are very short. When there are issues in the country – such as the recent xenophobia or the public servants’ strike – they cry out for the military. But sometimes they forget very quickly what soldiers do for peace.

“Think about the World War II. Veterans put their lives at risk, stopped their businesses and their education, went away from their families, and what do they get today? Twenty rands on top of the normal pension. So instead of getting R900 a month, they get R920. And to think they came back from the war as heroes.”

A SANDF Special Forces chief instructor based at Wallmannsthal is claiming R900 000 in damages after a night freefall parachute exercise at the Kruger National Park went wrong when he fell on a live electrical cable and was severely injured.

It emerged that Captain Werner van Dyk (35), and four other soldiers who made the jump in June 2003, did so at the wrong drop zone.

Van Dyk is claiming damages in the Pretoria High Court from two pilots and a soldier based at Four Special Forces regiment in Langebaan, who were involved in the night jump. He said Lieutenant A Price (a pilot from 28 Squadron), Sergeant E Duzane (of Four Special Forces Langebaan) and PJ Gerber (a SANDF pilot) were responsible for safety during the freefall exercise of Five Special Forces Regiment on the night he suffered his injuries.

Van Dyk stated in court papers that the two pilots had control over the Cessna Caravan 208 aircraft – which Gerber piloted and Price co-piloted. Duzane acted as the drop zone safety officer.

It appeared that two of the soldiers who did the jump that night landed on electrical cables.

According to one of the men who did the jump, Van Dyk slipped from the wires and he fell to the ground and lost consciousness. He was immediately taken to hospital in an Oryx helicopter.

The second person who flew into the cables also received an electric shock, but was not as severely injured as Van Dyk.

Van Dyk suffered burns and other injuries..

Van Dyk stated that the drop zone safety officer had to ensure he had visual contact with the aircraft before he gave the go-ahead for the freefallers to be dropped. Van Dyk said that as it was a night drop, special care had to be taken they were dropped at the exact spot.

Duzane told a board of inquiry that after the five jumpers exited the aircraft, he could not see them, nor could he hear the plane.

He took off in a nearby Oryx helicopter to look for the parachutists and saw them on the ground next to a building.

The board of inquiry found that none of the members involved in the incident should be held directly responsible for the injuries suffered by Van Dyk.

Van Dyk, however, in his damages claim before court, insists otherwise. The three deny they were negligent. They said Van Dyk, as a free-fall team leader, should have taken special care during the exercise.

Judge Willem van der Merwe postponed the matter to a date still to be determined.

The Health Professions Council of South Africa’s hearing into the alleg-edly unprofessional conduct of Dr Wouter Basson has been postponed yet again.

While the HPCSA indicated yesterday that it was ready to call its new witness to the stand, Basson’s legal team called for a postponement.

The council had instructed Professor Steven Miles of the University of Minnesota to assist them in their case against Basson, which stems from the time he headed the former government’s chemical and biological warfare programme.

Yesterday Jaap Cilliers, for Basson, told the chairman of the hearing, Professor Jannie Hugo, that the defence was considering its legal options.

The Basson team might approach the Pretoria High Court to put a stop to the hearing or to order the committee to recuse themselves.

This was prompted by an application by Colonel Ben Steyn to the HPCSA in April to allow him to be involved in “research, development and use of defensive chemical and biological capabilities”.

He took over the SANDF chemical and biological warfare programme from Basson in 1993.

Cilliers said he understood that the merits of Basson’s hearing were discussed at the Steyn hearing.

The hearing was postponed to November 24.

The soldier, Ms Monaisa, 21, passed on after she was allegedly stung by what is suspected to be a scorpion on Friday.

According to the department, after the incident, Ms Monaisa was rushed to the hospital where she was admitted and later died.

"Ms Monaisa was a member of the South African battalion deployed in support of the United Nations/African Union mission in Sudan," said Brigadier General Kwena Mangope.

She was a member of 10 South African Infantry Battalion. She is survived by her mother, Ms M.D. Motingwe.

The Minister of Defence, Mr Mosiuoa Lekota, and the Chief of the SANDF, General Godfrey Ngwenya extended their sincerest sympathies and condolences to her family.

The memorial service and the funeral arrangements will be announced once confirmed by the family.

A South African soldier died after being stung by a scorpion in Sudan, the SA National Defence Force said on Monday.

The 21-year-old woman, Lesedi Boitumelo Monaisa, was a member of the 10 South African Infantry Battalion and was deployed as part of the United Nations and African Union mission in Sudan.

"She passed on after being admitted to hospital following what was alleged to be a scorpion sting at Mahla Military base, Sudan, on Friday 19 September," said Brigadier General Kwena Mangope.

She is survived by her mother.

"The Minister of Defence, Mr Mosiuoa Lekota, and the Chief of the SANDF, General Godfrey Ngwenya extend their sincerest sympathies and condolences to her family," said Mangope.

The commander, or regimental sergeant major, of an “amabutho academy”, now closed by police and prosecuting authorities, got word to the Sunday Tribune last week that he wanted “to speak from the heart”.

“Use his code name, Mkhulu, Mkhulu Hlongwane,” the Tribune was advised, “and buy him a pack of cigarettes – LD red.” We used this name, Mkhulu, meaning grandfather, in seeking clearance at Eshowe Police Station.

“What’s your real name, Mkhulu?” we asked.

“Moses Bheki Nkosi . . . I was with 121 Battalion,” he said, referring to his military service in the South African Defence Force in the apartheid era. I was a platoon sergeant. I left the army in 1997 because of non-integration. I took a package.”

Nkosi, if that is his real name, is now among 352 “soldiers” charged with forming an unlawful paramilitary organisation at the Mlaba camp outside Ulundi.

The site was once the training ground for IFP “self-protection units” (SPUs) during violent conflict with the ANC- aligned “self-defence units” in the late 80s and early 90s.

With the 2009 national elections looming, the allegation that former IFP SPU members have again been receiving paramilitary training at the camp sparked a police raid and arrests of “soldiers” organised under the banner of South African Unintegrated Forces (SAUIF).

Nkosi said this camp, the “amabutho academy”, had been set up to cater for soldiers like him sidelined in the formation of the South African National Defence Force, and “everyone” who had once served in the IFP’s SPUs and former KwaZulu Police.

He said this was to help integrate these “troops” into the SANDF, which had not happened after the 1994 elections.

He said that after the SAUIF had been established at a meeting with the IFP leadership in Macambini on KZN’s North Coast in 2003, base camps had been established for people to “wait for integration”.

Threat

These bases included Macambini, Jabulani Hostel in Soweto, Mkhuze near Mozambique, Eshowe and, more recently, the Mlaba camp outside Ulundi.

But exactly who are these “soldiers”? Whose instructions do they follow? Where do they come from? Do they pose a threat to national security? Is there subversive intent behind their training and, if so, why had police not acted earlier?

We set out to answer these questions as KwaZulu-Natal head of SAPS criminal investigations, Director Solly Vezi, appointed a senior task team to the case last week.

The Tribune discovered the bush “boot camp” had been the talk of Ulundi since about April last year.

That was when hordes of so-called SAUIF “troops” started arriving, seeking refuge and, seemingly, also patronage from IFP senior leaders.

The road leading to the camp then was reportedly barely a visible track. Today it’s a well-used road, running along the western boundary of Hluhluwe-uMfolozi Game Reserve, leading to an expansive parade ground, complete with flagpoles and an SAUIF emblem engraved in the ground with stone, alongside the words, “We do or die for the truth”.

Beyond that lies the wreckage of the SAUIF “barracks” – old, disused stone buildings surrounded by what appear to have been makeshift tents, cruder than those in the poorest of informal settlements.

The camp, now destroyed, appeared to have been neatly maintained, regularly swept and, according to a guard register, entry was monitored 24 hours a day.

What went on at this bush camp is detailed in documentation found littered about the burnt ruins, complete with the contact numbers of many SAUIF trainees, girlfriends, relatives and friends.

Analysis of it gives insight into the kind of simplistic and bizarre training that has taken place, with recruits using crudely carved R4 rifles.

Take these SAUIF lecture notes, “Fire unit: any number of a man (sic) firing under the control or command of one man, eg section commander. Fire direction order: Fire unit commander receives orders from his superior. May include: a) key range b) special order to fire c) when to open fire d) at what target e) at what rate.”

Documentation shows that many of the trainees were in their early 20s – too young to have had formal military experience in the 80s and early 90s. Equally disturbing is the apparent xenophobic nature of the military-style indoctrination that has taken place. While “communists” were identified as enemy number one by the old SADF, instructors of the “unintegrated forces” at the Mlaba camp appear to have selected illegal immigrants as one of their prime targets.

Could such “forces” have been involved in the recent wave of xenophobic violence that engulfed South Africa?

“No, no, no,” said Nkosi.

He said the camp’s lessons about roadblocks – “to stop the infiltration of illegal immigrants”, as recorded in the SAUIF lecture notes – were part of many things that soldiers needed to learn.

Regarding the age of the troops, Nkosi said that during apartheid “kids as young as 12 were fighting”.

He said allegations that some of the younger recruits had been held against their will – effectively abducted and unable to contact their families, as violence monitor Mary de Haas recently reported – were not true.

“Yes,” Nkosi said, phones were confiscated, as would happen under any military regime, and “because sometimes people can say things when they don’t understand what is going on – like this thing about paramilitary training”.

Leaders

Nkosi said senior IFP leaders had been aware the SAUIF training camp existed, but had not directly supported it.

“Some of the politicians are now saying they did not know the camp was there. They are lying. This is stupid. They just don’t want to say it’s their children who are there,” he said.

He said the SAUIF would try to raise bail for all troops arrested at the Mlaba camp. But after two weeks’ incarceration at police cells across KwaZulu-Natal, many of the accused were still in custody this week, their families unable to afford bail of R300.

Nkosi appealed to the public to assist these “soldiers” who, he said, had lost “everything they owned” when police raided the camp and allegedly set fire to the place afterwards.

“And here police are not giving us blankets. We are sleeping on the concrete floor. One senior policemen said we must call Gatsha (IFP president Mangosuthu Buthelezi) for help,” said Nkosi.

On Monday Nkosi was denied bail, along with seven others considered a flight risk.

This follows disclosures to the Sunday Tribune that key SAUIF members arrested at the camp had absconded during logistical preparations for last week’s court appearance, held in the open air outside Mahlabathini Magistrate’s Court.

“The commander said those who have a code name should abscond. I am one of those,” said a former amabutho camp member, who facilitated the interview with Nkosi.

How many others absconded?

“I cannot tell you that yet.”

Vezi said police were unaware of any suspects at the Mlaba camp having absconded from last week’s mass court appearance.

THE National Prosecuting Authority has warned of serious chaos during next year’s general elections in KwaZulu-Natal if paramilitary training, which is still taking place in the province, was not stopped.

The NPA raised its concerns yesterday during the bail application of 475 people arrested last month for undergoing allegedly illegal military training at Mlaba camp, outside Ulundi.

Other paramilitary training was taking place in Eshowe, the NPA said. The issue of paramilitary training is so serious, that a task team comprising senior police officers has been formed and senior advocate Shaun Abrahams has been flown from Pretoria to Mahlabathini near Ulundi to deal with the matter.

Giving argument during the bail application at Mahlabathini Magistrate’s Court, Abrahams warned of mayhem during the elections if training were not dismantled and ringleaders brought to book.

“We have prima-facie evidence that the group was involved in paramilitary training. This is not good because we have elections next year. The situation we have now means we will have people who have the same knowledge that the SA National Defence Force has.

“There will be chaos if the matter is not dealt with,” he said.

The group of 475 people, who come from all parts of the country, calls itself the South African Unintegrated Force (SAUIF) and it mainly comprises former IFP self-protection unit members.The members argue they were left out when the ANC and PAC military wings were integrated into the SANDF after the 1994 elections.

According to letters exhibited in court yesterday, President Thabo Mbeki and Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota’s offices had as early as 2005 indicated to SAUIF members that the time for integration had expired. The group however, persisted with its military training activities demanding integration.

Abrahams said South Africa needed to take harsh action against people involved in illegal training.

Robert Sibiya, the lawyer representing all 475 people, told the court his clients were not involved in military training.

“These people were trained before 1994. They were at the camp waiting for government to integrate them when they were arrested,” he said.

The Mahlabathini Magistrate’s Court granted bail of R300 to 468 SAUIF members, while the other seven were not given bail as they were regarded as flight risks. Their bail application has been postponed to Friday for further investigation and they will remain in custody.

The case was adjourned until October 27.

Very few people managed to raise money for bail and they were taken to different holding cells. Others are expected to pay their bail today.

They are all charged with contravening the Criminal Law Second Amendment Act of 1992, which prohibits the training of people for “the conducting of any military, paramilitary or similar operation”.

All at sea over maritime needs The media is again publishing issues relating to security on our seas, Be proud, president tells SANDF (The Weekender, September 6-7). This seems to be prompted by whether the navy needs patrol ships and why we bought the corvettes, submarines, helicopters and weapon systems if they cannot do the job. The debate is muddled, which leads to delays in addressing urgent needs.

The essence of the muddled thinking is a lack of clarity on the different missions SA needs to fulfil at sea. There are two dimensions; one relating to national security and the other to civil security.

The national security aim is to ensure the security of the state and the sovereignty of our country. It is about war at sea and protecting us against the imperialistic ambitions of other states through our ability to apply armaments. The president made this clear during his address to the navy after his recent review. Security at sea is the sole responsibility of the South African National Defence Force which is the only lawful military force allowed to carry weapons of war. Its primary objective is to protect the republic and its territorial integrity. It functions under the constitution and within the law.

In peacetime maritime forces must prepare for war. This means training and practising to locate and identify an enemy and accurately deliver a weapon before the enemy delivers theirs. Naval commanders have their time cut out ensuring the serviceability of equipment, the training of crews and the integration of their forces to survive in combat.

The civil security dimension is about protecting ordinary people and their possessions from criminals and the dangers of the sea. It is about conserving the environment and protecting our maritime wealth. It is about creating an orderly environment where people can earn a living and enterprises can prosper.

The civil security mission has the further responsibility to meet our obligations to the international community of states. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea affords littoral states rights and privileges in their adjoining seas. SA is a signatory to the convention and a host of other treaties, protocols, conventions and agreements in which we have undertaken to do our part in creating orderliness on the oceans. They are about universal missions like search and rescue, safe navigation, trade in narcotics, countering pollution, poaching, piracy, safe ships, ensuring that there are properly trained seafarers, and so on.

These two dimensions of security at sea are fundamentally different in terms of the assets required. Combat ships and submarines are built to different specifications, fitted with different systems and are orders of magnitude more costly than vessels used for civil tasks.

Regrettably, South Africans get muddled when discussing maritime matters. We would not accept an argument that the army needs battle tanks to counter stock theft on our borders, or even that it is the army's job to do something about the stock theft. For some reason we thought that oversized corvettes armed with over-the-horizon missiles would be appropriate to counter fish poaching.

Cancellation of military satellite deal could result in a huge lawsuit in The Hague, write Stefaans Brummer and Nic Dawes

The secret is out: Defence Minister Dosiuoa Lekota cancelled the purchase of a military spy satellite from Russia, putting relations between the two countries under strain and potentially creating a R1-billion liability for South Africa.

Protracted shuttle diplomacy has failed to resolve the dispute, which Russia is said to be taking to the international arbitration court in The Hague.

In retaliation the Russian military has also delayed launching a separate homegrown satellite that is the flagship of South Africa's incipient civilian space programme.

The top-secret and costly attempt to enable the SANDF [South African National Defence Force] to snoop from space was driven by defence intelligence chief More "Dojo" Dotau.

It is unclear why Lekota cancelled the contract. NPO Mashinostroyenia, the Russian state company from which Motau ordered the spy satellite, referred all queries to Lekota's ministry.

Lekota would not answer Mail & Guardian questions, including whether Motau had the authority to contract in the first place - and if not, whether disciplinary action had been taken. His spokesperson said he did not want to prejudice "ongoing negotiations" with the Russians.

Space adventures

The civilian and military attempts to launch satellites represent the apex of South Africa's drive to get back into space after the apartheid-era military space programme was aborted following Western pressure.

The apartheid government built three intermediate-range ballistic missiles in the 1980s related to its nuclear weapons programme. Two were test-fired and the third converted with the intention, eventually abandoned, to launch a locally manufactured spy satellite.

Spy satellites, also called reconnaissance satellites, typically produce high-resolution photographs and other remote sensing data to. Snoop on enemy military installations, hardware and personnel.

South Africa's first post-1994 satellite, the tiny civilian SunSat, was built by Stellenbosch University and launched by America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1999.

The Cabinet accelerated South Africa's return to space when it approved the establishment of the South African Space Agency under the science and technology department in 2006. In the same year the department acquired SumbandilaSat, a civilian earth observation and research satellite, from a company spun off from Stellenbosch University. It was to be launched by Russia's civilian space agency, Roskosmos.

SumbandilaSat's launch is now expected in December after two years of delays as the dispute over the military spy satellite unfolded quietly.

Space capability

The first hint that South Africa had a parallel military space programme came in January this year when Roskosmos head Anatoly Perminov was quoted in Russia explaining yet another delay in SumbandilaSat's launch. He said: "Unfortunately, the Russian defence ministry refused to launch [SumbandilaSat], as the South African defence ministry in its turn refused to use our satellite."

Roskosmos was to have launched SumbandilaSat from a Russian navy submarine, hence the Russian defence ministries say in the matter. Perminov did not elaborate on the South African defence ministry's refusal to use a Russian satellite.

In retrospect the signs that the SANDF wanted its own space capability had been there for some time. The intelligence chapter of the defence department's 2003/04 annual report - Dotau's domain - warned that "worldwide developments in information technology, sufficient bandwidth, the availability of collection databases and space technologies" might require expenditure "beyond defence intelligence's current budget allocation". The 2004/05 annual report was more specific: "The collection capability of defence intelligence is being expanded c ontinuously and needs further improvement at huge cost to stay abreast of new technological developments ... [The] inflexibility of commercial satellites and bad weather limits the use of satellite reconnaissance over equatorial regions."

The SANDFs expanding peacekeeping commitments in the Great Lakes region would also have been a strong motive for a better satellite-snooping capability than could be rented commercially. Enter the Russians.

A source in contact with role play-en, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the satellite built by NPO Mashinostroyenia was not only capable of high resolution photography - about six times as detailed as the civilian SumbandilaSat - but it also had the ability to "see through" clouds. Dotau travelled to the Russian Federation to buy the satellite. The price tag, as hinted by the annual report, was astronomical. Including ground facilities and launch costs, the satellite could cost between $150-million and $300-million (between R2, 2-billion and R2,4-billion [Rand]). The expenditure is recurrent, as satellites have a lifespan of only a few years.

The defence intelligence annual budget in 2004/5 was comparatively miniscule, at R140-million.

South African-Russian relations picked up early this decade after government changed its original focus on West European trade partnerships, not least in the controversial 1999 arms deal.

Regular sessions of the Inter-Governmental Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation (Itec) between South Africa and Russia became the primary vehicle for promoting economic and political relations.

The relationship reached a high point when Russia's then president, Vladimir Putin, visited South Africa in September 2006. Among the bilateral agreements signed was one on cooperation in space matters, signed by Roskosmos head Perminov and South African Science and Technology Minister Mosibudi Mangena.

Intellectual property

The next defence department annual report hinted the cooperation might not just be civilian. It noted that on the same day the two countries agreed to cooperate on space missions, they also signed an agreement to protect intellectual property rights "in the course of bilateral defence industry cooperation". In other words, South Africa and Russia would not steal each other's technology.

At the time Perminov was quoted saying Russia would launch a South African space vehicle - SumbandilaSat - by late 2006. But that deadline passed, as did later launch dates in July and December last year.

It is not known when Lekota decided to abandon Motau's purchase of the spy satellite, but it appears to have been in late 2006 or early last year.

The defence department's 2006/07 annual report said defence intelligence's attempts to "improve strategic collection abilities" through "cutting-edge early warning intelligence" had been only partly achieved, as "some of the acquisitions processes have been put on hold".

Russia's repeated failure to launch SumbandilaSat and Perminov's revelation about a second covert satellite at the beginning of the year led to a round of urgent shuttle diplomacy.

In February Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma visited Moscow for an "intercessional" - in other words, unscheduled - meeting of the Itec bilateral structure. A foreign affairs communique said diplomatically: "The two sides considered enhanced South Africa-Russia cooperation in the sphere of space research ..."

A department of science and technology statement that same day was less upbeat, saying SumbandilaSat's launch had been "postponed indefinitely" and the department was looking for another launch partner.

Unexpected visit

In March Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov paid a reciprocal and equally unexpected visit to South Africa. Relations were strained, with foreign affairs saying: "The status of bilateral political, economic and trade relations between the two countries" was on the agenda.

Re cent confirmation that Roskosmos has agreed to launch SumbandilaSat as early as December suggests diplomatic efforts have paid off on the civilian side. But a source in contact with role players involved in the dispute over the military spy satellite said the Russians are heading for The Hague, where the international Permanent Court of Arbitration sits.

South Africa's liability, if the case goes ahead, may equal the contract price - more than R1-billion.

This week Alexander Kuritsyn, press attache at the Russian embassy in Tshwane, denied knowledge of the dispute going to The Hague. He would not comment on the spy satellite, saying it was a "complex matter". Contradicting Roskosmos's Perminov, he insisted the spy satellite and the delayed launch of SumbandilaSat were "not connected".

Appuyée par des partenariats internationaux dans le cadre du programme de modernisation de la force aérienne, l'industrie locale remonte la pente.

L'édition 2008 du salon Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD), le plus grand de son genre en Afrique, ouvrira ses portes le 17 septembre pour cinq jours d'exposition sur la base aérienne d'Ysterplaat, à proximité de la ville du Cap. Objectif affiché : faire encore mieux que l'édition 2006, qui avait réuni plus de 400 exposants et 17.000 visiteurs au cours des trois journées réservées aux professionnels. L'événement, qui a toujours fait la part belle à l'industrie de défense, devrait néanmoins voir une participation accrue de l'aéronautique civile. Cette année encore, les grands groupes aéronautiques mondiaux côtoieront les industriels locaux, bien décidés à remonter la pente après l'effondrement économique de leur secteur qui a suivi le changement de régime.

Dynamisme. Côté militaire, le dynamisme industriel sud-africain est dopé en premier lieu par l'important effort de modernisation que poursuit la force aérienne du pays (SAAF). Entamé en 1999, celui-ci impliquait notamment la commande de 26 chasseurs Saab Gripen et de 24 avions d'entraînement avancé BAE Hawk pour rénover une aviation de combat vieillissante. Une politique d'achat placée sous le signe de la coopération puisque de fortes compensations industrielles étaient attendues de la part des deux industriels européens. En 2007, ceux-ci avaient déjà réinjecté 4,8 Md$ dans l'industrie nationale, respectant ainsi un objectif fixé à mi-parcours et devant aboutir au transfert total de 8,7 Md$ à l'horizon 2012.

Bemoaning the scant strategic attention paid to the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) by the tripartite alliance since 1994, the SACP said even the Polokwane conference confined itself to the welfare of military veterans.

Yet indications were that the technical and skills situation in much of the SANDF was getting worse while morale was low, said the SACP in a position paper prepared ahead of the ruling alliance's economic summit next month.

However, the party believes developments in the military were part of a bigger trend in which many African National Congress (ANC) "deployees" sought to advance their personal interests, "for the purposes of primary accumulation", to the detriment of the much larger objective.

Apart from contributing to the "hollowing out" of the state, this accentuated the "dangerous" proliferation of armed private companies.

Such privatisation of the state was worse in the police, however. The SACP believed transformation of the criminal justice system must be led from the ground up -- through the establishment of street committees, among other measures.

It said reports pointed to a situation where much of the remaining black senior command in the military was content with "a ceremonial role and endless overseas conferences". This left the mass of black junior officers feeling marginalised and abandoned.

"No less than any other sector, the defence sector must come under political strategic evaluation, co-ordination and control," said the SACP.

The party argued that the alliance had allowed the arms deal controversy "to become the centre piece while abandoning serious strategic and technical military analysis to think-tanks dominated by former apartheid-era military intelligence operatives and officers".

Relevant although this may be, it needed "ideological filtering at the very least".

The SACP wants the Cabinet to be restructured, provinces to be reviewed, security agencies to be overhauled and a strong but friendly president after next year’s elections.

Releasing the SACP’s discussion papers ahead of its policy conference, party general secretary Blade Nzimande said there was a need for the Cabinet to be reconfigured for proper co-ordination and plan-ning.

This would eliminate the current structure, in which “there is a queue to the Treasury” – and the Finance Ministry thus became a “super-ministry”.

The SACP proposes a council of state – comprising a few super-ministers – who will be accountable to the president but will be responsible for a cluster of junior ministries.

“The attempt to introduce some degree of integrative coherence into the state via the (existing) clusters has also generally not been successful,” said Nzimande.

“The clustering system brings together several line department ministers, but there is no hierarchy among ministers and, in many of the clusters, there are prolonged and sterile deadlocks.”

He suggested a single rural development department, the separation of Minerals and Energy into two departments, doing away with the Department of Public Enterprises and the creation of a department of higher education.

At the same time, ANC Youth League president Julius Malema lambasted those planning the structure of government ahead of elections.

“These people want to be appointed as ministers of education, sports and culture. They are acting as experts in various departments, positioning themselves,” Malema said at the Youth League’s anniversary celebration.

“If these people were harbouring such interests to be premiers and ministers, they should not be bitter towards the ANC or the president (Jacob Zuma) if they are not appointed.

“We are warning them that we have realised that there are those who think that because they were elected into the NEC they would automatically be appointed to certain positions. The movement will not succumb to their opportunism.”

The SACP policy statement also highlights “dysfunctionalities between the three spheres of government”.

“Provinces, in particular, are often responsible for problematic major mega-projects and the hollowing out of local government has often reduced municipalities into tendering agencies with all the attendant dangers of corruption,” Nzimande said.

“At the provincial and local level, the state is increasingly less and less an implementer and more and more a tender processor.”

He said the review of provinces should be done because “with new incumbents in place it will become difficult once more to carry through an objective evaluation”.

The SACP policy conference will debate whether South Africa needs “provincial governments and legislatures as opposed to provincial administrations under their respective national departments”.

The party – which criticised President Thabo Mbeki for centralising power – now wants a strong presidency that “is not aloof”.

The SACP criticised the state of the SA National Defence Force, and said that business interests had compromised the current black leadership.

“Many of these “deployees” have left the SANDF and set themselves up in a variety of defence-related companies and consultancies, with their “deployment” having served the personal purpose of primary accumulation.

According to reports, much of the remaining black senior command level in the SANDF is content with a ceremonial role and endless overseas conferences, playing little active role in the management and strategic direction of the SANDF.

“Effective operational command is said to be largely in the hands of a second layer senior command dominated by white officers from the previous era, while the mass of black junior officers and NCOs feel marginalised, abandoned by their erstwhile MK seniors and disgruntled,” the SACP said.

An off-duty member of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was shot dead in a pool club in Mthatha, Eastern Cape police said on Thursday.

Superintendent Mzukisi Fatyela said the 37-year-old man was out of uniform and busy playing pool with two other men at 8.30pm on Wednesday night in Madeira Street when two men came in and shot at them.

The SANDF member was shot and killed and the two men with him injured.

"The motive was to kill them not to rob them because there was nothing taken from them," said Fatyela.

Police recovered six cartridges and parts of two bullets from a 9mm pistol on the scene.

No arrests have been made yet.

South Africa's defence sector must come under political strategic evaluation, coordination and control, according to the South African Communist Party's (SACP) policy conference discussion document released on Wednesday.

"Many reports suggest the technical and skills situation in much of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is unravelling, that morale is low, and that the R50 billion first phase of arms procurement has resulted in the purchase of equipment that is often irrelevant to current challenges and deployments, or that we are unable to maintain operationally.

"The Chinese arms shipment destined for Zimbabwe exposed gaps between our military and our political policies and relevant state apparatuses, and, according to at least some reports, our country did not even have the capacity to continuously monitor the location of the Chinese vessel as it sailed around our coast (this may, or may not, be true)," the document said.

Many senior African National Congress (ANC)/Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) deployees into the SANDF appeared to have willingly allowed themselves to be "compradorised" by the international arms companies working with and through former South African Defence Force senior commanders.

Many of these "deployees" had left the SANDF and set themselves up in a variety of defence-related companies and consultancies, with their "deployment" having served the personal purpose of primary accumulation.

"According to reports, much of the remaining black senior command level in the SANDF is content with a ceremonial role and endless overseas conferences, playing little active role in the management and strategic direction of the SANDF.

"Effective operational command is said to be largely in the hands of a second layer senior command dominated by white officers from the previous era, while the mass of black junior officers and [non-commissioned officers] feel marginalised, abandoned by their erstwhile MK seniors, and disgruntled," according to the document.

"While the SANDF situation might not be as dire as some reports suggest, it would be hard to deny that as the SACP and as the wider ANC-led alliance we have been relatively careless about the armed forces situation in our country.

"If we are serious about advancing, deepening and defending the [National Democratic Revolution(NDR)], and if, as the SACP, we are serious about our [medium term vision], then we can no longer afford this carelessness.

"Together with our allies we must ensure a serious strategic evaluation of our defence capabilities and needs, and we need to assess the state of health of the SANDF and its various components.

"In other words, no less than any other sector, the defence sector must come under political strategic evaluation, coordination and control.

"Like any other sector, defence no doubt has its own technical and professional requirements, and here are also national security considerations requiring confidentiality, but none of this can be an excuse to evade serious political (and indeed public) scrutiny and debate."

The role of the SANDF in regard to a wide range of national priorities needed to be much more carefully thought-through, analysed and integrated with other initiatives, such as job creation and skills development, the NDR in Africa, the protection of economic assets including marine resources, and safe-guarding medium- and longer-term national energy security, the document said.

The last Presidential Fleet Review was conducted in 1997 during President Nelson Mandela's term, at that time, it coincided with the Navy's 75th birthday.

Ten years later, after the first Presidential Fleet Review, much has been achieved by the South African Navy acquiring more state-of-the art frigates, submarines and helicopters among other things.

In celebration of the country's achievement of acquiring the new fleet, there was 21 gun salute and parade by members of the Navy.

In this way, the Navy was saying to the Commander-in-Chief, "here's what we have acquired to protect the people of South Africa and marine."

According to Defence Minister Mosioua Lekota, the fleet review was another way of saying "we are ready for further instructions for deployment of these ships and submarines for the purpose of which they were purchased."

"We now enter an era which places upon us significantly different challenges and requires us to operate within a new dimension of maritime warfare, the considerable sea keeping ability.

"Long range and endurance of our recently acquired vessels means that the South African Navy is thus able with other Navies of the region to provide maritime defence, both in our waters and abroad," he said.

This year's event was a culmination of more than a decade of work by members of the SA Navy to ensure that the vessels were operational and that the personnel are competent and professional to crew them.

During the Fleet Review, on board the SAS Drakensberg, Rear Admiral Robert Higgs, Flag Officer Fleet, Commander of the Fleet, told BuaNews that there was a need for the Navy to acquire more frigates and submarines to ensure the country's safety.

"Now we are safe, the new frigates and submarines allow us to protect the country.

"We can protect the country's marine and the nation," he said, adding that South Africa needs to assure its people that it can operate in the sea.

Rear Admiral Higgs said what the Navy looks like today, is what the people of South Africa have said it would be.

"The people of South Africa wanted a Peoples Navy, and that is what we are," he said.

With regard to recruitment of more personnel in the Navy, he said the process is still continuing to recruit more personnel in the Navy through the Military Skills Delivery.

With regard to personnel, he said the Navy has highly qualified personnel to operate the highly sophisticated war machines with ease.

In a colorful display, helicopters flew past the frigates and submarines demonstrating their capabilities.

Looking at the fleet, the Commander-in-Chief, President Mbeki nodded and said, "come whatever may come, my country and my people are safe and protected."

The Commander-in-Chief was afforded an opportunity to board one of the war ships, the SAS Protea.

Over the years, the Department of Defence had been engaged in a process of acquiring new frigates, submarines and state-of-the art helicopters.

The acquisition of the helicopters, including submarines and corvettes, is part of the Strategic Arms Procurement Package approved by Cabinet in 2001.

One of the Navy's combat vessels, SAS Drakensberg manufactured locally, in Durban, was used to bring Cape Town's nuclear reactor Koeberg a spare rotor from France in 2006.

The acquisition of the war machines is in line with the department's 2020 vision of peacekeeping capabilities in the region and the continent.

With the acquisition of the fleet, South Africa was now countered among the heavy weights in the defence world.

According to the Navy, among other things, the submarines will be used for training purposes, peace support operations, maritime escorts, diplomatic missions, operational exercises with other African and overseas navies and to undertake any other duty that she may be assigned to perform.

In terms of the arms deal, the SANDF was meant to acquire four corvettes, three submarines, 30 utility helicopters, 24 Hawk lead-in fighter trainers and 28 Gripen advanced fighter aircraft.

With regard to the helicopters, they were tested in South Africa to see if they were adaptable to all weather conditions.

According to the Department of Defence, the helicopters would be used for search and rescue operations and sometimes in operations conducted by the police.

DURBAN’S naval base was sacrificed, in part, to finance the South African Navy’s new fleet.

The fleet, including new acquisitions and stalwarts, was shown at the naval base in Simons Town as part of the Presidential Fleet Review on Friday to introduce the fleet to Commander in Chief of the SANDF, President Thabo Mbeki.

Fourteen ships, including the new frigates and two submarines, were on display in a pomp-filled ceremony where a relaxed Mbeki even tried his hand at taking pictures of Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota on board the SAS Protea.

While the new vessels are impressive and, according to senior defence force members, much needed, they came at the price of sacrificing Durban’s Naval Base, officers admitted yesterday.

The Durban base was demoted to a naval station in 1994 and currently has a staff complement of about 200. In its heyday the unit boasted 2 000 members.

However, defence cuts necessitated the scaling down of the base.

Flag Officer: Fleet Admiral Rusty Higgs said while it was unfortunate that the base had to be closed, the SA Navy was in top shape.

However, to ensure a strong defence force the government should increase its expenditure from the current 1.2% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to the internationally recognised benchmark of 2%.

Despite the controversy surrounding the arms deal, Higgs said more money had to be ploughed into the defence force to ensure that it retained its skilled and qualified members.

Skills

The navy has about 6 000 members, which Higgs said was enough “for now”, but it was losing skills to the private sector.

“We spent years honing skills only for them to be snapped up by the private sector,” Higgs said.

According to Higgs, a strong defence force was essential for international confidence in a country.

He said the demand for the navy’s skilled officers was also testimony to the high level of training.

“But it is a catch 22 situation and we cannot afford to lose these men and women,” he said.

The navy proved that they could compete with the best in the world when they “sank” an entire visiting Nato force during an exercise earlier this year.

Higgs was on board the SAS Drakensberg, along with other high ranking officers, the media and several German businessmen during the fleet review.

“Ninety-nine countries are now aware that the SA Navy can go toe-to-toe with the developed world,” Higgs said.

The SAS Drakensberg, a fleet replenishment ship, was built by Sandock Austral shipyard in Durban more than 20 years ago and since its commission in 1987 this “old lady” of the fleet is the most travelled ship in the SA Navy’s service.

Addressing a presidential parade after the inspection, Mbeki said the new frigates and submarines were obtained honestly.

Negotiations

“Please rest assured that whatever mischievous story or rumours our people and others abroad may choose to propagate, the modern and sophisticated equipment you now control and operate was obtained honestly, based on decisions by our national government and informed only by the defence review and the imperative to build a national defence force that would discharge the responsibility prescribed by our constitution,” he said.

Mbeki said the South African Navy had the capacity to accomplish its maritime objectives.

Lekota also confirmed that negotiations were under way to buy a new ship capable of transporting troops, supplies and heavy equipment.

Be proud, president tells SANDF Mbeki says arms deal was clean, and military staff should not listen to 'mischievous stories and rumours', writes PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki on Friday told members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to use their new military equipment with pride because the multibillion-rand arms deal through which it was bought was concluded without any corruption.

He urged the members of the navy and the air force to have no fear or doubt when using their frigates, submarines and fighter jets because the cabinet committee that oversaw the procurement process had not engaged in any acts of corruption.

As your commander-in-chief and president of the republic, I want to assure you that the new ships you sail and the aircraft you fly, given to you by our democratic order, were obtained without resort to corrupt means, informed only by the outcome of the widely consultative defence review which decided the needs of our national defence force, including the South African navy. Please rest assured that whatever mischievous story or rumour any among our people and others abroad may choose to propagate, the modern and sophisticated equipment you now control and operate was obtained honestly, based on decisions of our national government, and informed only by the defence review and the imperative to build a national defence force that would discharge the responsibilities prescribed by our constitution," Mbeki said.

He was reviewing the navy in an elaborate process intended to introduce the new navy fleet to him as the commander-in-chief and the people of SA. The review was last performed for former president Nelson Mandela in 1997 when the South African Navy celebrated its 75th birthday.

Mbeki said the primary objective of the defence force was to defend and protect the republic, its territorial integrity and its people in accordance with the constitution and the principles of international law regulating the use of force.

He urged the SANDF to remain absolutely loyal" to the imperative of defending the law and the constitution, saying soldiers should endeavour to serve as the professional force required by our constitution from the commander-in-chief, through the ministers and the officers commanding, down to the officers and privates in the army, the air force, the navy, defence intelligence, the medical services and joint operations". He said they must act in a manner that would not constitute a betrayal" of the sacrifices made by people who gave birth to the constitution and the laws that define our democracy. The defence force is the only lawful military force in the republic to carry weapons of war." Mbeki said he was proud that the country had a navy with the capacity to accomplish the full range of maritime strategic objectives and missions that were consistent with the domestic and international tasks. He said the characteristics of the platforms at its disposal, such as size, seagoing ability, extended range and endurance meant that all the areas of the South African exclusive economic zone were placed within its patrol range. Its regional reach extends to the maritime regions of the Southern African Development Community as a whole, and beyond. Maritime and naval power has become increasingly important, both in the region and on the continent," he said. Mbeki said factors influencing this included the region and the world's dependence on seaborne trade, the importance of our offshore energy resources, and the fact that much of the world's trade and cargo moves along our coast".

He said some African countries relied on SA to assist them in dealing with the escalation in the common threats of piracy and poaching of marine resources.

He said the presence of the SANDF has been appreciated in countries such as Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Comoros and Sudan.

It had supported peace processes aimed at permanent stability, national unity, reconciliation, democracy and development in these countries. As your commander-in-chief and president of the republic, I want to assure you that the new ships you sail and the aircraft you fly were obtained without resort to corrupt means STATE OF THE ART: The president says SA's hi-tech military equipment can be used 'without fear or doubt'.

President Thabo Mbeki, Commander-in-Chief of the SANDF, chose the occasion of a naval fleet review off Simon’s Town yesterday to ringingly endorse the honesty of the arms deal procurement.

As nearly 2 000 sailors paraded the country’s naval might before him, Mbeki told them of his own service in the Luthuli Detachment of uMkonto weSizwe, and said he and his comrades had been “inspired by the objective that nothing we do should dishonour the cause of the people’s struggle and the dignity of the masses of our people”.

He went on: “I say this because as your commander-in-chief and president of the republic, I want to assure you that the new ships you sail and the aircraft you fly, given to you by our democratic order, were obtained without resort to corrupt means, informed only by the outcome of the widely consultative defence review which decided the needs of our national defence force, including the SA navy.

“Members of the SA navy, and members of the national defence force, please rest assured that whatever mischievous story or rumour among our people and others abroad may choose to propagate, the modern and sophisticated equipment you now control and operate was obtained honestly, based on decisions of our national government and informed only by the defence review and the imperative to build a national defence force that would discharge the responsibilities prescribed by our Constitution.”

The navy had been transformed from a poorly equipped force of largely ageing and obsolete vessels to a first class fleet, endowed with cutting-edge technology and staffed by world-class officers and highly trained and competent young men and women. He said the fleet would be used to ensure stability on the continent through support of peace operations and to protect South Africa’s sovereignty.

The last naval presidential review was conducted in 1997 for Nelson Mandela at the navy’s 75th anniversary.

Conducting the presidential review from onboard the naval hydrographic survey vessel the SAS Protea, Mbeki welcomed the navy’s four Meko Class frigates, SAS Amatola, SAS Mendi, SAS Spioenkop, SAS Isandlwana, and Type 209 submarines, SAS Charlotte Maxeke (S102) and SAS Queen Modjadji I (S103) on behalf of the country.

The third submarine, the SAS Manthatisi (S101), is undergoing maintenance work.

The 14-vessel review, conducted in False Bay, included the combat support ship SAS Drakensberg, the two offshore patrol vessels SAS Isaac Dyobha and SAS Galeshewe, the mine hunters SAS Umzimkulu and SAS Umkomaas, and the inshore patrol vessels SAS Tobie and SAS Tern.

The navy is a force to be reckoned with, with the S101 “sinking” an entire Nato force during an exercise in the Atlantic earlier this year, while the S102 has recently returned from Marion Island where she was on patrol in South Africa’s exclusive economic zone.

As the ships on review passed the president, a 21-gun salute was fired.

Mbeki also spoke of the dangers of ill-discipline in a military force, and said anyone who did not uphold the law and the Constitution was free to leave the SANDF.

Brigadier Andrew Mantell of the British High Commission praised the review, saying the navy’s capabilities were vital to ensure South Africa’s economic sovereignty. Incidents of piracy around the horn of Africa were examples of what could happen to countries that lacked the capabilities that South Africa now had.

The low level of participation of women in African militaries was in the limelight in August, which is celebrated in several parts of the continent as the month of heroines of the anti-colonial struggle.

As of February 2008, only five per cent of soldiers in the world were female. The figure is not any better for Africa, which behoves governments to increase the ratio of women in their disciplined forces and introduce gender-sensitive policies to empower female soldiers already in service.

Over the past 50 years, the role of women in the African military has changed considerably, with a number of females joining the military service. Despite this, women soldiers have been restricted to prescribed gender roles as nurses, cooks, secretaries and officers in personnel units.

In keeping with these gendered perceptions, studies in the military in Africa has constantly depicted women as victims and men as perpetrators of violence or protectors of women. Yet, women have been part and parcel of warrior class in Africa.

The classic case is Dahomey (now Benin), where female warriors known as the Amazons formed part of the national defence. At one point, it is reported, the country had a 30,000-strong unit of infantry women.

Commenting on female warriors in Libya, the renowned Greek historian, Herodotus, wrote of men "whose wives drive their chariots to battle." The women warriors of the famous Monomotapa kingdom in modern Zimbabwe were hailed as "quick and swift, lively and courageous."

And, in certain cases, pre-colonial African women warriors passed on the baton of bravery to liberation veterans. Writing on women liberation veterans who defied patriarchal restrictions, the famous theoretician, Frantz Fanon, documented the role of Algerian women in the national war of independence, even highlighting the revolutionary role of prostitutes as fighters.

In the Horn of Africa, the Eritrean People's Liberation Army (EPLA) is said to have comprised of about 40 per cent women fighters.

Kenya's Mau Mau liberation army recruited literate women into the forest fighting force as generals, fighters and strategists. One of them, Field Marshal Muthoni, is still alive.

Zimbabwe's vice president, Joice Mujuru, who went by the nom de guerre Teurai Ropa (spill blood) is hailed as ferocious warrior who brought down a colonial military helicopter with an AK-47 assault rifle. And General Thandi Modise is just but one of the heroines of South Africa's Unkhonto we Sizwe (the Spear of the Nation), who were subjected to the same training as their male counterparts, and were involved in combat in line with the African National Congress (ANC's) policy of non-sexism.

But now, the colonial perception of the military as a purely male institution and the post-colonial litany of coups, civil wars and instability have contributed to meagre presence of women in the African military.

Even now things have not changed greatly.

To stem the persistent civil wars, coups and conflicts in the continent, the African Union (AU) has adopted the Common Africa Defence and Security Policy (CADSP) and set up the African Stand-by Force (ASF), made up of five regional brigades. But women remain on the fringes of this regional military structure.

Despite this, African countries have made some progress in ensuring gender balance in the military. Post-apartheid South Africa is leading the pack, with women comprising 22 per cent of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) -- higher than the regional average of about 10.5 per cent.

But progress in ensuring gender equity in the forces has been slow. After 40 years of independence, the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) has just recruited its first women soldiers to private and officer ranks.

Regional armies

"It took 20 years of lobbying," says Ntombi Setshwaelo, the spokeswoman for Emang Basadi, a Botswana women's rights organisation.

How to fast-track women involvement in national and regional militaries was the subject of a recent meeting of top women military chiefs from the 14 Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, in Pretoria.

Women soldiers participating in the meeting underscored the gate-keeping role of human resource units in promoting the participation of women in national and regional armies.

Other African countries are also making tiny advances, including taking part in, or, hosting women soldiers involved in international peacekeeping. Liberia now hosts the second Indian all-female peacekeeping force, the first having been deployed in 2007.

On its part, Malawi has deployed over 20 women to UN Peace Support Operations since 1994.

Beyond SADC, Libya has drafted women into its army, with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's bodyguard being a 200-strong female-only unit.

Figures on the ratio of women to men in African armies are hard to come by, but whatever glimpse there is indicates that some hard spade work is needed to reach gender equity. For example, Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, Eritrea, Angola and Algeria-- the largest armies on the continent -- have over 1.5 million active duty uniformed troops but it is not clear how many of these are women.

Accurate figures of women's participation in national and regional military structures are critical to those working to ensure gender equity in this employment sector. Strong leadership and political will is needed at AU level to set specific quotas on equitable gender representation in national forces and the African standby force.

The inclusion of women in regional peacekeeping in particular brings in unique benefits. In hot spots experiencing sexual crimes against women such as the "food-for-sex" scandal involving the United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic of Congo and Liberia, increased participation by women peacekeepers can provide a sense of security where male troops have failed.

At the international level, the tide is shifting in favour of more commitment to increased and improved participation of women in the military sector following the adoption of the United Nations Resolution 1325.

Peace keeping operations

Despite this, although the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations has been in existence for 60 years (1948-2008), only seven women have ever held the top post of Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG). Further, according to a 2008 gender audit of women in peace keeping operations, only 1.9 per cent of military personnel are women.

As of October 2006, only seven out of 16 peacekeeping operations in countries such as Haiti and Sudan had a full-time gender adviser. The rest of the missions had gender focal points people dealing with gender issues.

This skewed representation of women in UN peacekeeping mirrors the gender imbalance within the UN bureaucracy. The only one female head of mission and four women deputies in the UN system were based in Africa (Burundi, Chad, Liberia, and Sudan).

Some major players in the international system are facing pressure to increase the number of female combatants in their forces, albeit with deep resistance.

China, as the world's largest army with over 1.2 million troops does not have many women on the frontlines. India, the second largest, has a small contingent of 2.65 per cent while Britain and the US have approximately 15 per cent and 14 per cent women within their forces, respectively.

Women's struggle for equal representation in the armed forces, however, is facing resistance from male counterparts. In the armed forces women are excluded on the basis of biological and physical reasons.

In the SADC, some countries do not have operational equipment that is suitable for women. Items as basic as bullet proof vests are not designed for large-breasted women and, in addition, some fighter jet seats do not accommodate large-hipped women.

Adjustments in budget, technology as well as clearly defined career paths and equal salaries are necessary to put women soldiers at the same level as their male colleagues.

With new emphasis on strategy and electronic technology, the frontline has receded significantly with less dependency on physical force and presence in the battlefields. Women military personnel do not, therefore, have to take place into combat. Those with the appropriate strategic knowledge and technical competence can still be part and parcel of this new system of warfare.

But with Africa's continued heavy reliance on the physical form of defense and low technology, women are likely to remain in the military office blocks typing out letters.

Violence against women

The 30 per cent target for women's involvement at all levels of decision making within Africa, set by the Prevention and Eradication of Violence against Women and Children, should be extended to armed forces and peacekeeping operations.

Notably, following the adoption of the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality (2003) and the implementation of the parity principle within all AU structures, this proportion has been revised upwards to 50:50.

But Africa has to walk the talk implementing the spirit of these documents. Bridging rhetoric and reality is central to improving the position of women in the national, regional and international armies.

Anesu Makina is a Policy Analyst in Pretoria and Nairobi while Dr Monica Juma a senior associate with the Africa Policy Institute and currently the executive research director at the Africa Institute of South Africa.

The government says the defence industry will not close shop just because the state-owned arms manufacturer, Denel, lost Turkey's $2bn attack helicopter contract last year.

In fact, the government is consolidating and refocusing the entire industry in order to keep skilled personnel in SA [South Africa].

In an interview last week with Business Day on government plans to rejuvenate and consolidate the industry, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said SA could not afford the luxury of abandoning the wealth of experience and defence industry knowledge accumulated over many years.

He says the apartheid government built a "pretty significant" capacity in the defence industry because SA had been isolated and had to strive to be self-sufficient. The challenge that faced the democratic government of the new SA was what to do with all that capacity and expertise.

"Leaving aside strong pessimists and some people not wanting to do anything with the military, the government decided not to forgo this capacity.

"Attempts to build from scratch would have been very difficult, and probably that would have absorbed far too much state resources for the industry to be feasible."

Erwin says letting such a developed industry die would have significantly reduced SA's manufacturing capacity, negatively affecting exports and SA's ability to service foreign debts.

"If we buy everything, the impact on our balance of payment would be massive and that will restrict our ability to buy consumer goods.

"The fact that we will not have a defence capacity would also make us more vulnerable. The emphasis on manufacturing and innovation therefore will increase the opportunity to have some strategic sovereignty when it comes to defence," he says.

Erwin says the bulk of SA's budget is directed towards education, social development and health.

"Most people comment on how low our budget is directed towards supporting innovation and growing the economy. One could easily make a counter-argument that the state is underinvesting on economic growth."

After years of global neglect, economists worldwide are advising African states to seek a greater balance between economic and strategic interests when engaging with the strongest economies, including the rising dragon of China. They say that African countries should seek to promote technology transfer and management training through joint ventures and bilateral trade agreements.

Economist Chris Alden has argued that African governments could learn from the Latin American experience with China, in which countries such as Brazil and Chile were able to strike trade agreements giving preferential access to key sectors or products.

"To achieve these goals, effective diplomacy will be crucial to ensure the balance of economic and strategic interests," he says.

SA has already been following this route. That is why in the country's arms procurement programme, the government particularly included defence industrial participation criteria. Many South African companies have played a role in manufacturing some elements of ordered Airbuses, and in producing parts used in the navy's frigates and submarines, among other things.

Erwin says the government's strategy has done well for the country's defence industry in general, and particularly exposed Denel's manufacturing capability for components of military and civilian equipment.

However, the European and Asian defence markets have refused to open up for SA. Though Denel's market share has been slowly increasing, it still has not signed significant international contracts that would bring a real return for the investments it has made in development and research costs.

This is despite Denel having developed a number of notable products, such as: the Umkhonto vertically launched aerial defence missile; the Mokopa tandem warhead anti-tank missile, with a range of 10km; and the G-6 self-propelled howitzer and G-5 towed howitzer, which are the longest-range guns in their class and supported with advanced technology.

Denel has also created the fifth-generation A-Darter air-to-air missile, which is in the final phases of development.

The equipment at the Overberg test range is also used for advanced aerial testing by the US's National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company and BAE Systems, to name a few.

Denel's Rooivalk is rated as a world-class helicopter on par with the best available anywhere, but the lack of interest from developed states in buying weapons outside their regional bloc has made it impossible for SA to invest in such huge projects.

Erwin says SA has realised that the 26 member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization buy most of their military equipment from among their own economies. The other big military powers, including Russia, China and India, have also set up their own industries and hardly ever buy from outside.

"We have came to the conclusion that Denel and the South African defence industry cannot compete as a systems supplier - such as selling a complete Rooivalk with all the backup control systems - against these countries with big arms manufacturing establishments," Erwin says. This has left SA with a limited market, which means that we can export our products only to small countries with very limited budgets, small economies and without much military capacity.

Such buyers cannot afford bulk buying of heavy weaponry systems with long-term contracts.

However, to keep SA as a significant role player in the industry, the government has decided to encourage Denel to position itself as a specialised contractor or sub-supplier to other international defence contractors.

This mean that Denel has been given a mandate to seek broader cooperation in heavy weapons manufacturing fields with various countries - a move that would retain existing specialised skills and institutional knowledge.

The strategy also ensures that Denel retains the capacity to be a key supplier to the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), both as original equipment manufacturer and for the overhaul, maintenance, repair and upgrade of equipment in the SANDF's arsenal.

The reports on the SA Navy by Karyn Maughan in the Pretoria News of August 28 and 29 cannot be left unchallenged.

It must be categorically stated the SA Navy is neither scuppered nor sinking. That it faces a wide variety of challenges is true.

This is not unlike most, if not all, navies in the world. There are few navies that are not burdened by a lack of resources or a shortage of skilled personnel. Few navies are able to execute their full mandate as contained in the applicable legal framework.

In fact, the challenges that the SA Navy is facing today differ very little from those it faced over the last decade. It has always been a case of having to do more with less.

The navy, as part of the SANDF, is executing its mandate in accordance with the national strategic priorities of the government. The latter funds the SA Navy, through the defence budget, in accordance with those priorities. It is doubtful that there is a single national department that is fully resourced in accordance with its legal mandate.

The level of execution by the navy is, in turn, prioritised in accordance with the higher level military strategic priorities and guidelines.

There will be “gaps” in the execution due to insufficient resources. However, to say that the SA Navy is incapable of patrolling, tracking or fulfilling collateral roles is simply not true. It is the task of the military strategic planners to manage the “gaps” within the greater strategic environment.

There is little doubt that the staff paper by Captain Gillespie is academic. It was probably researched and written in terms of specific guidelines, most probably to compare the full legal mandate of the SA Navy with the level of execution that is possible under current resource constraints. The result appears to use unfortunate phraseology to delineate the “gaps”.

At the same time it must be stated that the research, if the quotes used in the two Pretoria News reports are accurate and quoted in the correct context, leaves much to be desired.

For example most of the “collateral responsibilities like maritime safety, pollution response, search and rescue” etc, fall in the legal mandate of other national departments.

The SA Navy, or the SANDF for that matter, should not be criticised for “being incapable” of doing what other departments should be doing.

The SA Navy should rather be hailed for what it is doing in this area for which it does not receive a budget.

The strategic planners in the SA Navy and the Department of Defence as a whole are toiling long hours in planning and prioritising the execution of the Defence Budget within the national strategic environment. It could be said that nowhere has “so much been done with so little by so few”.

In the last instance, this is a call for responsible journalism. Sensationalist headlines like “sinking navy” or “SA Navy scuppered” smacks of irresponsibility that causes more harm than good both in and outside the SA Navy.

South Africa is playing a strong role in Africa. Driven by Mr Mbeki's vision of an "African Renaissance", post-apartheid South Africa has engaged heavily with its neighbours at the political and the commercial levels, both bilaterally and as a member of regional bodies such as the African Union (AU). South Africa has advocated the resolution of conflicts in a number of African countries through African-led negotiations. Further afield, South Africa has successfully lobbied to have Africa made a priority on the development agendas of industrialised nations, guided by the adoption of a wide-ranging reform plan, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad).

Thabo Mbeki is the key mediator in Zimbabwe's crisis. South Africa's "quiet diplomacy" approach to brokering an end to the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe has proved a failure, with Zimbabwe's 83-year-old president, Robert Mugabe, clinging on to the reins of power. After deeply flawed elections were held in that country, there were widespread calls for Mr Mbeki to take a bolder approach, but he has instead continued trying to mediate a solution.

The armed forces have undergone a radical transformation. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has undergone a substantial transformation since 1994 and 70% of its soldiers are now black (African, coloured and Indian); however, more than 60% of senior officers are still white. The apparent disorganisation of SANDF troops when they entered Lesotho in September 1998 was attributed to a lack of cohesion in the army: although the services had received a controversial R30bn (US$3.6bn) new weapons package, most of their units were at less than 50% readiness. The issue of HIV/AIDS in the army is also a major concern. The SANDF forces are used to patrol borders (largely checkpoints and to catch illegal immigrants) and to contribute towards African peacekeeping forces on the continent; for the first time, in May 2008, they were used to quell domestic disturbances when attacks on black foreigners in the townships broke out.

The event, in Simons Town, would be a culmination of more than a decade of work by members of the SA Navy to ensure that the vessels are operational and that the personnel are competent and professional to crew them.

Over the years, the Department of Defence has been engaged in a process of acquiring new frigates, submarines and state-of-the art helicopters.

The acquisition of the helicopters, including submarines and corvettes, is part of the Strategic Arms Procurement Package approved by Cabinet in 2001.

The first corvette, Amatola, was received in 2001. SAS Isandlwana was the second corvette which was received in Durban 2006 followed by the Spioenkop.

The then Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge named the SAS Isandlwana corvette in Kiel, Germany, in 2002.

SAS Mendi was the fourth and was named after the famous troopship SS Mendi that sank in the First World War in the English Channel; more than 600 black soldiers were killed in the tragedy.

Also as part of procurement, the department acquired three submarines, namely, Queen Modjadji 1, SAS Manthatisi and SAS Charlotte Maxeke.

As part of the deal, the Navy also received four new patrol frigates as part of the package, as well as four Super Linx helicopters to be operated by the South African Air Force from the ships.

According to the Navy, the submarine will be used for training purposes, peace support operations, maritime escorts, diplomatic missions, operational exercises with other African and overseas navies and to undertake any other duty that she may be assigned to perform.

The department has also over the years acquired state-of-the-art helicopters from Augusta, Italy, to replace the ageing Alouette III fleet, these were also bought as part of the arms deal.

These included state-of-the-art A109 Agusta Light Utility Helicopters.

The new machines were tested here in South Africa to see if they were adaptable to all weather conditions.

The department said the helicopters would be used for search and rescue operations and sometimes in operations conducted by the police.

In 2005, the late Secretary of Defence January Masilela said the acquisition was part of a broader plan to revamp the SANDF.

"We felt there was a need for the country to acquire new and advanced machines to defend and protect the country," he said at that time.

In terms of the arms deal, the SANDF was meant to acquire four corvettes, three submarines, 30 utility helicopters, 24 Hawk lead-in fighter trainers and 28 Gripen advanced fighter aircraft.

To SAY patrol ships will replace the navy’s aging minesweepers, mine hun-ters, strike craft and torpedo recovery vessels is grossly misleading (“Navy demands more ships”, August 28).

Mine countermeasures vessels have special hulls to reduce their magnetic signature and are very definitely purpose-built vessels whose tasks simply could not be undertaken by an 85m steel vessel.

The current minesweepers are a donation from Germany which were designed for short sorties in the North Sea and are unsuitable for sustained patrolling in our stormy waters.

Blinded by their obsession with the MEKO frigates (the new corvettes), the navy staff accepted them without due consideration and scrapped the sturdy and highly versatile Ton class minesweepers which were about to be re-engined and given an extended lease on life.

The navy had never wanted the strike craft. The original hulls were acquired by PW Botha from Israel and the navy was simply told to get on and use them. Despite the carefully crafted image or spin surrounding these vessels, it is doubtful whether they actually contributed anything substantial to the defence of South Africa. In any case, their role has now been taken over by the new corvettes and, consequently, they do not need to be replaced.

The idea of a Coast Guard is not new and has been the subject of debate for many years. It should be borne in mind that the oft-quoted example of the successful US Coast Guard refers to a completely separate organisation from the US Navy and would only fall under naval control in times of war. Quite why our navy would now want a “coast guard flotilla” and what its envisaged role would be is unclear, given the existence of the police Water Wing and Marine and Coastal Management’s recently purchased fishery patrol vessels.

The real subliminal message that this staff paper reveals is that the acquisition of the costly corvettes and submarines was a ghastly mistake and that the navy is at last waking up to reality.

We squandered billions on vessels that, despite being well-constructed, are simply not suited to our needs in a cost-effective manner. This is rather like buying an imported luxury sedan on extended HP terms when all that is required is an inexpensive, go-anywhere mountain bike.

Government policy is clear that the primary role of the SANDF is defence, while that of the South African Police Service is to undertake law enforcement and the Department of Environmental Affairs’ Marine and Coastal Management unit will undertake fishery protection.

This might seem a logical division of responsibility on paper, but in reality it has been and continues to be a vexatious matter and one that means that we, the taxpayers, fund three separate navies to undertake essentially the same job.

For a country with our huge developmental challenges, it is ludicrous that we do not rationalise and unify the maritime patrol responsibilities.

This has been proposed in the past but was rejected by the three government departments responsible, no doubt to protect their perceived turf at the expense of the national good.