Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Israel sentenced a soldier to 19 days in jail for uploading a photograph of his military base to the social networking Web site Facebook. This was believed to be the first such conviction for an Israeli soldier. It followed a decision made by the U.S. in March to ban Google from photographing details of U.S. military bases for its widely used map services, including Google Earth and Street View. Governments in many countries were increasingly concerned that images and other data available on the Internet could compromise security.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) suffered a growing personnel crisis in 2008 owing to both AIDS-related illnesses and the exodus of technical staff to better-paying civilian jobs. An estimated 14,000 positions were unfilled in the armed forces, which made the vacancy rate 15.3%; 23% of SANDF members were HIV-positive. In May a South African high court overturned a SANDF policy barring HIV-positive people from joining the military.

Pay for those accused of crimes, including Boeremag treason trial trio, amounts to millions

THE MILITARY is struggling to win the battle of disciplinary hearings against its own members.

The SANDF has spent millions keeping soldiers accused of crimes on its payroll – including three of the accused in the Boeremag treason trial. The three have been on paid suspension since 2002.

Colonel Machiel Burger, Major Jacques Olivier and Major Pieter van Deventer, all from the South African Army, were arrested in August 2002 and later released on R10 000 bail each.

They all face charges of high treason and were suspended on October 9 2002. The details were in a defence ministry response to a written question in Parliament by DA MP James Lorimer.

The SANDF said the three Boeremag accused were awaiting civilian court proceedings and a decision on possible administrative discharges.

The SANDF did not provide costs of the suspensions but the DA has calculated that the three together cost the SANDF about R11.4 million while they were suspended.

Another expensive suspension is that of Colonel MD Kungwane, who was suspended in November 2002 and is on trial on fraud charges relating to the alleged submission of R380 000 in false demobilisation claims. The DA estimates that Kungwane has since then cost taxpayers R6m – more than 15 times as much as the amount of which he is accused of defrauding the state.

The SANDF listed 22 officers suspended with pay and another 14 suspended without pay. They face charges in military or civilian courts.

Those suspended with pay include members facing charges of treason, fraud, theft of military equipment, rape, armed robbery, attempted murder and extortion.

They also include members appealing against convictions of setting fire to a military office and killing a colleague, rape and culpable homicide.

They include Brigadier-General Nzima Nobanda, convicted in September 2003 in Kempton Park of shooting dead his daughter’s friend, Shane Coetzee, 19. At the time it was reported that the court heard that Nobanda had previous convictions for illegal possession of a firearm, drunk and reckless driving.

The DA estimated that paying Nobanda since his suspension in August 2007 had cost R1.1m.

Those suspended without pay include members facing charges of threatening senior officers, theft, housebreaking, rape, attempted murder and assault. These cases include a warrant officer accused of housebreaking and theft of a pair of boots, and a corporal acquitted in November last year of threatening a senior officer. He is still on suspension without pay pending his bosses briefing superiors on the case.

The DA estimate of R25m is two-and-a-half times the amount that the military records for suspensions.

Department of Defence annual reports for 2001/2 to 2007/8 state that suspensions cost a total of R10.5m.

According to the reports:

l The report for 2001/2 gives no details of suspensions.

l In 2002/3, seven people were suspended at a total cost of R319 445.

l In 2003/4, five were suspended at a cost of R151 191.

l In 2004/5, 14 were suspended at a cost of R421 854.

l In 2005/6, 12 were suspended at a cost of R312 046.

l In 2006/7, 44 were suspended at a cost of R4.9m.

l In 2007/8, 43 were suspended at a cost of R4.3m.

Most were suspended for more than a month but the reports do not indicate the length of individual suspensions nor the number on full pay.

SOUTH Africa’s abilities in bringing peace to the continent and energising other African nations to join forces to end wars have been given the thumbs-up.

Thousands of South African troops are currently deployed at hotspots across Africa, with the majority battling it out in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo to bring the final rebel groups to the peace table.

From conducting peacekeeping and enforcement missions as part of UN and African Union (AU) operations to mediating to help prevent war, South Africa and its soldiers are making their mark.

Mdu Khumalo, a researcher at the African Institute of South Africa’s peace and security division, said South Africa had shown in more ways than one that it was capable of bringing peace to Africa.

“Be it through mediation or actual peacekeeping missions, South Africa is more than able,” Khumalo said.

He said the country’s peacekeeping talent was born out of its operations and peace-brokering skills in Burundi.

“The success of ending war in that country led to the success of our other peacekeeping attempts elsewhere in Africa.

“South Africa and its ability and willingness to end conflict in Africa has been the spearhead for other African nations to stand up and take a joint responsibility in ending wars and conflicts,” he said.

Khumalo said South Africa had laid the foundation for Africa to become more involved in its own peacekeeping missions instead of relying solely on the UN.

He said South Africa’s commitment to peacekeeping and “putting its money where its mouth is” when it came to conflict resolution, had seen Africa’s nations increasingly auditing themselves for greater financial muscle to be put towards peacekeeping.

“South Africa’s commitment has seen other African countries taking an increased responsibility for keeping the peace instead of relying on ‘outside’ support to resolve Africa’s conflicts.

“The implication is that Africa is now showing the world that it can be a world player when it comes to peacekeeping.”

He said because of the great costs of peacekeeping, which could cripple the continent, Africa was being forced to take prompt, effective decisions which had a great impact in bringing about peace.

Khumalo cited the way the recent Madagascar and Equatorial Guinea coups were dealt with as examples of quick and effective decisions.

Defence analyst Helmoed Heitman said overall South Africa had made a success at peacekeeping, with it often being the first African country to commit “boots on the ground” when it came to resolving conflicts.

He said what was impressive about South Africa’s peacekeeping abilities was how the country’s defence force achieved its goals with few resources and on a shoestring budget.

“Within 10 days of being requested to help with peacekeeping in Burundi the SANDF had troops deployed on the ground.

“This was done without having the permanent standby force of many bigger armies,” he said, adding that the SANDF’s peacekeeping capabilities were respected around the world.

Heitman said an example of the respect South Africa had garnered was in 2006 when a South African infantry commander walked his forces into a battle zone in eastern DRC after he was refused both airlift and close air support. “Not only did he march his forces in but he also marched them out after peace was successfully restored in his area of responsibility.”

Heitman said while there had been problems such as with discipline, they were not unique to South Africa and happened to armies across the world.

“Overall everything points to us doing an excellent job and it is obvious that our guys are more than capable of bringing peace to Africa.”

SOUTH Africa’s elite soldiers, the Special Forces, are close to completing the training of dozens of their Central African Republic (CAR) counterparts.

The training, which is part of Operation Vimbezela, is aimed at building up the former French colony’s military capabilities.

The country’s army is embroiled in continuous clashes with dozens of heavily armed rebel groups throughout the CAR, which have claimed the lives of thousands and forced tens of thousands from their homes.

The training, which is due to end in 2011 shortly after that country’s elections next year, has seen more than 30 CAR troops trained in elite fighting skills.

Sixty-two South African soldiers have been conducting a variety of training with the CAR military since 2007, including the Special Forces high-risk protection training programme.

Last week, South African Special Forces based in the capital Bangui, along with their trainees, demonstrated their skills to CAR president Francois Bozize.

An SANDF Special Forces captain, who cannot be identified for security reasons, said the skills would allow the CAR troops to work in operations both inside and outside of the CAR.

“The troops have been taught about hand weapons handling as well as team skills, ranging from operating as a team leader, driver and personal protector,” he said.

“Other training which they underwent includes operational procedures such as ambushes and counter-ambushes, escorting and reconnaissance, threat assessment and command and control of the ‘principal’,” he said.

The principal is the person high-risk protectors are assigned to protect.

The captain said when they first arrived the skills of the CAR trainees were very poor, “but that changed rapidly within the first four weeks of training.

“In the first week we discovered that less than 10 percent of the soldiers selected for the training new how to disassemble a weapon, load or even fire it,” he stated.

“But, by the seventh week this had increased to nearly 80 percent,” he said.

He added that stringent weekly assessments had helped to increase the trainees’ skills levels.

He said what was vital now was that the skills taught were maintained especially after they had left.

“If they are to do their jobs, then they are going to have to maintain this level of expertise – otherwise it will be back to square one.”

General Mobebou Francois, the CAR’s military chief of staff, said they were extremely pleased with the training, which would go a long way in improving his country’s military.

He said while there was still a long way for his military to go, the most important steps had been taken.

“Our only hope now is that this and other training will continue and that co-operation between our two countries will continue.”

Vimbemzela mission commander Colonel George Sibanyoni said the operation would go a long way in improving the country’s military.

He said the mission was one where they would support and sustain the CAR military through military assistance programmes.

“While the mission is due to end next year, it can be extended – although there are a number of dynamics to the extension,” he said, referring to the numerous rebel groups waging war against the CAR’s military.

Smartly clad in their green uniforms, the band strummed out popular tunes much to the enjoyment of those who had gathered to watch.

Their performance forms part of various events planned to celebrate Madiba's 91st birthday on Saturday and his contribution to humanity.

Other SANDF units will mark Mandela Day in their own special way by embarking on special projects, or joining other established Mandela Day initiatives.

In a statement, the SANDF said that it joined the proud South Africans and many millions more from around the world in saluting Nelson Mandela.

The former president's 91st birthday will be demonstrated by acts of humanity and improving the world we live in.

President Jacob Zuma, during his State of the Nation Address, made a call for everyone to spend at least 67 minutes on Mandela Day to make a difference in the community they live in, by showing humanity towards other people.

The 67 minutes represents the 67 years that Madiba spent serving humanity.

Private collection in online auction of nearly 300 items dating back to Anglo-Boer War

BOOKS from a private collection on the South African border wars and the Rhodesian war are among the nearly 300 books offered by the AuctionExplorer online auction (www.auctionexplorerbooks.com).

The more than 30 books by authors such as Peter Stiff, Al J Venter, Jim Hooper, Ian Uys, Willem Steenkamp, Jan Bretyenbach and John Badcock deal with the operations of the South African and Rhodesian forces.

The Buffalo Soldiers — The Story of SA’s 32 Battalion 1975-1993 by Jan Breytenbach, the founder colonel of the battalion, is the history of an elite group which has been described as “probably the most controversial unit of the South African Defence Force (SADF)”. The battalion’s website says it consisted of former FNLA guerrillas from Angola under the command of SADF officers. The unit was disbanded in 1993. The book has a reserve price of $20.

Books by Peter Stiff include Taming the Landmine ($20), Warfare by Other Means — SA in the 1980s and 1990s ($20), and The Silent War — South African Recce Operations 1969-1994 ($20).

A more comprehensive history is provided by Willem Steenkamp in his book SA’s Border War 1966-1989 ($30).

A number of books on the Rhodesian war are on offer, including Rhodesian Soldier — And Others Who Fought ($30) by Chas Lotter, and Selous Scouts: A Pictorial Account ($60) by Peter Stiff. Dick Gledhill’s One Commando — Rhodesia’s Last Years: the Guerrilla War ($20), covers the last stages of the Rhodesian war.

The flip side of the SADF’s wars is given by A Long Night’s Damage — Working for the Apartheid State ($20) by Eugene de Kock (as told to Jeremy Gordin), and Jacques Pauw’s Into the Heart of Darkness — Confessions of Apartheid’s Assassins ($30).

Interestingly, the owner of this collection, who emigrated from the UK to SA about 30 years ago, in spite of his interest in military matters was never called up for military service in either the UK or SA.

Old Fourlegs, the Story of the Coelacanth ($30) by JLB Smith, an ichthyologist at Rhodes University who identified the ancient fish that was caught near East London by a fishing boat in December 1938. The captain notified Marjorie Courtney-Latimer, curator of the East London Museum, who in turn informed Smith.

He confirmed it was a coelacanth, believed to have been extinct for about 70-million years.

According to the Australian Museum website, this coelacanth specimen is still considered to be the zoological find of the past century. Coelacanths date back about 360-million years.

“This ‘living fossil’ comes from a lineage of fish that was thought to have been extinct since the time of the dinosaurs,” the website says.

The Concentration Camps in SA ($90) by Napier Devitt tells of a system that bedevilled Boer and Brit relations for decades.

Rayne Kruger said in Goodbye Dolly Gray that by May 1901 77 000 whites and 21 000 blacks had been interned. Although the original purpose was humane, the death rate was about one in five — with most of the deaths those of children who died of measles.

The Call of the Veld ($20) by Leonard Flemming, who was a well-known South African author in his lifetime.

He was one of the farmers who had been settled in the eastern and southeastern Free State under Lord Milner’s policy of anglicisation, when farmers of British stock were settled in the area.

Flemming is better known for his book, Fool on the Veld, a wry account of his attempts at farming in the Dewetsdorp district.

Speaking on board the SAS Amatola, one of the frigates that were recently acquired though government's arms deal, Admiral Mudimu said the Navy was in dire need of young men and women who were prepared to serve the country and its people.

Also on board the SAS Amatola were high school learners, who were selected from various schools to witness the Navy's capabilities at sea.

Currently, the Navy is in a process of short listing young people who had applied to take part in the Military Skills Development (MSD).

The Navy's MSD is a two-year voluntary youth empowerment programme initiated by the Department of Defence to provide military and essential skills to the youth who aspire to follow a military career in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

The MSD is also aimed at rejuvenating the SANDF, providing it with scarce skills as well as serving as a feeder system for the Defence Reserves.

Since its commencement in 2003, approximately more 10 000 youth from all over South Africa have been recruited by the SANDF through this system.

Rear Admiral Hanno Teuteberg also told learners on board the SAS Amatola that the Navy was committed to serving the country and its people.

"The strength of the Navy is determined by its partnership with the people," he said, adding that the Navy needed highly competent and professional people, who were willing to serve the country.

He boosted of the Navy's state-of-the-art acquisition, adding that they needed professionals to operate them.

"Highly competent and qualified people are needed to operate the sophisticated machines in the Navy," he said.

One of the youngsters, who were invited on board the ship, was Letsatsi Maroga, 17, a Grade 10 learner from Katlehong in the East Rand. He told BuaNews that he was considering joining the Navy.

"I now know what the Navy is all about and I'm interested in becoming part of it. I want to become the Chief of the Navy one day," he said jokingly.

Applicants, who want to join the Navy, must have a matric certificate and be between the age of 18 and 22 with no physical disability.

Parliament’s oversight obligation for defence spending should not be sacrificed on the altar of state security, writes Justin Sylvester

According to the Constitution, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) serves Parliament and it is Parliament that is required to exercise legislative control over the military.

As the manager of the military, the executive is thus accountable to Parliament.

But a worrying trend has emerged during the exercise of Parliament’s oversight role performed by the parliamentary committee responsible for defence, the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCD).

Or at least this seems to be the view of the new Minister for Defence, Lindiwe Sisulu.

Recently, the minister argued that key briefings by the Department of Defence (DOD) to the committee be held behind closed doors. She went on to lament the recent trend of meetings open to the public, citing that this practice threatened state security.

This followed a recent question on the state of readiness of the SANDF by the Democratic Alliance.

The oversight committee, in accordance with its constitutional obligation, then request-ed a briefing by the DOD on the matter. But, during her recent budget speech, the Minister’s response to this request, supported by the DOD, was to insist that the briefing be held behind closed doors due to concerns of state security.

If this becomes a trend, it would be worrying.

But the minister went further in her subsequent address to the media and stated that although she was pleased with the SANDF’s current state of readiness, it still required further expenditure on military hardware.

This is even more problematic, given that the minister of defence would presumably need to lobby for greater expenditure on military hardware, yet uses the issue of state security to insist that the briefing be held in camera.

However the two arguments are intrinsically linked. The Minister cannot request great-er expenditure without informing the public about the SANDF’s state of readiness.

This is about balancing the necessity of secrecy when dealing with state security and the necessity of transparency over defence issues in a democracy.

The SA Constitution places state security under the authority of Parliament and entrenches Parliament’s powers of oversight over issues relating to state security.

Although not involved in the day-to-day management of the military (which is the job of Minister Sisulu and the DOD), Parliament holds a number of functions and powers in this regard.

Three of these powers are pertinent to this issue.

Firstly, Parliament decides whether to deploy the SANDF.

Secondly, Parliament has the obligation to authorise and scrutinise any expenditure relating to defence.

Thirdly, Parliament decides whether to, and which, hardware to procure for the military.

It then follows that the minister is, as a member of the national assembly herself, dir-ectly accountable to the committee with regard to issues of the SANDF’s state of readiness, as well as expenditure on military hardware. But the rub lies in that Parliament serves an electoral mandate to South Africa’s citizens.

A key characteristic of this mandate is that committee meetings, particularly those where the executive is held to account, be open to the public.

This key facet of Parliament’s democratic obligation to exercise oversight should not be sacrificed on the altar of state security.

Naturally the SANDF is engaged in sensitive operations and intelligence gathering, which indeed requires that a balance be struck between a closed doors approach and transparency. And this is, at times, a difficult balance to maintain as the tendency exists for executives to be secretive on issues of state security and defence, as opposed to being more transparent.

But greater transparency on defence issues should not be a worrying trend. It is intrinsic to the role of defence in a democracy. Transparency was glaringly absent during the apartheid era.

Where the military was co-opted into the executive via the old State Security Council and Parliament was unable to hold either to account for increasing military expenditure.

Much ground has been gained in democratising our country’s security architecture post-1994. But since democracy is a perpetual process, it would be detrimental to begin pursuing greater secrecy over defence issues when, in fact, we should be moving towards greater transparency.

While legislative oversight should operate in a proactive manner, Parliament has largely displayed a retroactive attitude to oversight over defence.

The National Conventional Arms Control Committee man-dated to approve arms acquisitions and sales into and out of South Africa respectively, has further compounded the problem by sidelining Parliament’s oversight role over defence

The PCD is not able to participate in the NCACC’s review of applications for arms acquisition or sales.

The committee is often presented with cases of fait accompli, while the final destination of arms sales, as well as information on the relevant arms, is only shared confidentially with members of the committee.

The infamous Arms Deal teaches us that military expenditure and procurement can lead democracies into murky waters, with accountability, transparency and citizens as the main casualties.

Moreover, it highlights the pitfalls of what happens when the executive, and not Parliament, sets the defence agenda.

Parliament, for all its faults, provides an important space where much information is released into the public domain, which would otherwise have remained shrouded in secrecy.

Readiness

If the Minister and the DOD insist that the SANDF requires further expenditure for military hardware, it would be better for democracy that they explain why in public.

This would best be done in a briefing to the PCD that is open to the public.

They should explain to the committee the SANDF’s state of readiness and why further military expenditure should be prioritised in a time of recession, mounting labour disputes and a crippled health and education system.

Democracy would be better served by greater transparency over defence issues, particularly with regards to expenditure.

Using state security as an excuse for the lack of transparency in our democracy is indeed the worrying trend. The public have a right to know.

The defence force will finally brief Parliament on its troops’ combat readiness behind closed doors after ANC MPs rejected an open debate.

The ruling party and opposition DA fought during a parliamentary committee debate over whether MPs had the right to question the military operations publicly, with the ANC parliamentarians citing national security considerations.

The debate followed Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s refusal to brief Parliament on the same issue.

The committee had earlier written to the SA National Defence Force, saying Parliament demanded a full briefing on the state of the troops.

But acting defence secretary Tshepe Motumi wrote back to the committee, warning that an open briefing could compromise national security.

“The department has sought a closed meeting on this matter because the information to be disclosed is of a sensitive nature. Such disclosure, if made public, could compromise national security,” wrote Motumi.

He said the SANDF had also asked Sisulu to convey its reluctance to brief committee members in the presence of the media and other people.

“It is within this vein that a request for a closed meeting is made. It is hoped that the (committee) will understand and appreciate the very unique role the SANDF plays in the protection of the territorial integrity of South Africa,” wrote Motumi.

ANC MPs backed Motumi’s request, saying a public briefing would expose the country’s military secrets, which could make South Africa vulnerable to attack.

Veteran MP Andrew Mlangeni warned that the media should not be allowed to attend such a briefing because of the sensitive nature of the information that could be disclosed. “It has to be a closed meeting; I don’t know why we have invited the press. This is a sensitive matter; it can only be discussed in a closed meeting. How can we argue with that?” said Mlangeni.

Charles Kekana, another ANC MP, said the secret nature of military operations – even in Western countries – made it necessary to keep certain information out of the public sphere.

“The military operates on secrets. You cannot say you don’t have enemies until you are attacked. Militaries operate totally differently and secrecy is a big thing,” he said.

But the DA’s David Maynier said national security was too broad a definition to be used as the sole reason for a closed briefing.

He said the defence force could not be let off the hook simply because it invoked national security to justify keeping important information secret.

“In any constitutional democracy, the departure point must be that secrecy should be the exception and not the rule. National security is too broad because the concept is ambiguous… the onus would be on the department to show how disclosing the information would cause significant harm to the state,” he said.

SANDF soldiers have propped up the economy. Now locals fear unemployment

FOR Joselyne Ndizeye, a cleaner at the SANDF Modderfontein base outside Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, the thought of the more than 1 000 South African soldiers going home is not good.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t know how I’m going to support my family,” she said, watching soldiers preparing equipment for next month’s departure.

Since October 2001 South African soldiers have been taking part in peacekeeping missions in Burundi following Arusha peace talks in Tanzania in 1999 after the country’s civil war in 1993.

The 1 070 soldiers who form part of the African Union Special Task Force (AUSTF) are due to go home at the end of August, bringing an end to Operation Curriculum V.

Ndizeye’s sentiments are shared by 50 other Burundians contracted as cleaners, gardeners and mess assistants for the base.

The few dollars they earn are among some of the highest wages in the country, with Ndizeye being able to support her five children and husband every month from the money she makes sweeping and cleaning at the base.

While Ndizeye and her compatriots’ concerns are shared by the South Africans, there is little that can be done for them.

“Our only hope is that the Burundi government will keep them on as cleaning staff,” said AUSTF commander Colonel Charles Buyse, adding that a large percentage of the local population still depended on South Africans for assistance.

Buyse and his contingent have been in Burundi since February and are the last South Africans to be deployed to the country. They are due to return home on September 30, leaving behind a small team of VIP protectors to guard Palipehutu-FNL leaders.

The VIP force of 119 soldiers will remain in the country until December under a new mission which could be extended ahead of next year’s elections.

The FNL were the last to sign the ceasefire agreement and join the peace process following the start of negotiations with the Burundi government in 2006.

After years of broken talks the FNL forces finally stopped fighting in April. Since then 21 000 FNL and FNL associate forces have been disarmed, demobilised and reintegrated back into society, with the majority returning to their homes in the country’s rural areas.

Buyse was quick to point out that while 21 000 former soldiers had been reintegrated there was still a long way to go with another 10 000 FNL associate forces, of which 1 000 are women, still having to be demobilised and reintegrated.

“This entire process is by no means over. We still have a long way to go before we are ‘feet up’,” he said, adding that they demobilised on average 150 former soldiers a day.

Buyse, commenting on the VIP troops remaining behind, said while there was peace now there was still a great deal of concern that the violence could flare again.

“There are definitely concerns and worries especially ahead of next year’s elections and it would be suicidal to close down these troops early,” he said, adding that the VIPs were responsible for guarding eight FNL leaders and their homes, and for escorting them to and from government meetings.

He added that because of resource pressures they had had to reduce the number of FNL leaders under protection from 23 to the current eight.

“This mission is very difficult and has a lot of complexities to it, such as the protection of former rebel leaders.”

Asked if there were plans to deploy a reaction force if violence flared ahead of the elections, Buyse said it would depend on the next mission’s mandate.

“Unfortunately it is too early to say what will happen with the next mission. This one is not even finished yet,” he said.

THE South African National Defence Force is preparing to resume its operations at the country’s border posts, defence chief General Godfrey Ngwenya has said.

The SANDF began pulling out of border posts last year, ceding authority of manning the borders to the police. It had withdrawn from the Namibian, Botswana, Lesotho and Mozambique border posts, but remained on duty along the Zimbabwean border.

Speaking after the parliamentary debate on the Department of Defence and Military Veterans’ budget on Friday, Ngwenya said the police had earlier indicated that they would cope with the task of manning the borders. He said the SANDF was preparing to return to the borders, but stopped short of saying the police were not coping.

Minister of defence and military veterans Lindiwe Sisulu told parliament that the defence of borders should remain in the hands of SANDF. “This will ensure we can release the police to deal with crime in the country.” She added that the SANDF needed to play a “more active role in assisting the SAPS to deal with crime issues”.

Nyanda was appointed minister of communications in May 2009. He is also a member of the Public Investment Corporation’s board.

He comes from a military background, having attended military courses in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1976 and 1986, Moscow in 1985 and South Africa in 1996 and 1997.

He has a BA from the University of South Africa, a postgraduate diploma in economic principles from the University of London, and an MSc in financial management from the University of London.

In 1994 he was appointed as co-chairman of the Joint Military Co-ordinating Committee of the Transitional Executive Council and was chief of staff for the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) between 1994 and 1997. In 1997 he was the general officer commanding at Gauteng Command. He was appointed deputy chief of the SANDF in 1997 and held that position until 1998 when he was appointed chief of the SANDF.

DEPUTY MINISTER: Dina Pule

Pule was appointed the deputy minister of communications in May 2009.

She has a teaching diploma, a BA, certificates in public relations, women in leadership management skills and report writing, and is currently doing BA honours in communication.

She worked as a teacher between 1990 and 1993. She was a community liaison officer at the Department of Health in 1996 and 1997 and the head of communications at the Department of Health between 1997 and 2000; she has also been head of communications at the Department of Agriculture (2000-2004).

She was a member of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature in 2004 and 2005 and a member of the Executive Council for Safety and Security between 2005 and 2007.

ACTING DIRECTOR-GENERAL: Gerda Grabe

Grabe was appointed the acting director-general of the Department of Communications in February 2009 after Lyndall Shope-Mafole stepped down from the post.

Grabe joined the department in 2005 as the chief operations officer and deputy director-general in charge of administration.

She remains the chief operations officer of the department.

At the time of her appointment, she was seen to possess the necessary administrative skills for the post, even though she does not have a background in policy-making.

Grabe is a social worker by training.

EMBATTLED state arms manufacturer Denel could soon be rescued through a recapitalisation package and a return to its original home in the defence force, Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said on Friday.

Sisulu made the call for Denel to return to the defence family in her budget vote in the National Assembly, which was dominated by a furious row over the state of readiness of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and her refusal to give a public briefing on the matter to Parliament’s defence committee.

Denel recently asked the government for R1,7bn to get itself back on stream. In the past 10 years, R100bn of taxpayers’ money has been spent keeping government enterprises going.

When Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan recently warned that unprofitable state enterprises could be sold off commercially, she was called to Luthuli House for a meeting with African National Congress secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and the government once again committed itself to owning and rescuing them.

Sisulu told Parliament that the defence establishment “intended to negotiate Denel back into the ambit of defence” and that she had already had discussions with Hogan where she made the point that Denel should be “strategically realigned”.

“Denel is a strategic security manufacturing asset for defence and we would like to retain it as such,” Sisulu said, adding that there was a need for an exhaustive “interrogation” of the defence industry.

She said that Denel and Armscor should be examined, and said her department would examine Armscor — its procurement arm — to ensure proper management and governance.

Sisulu expressed confidence that, if Denel was brought back under the direction of the defence department, with proper command and control it could be successfully turned around.

She said that Denel was asking the government for recapitalisation and said she was “sympathetic to that request”.

She said this decision would be made by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

During the debate on her budget Sisulu came under attack from the Democratic Alliance’s shadow defence minister David Maynier who said that the public did not know about the combat readiness of the SANDF because the department of defence “won’t tell us”.

“The minister appears to be doing her level best to cover up the state of combat readiness of the SANDF,” Maynier said.

“We were told that the Department of Defence would not provide a briefing on the state of combat readiness of the defence force because the minister had not been briefed.

“But now we are told the Department of Defence will not provide a full and open briefing because it may compromise national security.”

Sisulu said Maynier’s remarks were some of the most ignorant ever heard in Parliament.

She accused him of theatrics and insisted that the only way in which such a briefing would be given to Parliament was behind closed doors so as to protect the security of the state.

Maynier responded: “We may not know all the details about the state of combat readiness of the defence force. What we do know, however, is that the defence force is in deep trouble.

“We have soldiers without vehicles; we have ships without sailors; we have planes without pilots; and we have military hospitals without doctors.

“We have soldiers in barracks, not in the field; we have ships alongside, not at sea; and we have aircraft in hangers, not in the air.

“We have an army that is overstretched; a navy which is understretched; and an air force with nothing to stretch.”

In the past three weeks we (the Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans) have had occasion to brief the Portfolio Committee on Defence on our strategic vision for the current period.

My deputy minister and I are not new to this portfolio. We are pleased to be back to a place where we both cut our political teeth. It is our intention to nurture the relationship between ourselves and the committee for the benefit of our national assets – the Defence Force and the Military Veterans.

In the past week an important matter has been raised in discussions of the committee that the Department of Defence provides it with a briefing on the state of readiness of the SANDF.

We have been responsible for the Defence Force now for all of six weeks and it would be proper that from the outset we admit we have major challenges at Defence and it is for this reason that we are hoping to have a good relationship with the committee, one that transcends party political boundaries and concentrates on this national asset.

The first challenge that confronts us is a declining budget where our domestic obligations remain defined in the constitution, against a backdrop of our growing international responsibilities against a deteriorating infrastructure and, very importantly, against a clear and pressing reality that conditions of service for the Defence Force need our immediate attention.

With a declining budget our competence is severely hampered, with dire consequences.

Peace, that which we are required to guarantee, is immeasurable. What it provides for us and the African continent cannot be quantified. It is that without which it would not be possible for us to realise our development as a continent.

We are acutely aware that we are in a recession and will propose a number of strategies to ensure we are not an additional burden to the state.

The second challenge is that for the past nine years the Auditor-General has given us qualified reports. We have put steps in place to ensure we have the necessary capacity in our financial management to begin to produce different results.

Our third challenge is the defence industry. We are aware that we have not had outstanding performances in the defence industry, ie Armscor and Denel.

We are paying particular attention to ensuring that the necessary management and governance is in place. I have on my table a report from the committee that has looked at the matter of Armscor and made some very strong recommendations.

We intend to negotiate Denel back into the ambit of Defence. Denel is a strategic security manufacturing asset for Defence and we would like to retain it as such.

The fourth challenge is an outdated Defence policy. We are embarking on a policy review to ensure that the Defence Force is in line with the reality of our democracy.

We want to take on board what we have become and take into account new challenges facing us as a country and as a continent.

In a country bedevilled by skill-shortages, the Defence Force presents itself as one avenue that the nation can tap into. It is an equal-opportunity provider to those who wish to advance themselves.

In rethinking our role in the economy, we would like to provide training for essential skills in the economy. We have huge skills training capabilities and have tested this through our Military Skills Training Programme. We want to extend this to cater for various industries and government departments.

Having assessed our options, we are considering making a request for a separate dispensation for Defence that would allow us to creatively deal with our own needs and the specificities of our own unique security requirements.

Finally, here is a good note to end my input. On August 8 we will be lowering the South African flag in Burundi, marking the end of one of our most successful deployments in Africa. Our mandate in Burundi expired in June after 10 years of peace keeping in that country.

As we speak all parties in that country have started campaigning in the elections in a peaceful atmosphere, all because of our contribution. Nothing can be more fulfilling than the knowledge that we have saved lives and held democracy together.

l This is an edited extract from the minister’s Defence budget vote address to the National Assembly yesterday.

At an annual cost to taxpayers of about R500 000 per soldier (R32bn for 2009-10), the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) represents hugely expensive unskilled labour. That money could instead be far more usefully applied to improve salaries for public service doctors and teachers.

Any notion that Zimbabwe or Lesotho (or the US) is about attack SA is plainly absurd. So what purpose does the SANDF serve beyond the outdated assumption that every country needs an army? Every army in Africa, ours included, is militarily a joke except, of course, to civilians terrorised by ill- disciplined, abusive soldiers.

Military dictatorships on our continent also prove that armies without foreign wars to fight are politically dangerous. Bored soldiers are prone to believe that they can better run the government than can politicians — as proved yet again this week in the tragic example of Honduras, the original “banana republic.”

For that very reason, neighbouring Costa Rica abolished its army back in 1949, and for 60 years has been a thriving and prosperous democracy. Instead of squandering money on armaments and the military, Costa Rica has used the money saved to improve its public health and education. As a result, Costa Rica’s per capita income is double that of other Central American countries.

Similarly Mauritius, without an army, although impoverished when it gained independence 40 years ago, is now one of Africa’s few success stories. In addition, Mauritius has international influence far beyond the clout of its tiny economy.

Having appallingly mismanaged both the arms deal and the SANDF, it’s not surprising that the government prefers to conceal the shambles from the citizenry (Is SANDF fit to fight, asks DA, June 29).

SA would do well to adopt the Costa Rican and Mauritian precedents, and to disband the SANDF. In so doing, albeit by default, SA could even make a virtue out of chaos.

Two men, included a gang leader wanted for a string of murders, have been killed in a shootout with Limpopo police.

"The suspect, Johannes Dube, was wanted for the murder of two police members, a member of the SANDF, a tuck shop owner as well as several cases of armed robbery," Superintendent Ronel Otto said in a statement on Wednesday.

On Tuesday night, police were tipped-off that Dube and another man were at a house in Embalenhle outside Secunda. Police surrounded the house and a shootout ensued.

"Warning shots were fired and they were ordered to surrender, but the suspects continued shooting at the police. Members retaliated and two suspects were shot dead."

Dube was the leader of a gang that had terrorised the Mahwelereng, Magatle and Zebediela areas since May 31.

The other man who was killed was believed to have been involved in the tuck shop owner's murder.

On May 31, Dube hijacked SA National Defence Force Lieutenant Colonel FM Kubjana while travelling from Polokwane to Pretoria.

A report was made to police that a someone driving a silver grey vehicle was seen dumping a body next to a river at Mahwelereng.

The victim had a gunshot wound to the head and at first could not be identified. The next day, Mahwelereng police on a routine patrol spotted Kubjana's car at a garage.

When they approached the car they were shot at by people in another vehicle also parked at the garage.

"Constable Geoffrey Sithomola died on the scene and Constable John Kekana was admitted to hospital with a serious bullet wound to the stomach.

"He has since been released and is recuperating at home."

On June 2, an abandoned vehicle was found. It belonged to Siyabuswa police officer Captain MS Masango. Masango could not be found and was reported missing.

A police task team set up to investigate arrested four suspects in connection with his murder.

"Following their arrest, the body of Captain Masango was found in the bush near Magatle where it was dumped after he was killed."

The four arrested have appeared in court several times and are still in custody.

"The task team soon realised that the kingpin behind the gang was still not arrested."

Dube also committed four armed robberies in the Zebediela area.

Last Thursday, during an armed robbery carried out by Dube and two accomplices, the female owner of a tuckshop was shot and later died in hospital. One man was arrested, but Dube and an accomplice got away.

On Tuesday evening police received information about Dube's whereabouts. After the shootout a 9mm pistol with its serial number filed off was recovered.

"The origin of the firearm is being investigated."

The province's deputy provincial commissioner Bennie Ntlemeza said: "This is a testimony that police in the province will not tolerate any lawlessness."