Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Military culture and attitudes in the SANDF have improved considerably since the days when incidents such as the Tempe massacre occurred in 1999, defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Wednesday.

Briefing the National Assembly's defence committee, Lekota said the command structures of the SA National Defence Force had effectively addressed the issues raised in the Setai Commission's report on its inquiry into the Tempe incident.

In September 1999, Sergeant Sibusiso Madubela shot dead seven white colleagues and a civilian in a killing spree at the base. He died in a shootout with other soldiers.

In October that year, Lekota appointed a commission of experts, headed by former Free State director general Betheul Setai, to investigate racism and other problems that could lead to friction in the SANDF.

Among other things, the commission found that racism was rife in the defence force.

He told the committee on Wednesday that the current atmosphere in the defence force "speaks of the work and effort" made by the command structures to address the issues raised by Setai.

The SANDF now had, among other things, programmes in place to deal with racism, which included orientation for new recruits on attitudes, so they were fully aware they were entering an institution that did not tolerate racism.

SANDF chief General Siphiwe Nyanda told the committee much progress had been made with transformation and many issues already dealt with in detail.

The defence force had made extensive use of the Setai report to correct matters that needed attention, despite serious funding shortages, he said.

According to a document distributed in the committee detailing the SANDF's response to the report, and an analysis of progress made with transformation, substantial advances have been made, among other things, towards achieving racial representivity.

The representivity of blacks, Asians and coloureds in the full-time component has increased from 55,3 percent in 1994 to 75,3 percent as at February 15 this year.

The current composition of former forces in the regular force is 7,8 percent Azanian People's Liberation Army, 16,6 percent Umkhonto we Sizwe, 43,5 percent SADF, 8,2 percent Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei forces, and 23,6 percent SANDF, members with no former force affiliation.

Three specific areas of racial representivity continue to receive attention -in the SANDF's advanced musterings, at entry level, and at middle management level.

"This requires a continuously driven effort, but this objective will realistically not be achieved over the short to near medium term."

Efforts to eliminate discrimination in any form are a high priority for all appointed warrant officers.

"Warrant officers are extremely sensitive to discrimination against any soldier. The majority of members of the Department of Defence are extremely sensitive to discrimination and act to eliminate it," the document says.