Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF), the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the military police are probing the theft of logistical supplies sent to support troops in the DRCongo and Burundi. There are suspicions that criminal syndicates are involved.

SANDF Secretary January Masilela told parliament's public accounts committee last week the syndicates were believed to be also operating inside South Africa.

He could not quantify the size of the losses, saying the matter was still under investigation. Items stolen included food rations, spare vehicle parts and other logistical items. A high-powered task team has been established to investigate the matter, Masilela said. SANDF Chief of Logistics Gen Themba Ntsibande said crime syndicates were flourishing because commanders had been disempowered.

Masilela and his officials were called by the committee to explain what was being done to address the problems raised by Auditor-General Shauket Fakie in his qualified report on the department's 2003-04 financial statements. Weak control and information systems were among the problems cited. Masilela assured the committee that 35m rands had been allocated to upgrade the human resource system Persol to better manage the liability. The new system would be up and running by 1 July.

Masilela agreed with the auditor-general's concerns over the lack of compliance with treasury regulations and of integrated control systems. The department was being restructured, and he hoped that this would address these problems. The restructuring would be linked to the decision taken last year to update the defence white paper and the defence review, which were adopted in 1996 and 1997.

Major changes had taken place since then, which needed to be incorporated into the department's policies. The review should be finalized by May.

"The structures and design of the department were put in place before these important policy documents were adopted," Masilela said.

Another of the problems highlighted by the committee was the management of departmental income of 266m rands derived, for example, through the sale of assets. A strategy had been adopted to address this.