Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

A cabinet minister has called for conscription to be reintroduced to keep the youth off the streets, ensure they are disciplined and do not turn to crime.

However, his views appear to be out of step with his own party, the ANC, as well as government policy.

A government source said last night it was not under discussion in the ANC or the government.

The conscription call was made by Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana in a statement issued by his office yesterday. Repeated attempts to get clarity were unsuccessful.

Apartheid South Africa abandoned conscription for whites in August 1993. The SANDF is made up of volunteers.

Mdladlana said army conscription could be a perfect way to instil discipline in young South Africans “and full appreciation of the importance of the hard-won freedom”.

The statement said that the minister, in making the proposal, was quoting from the ANC’s strategy and tactics document.

“Conscripting our young people would not only help inculcate discipline, but also make them understand better the importance of defending our hard-earned liberation.

“The worrying trend whereby our youths are involved in armed robberies and other violent crimes that are ravaging our country could be reversed once they join the army,” Mdladlana said.

However, the ANC’s strategy and tactics document adopted by the party in Mafikeng in 1997, and updated in Stellenbosch in 2002, appears to make no reference to conscription.

Mdladlana’s spokesperson, Zolisa Gigabi, could not be reached for comment.

ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said there were several commissions at the ANC’s recent conference and that he was not sure whether it had been raised in any of the commissions.

“I don’t have any information at the present moment,” he said, referring queries to the party’s political committee, which is revising the strategy and tactics document.

However, a government official who wanted to remain anonymous said that conscription was not being discussed either in the government or the ruling party.

“There are no discussions, as far as I know,” he said.

The official said the confusion might be related to the drafting of a revised strategy and tactics document for this year’s ANC national conference.

Final amendments were made to the document yesterday. It will now be forwarded to branches for discussion.

The official said the issue under discussion related to the expansion of the national youth service, to ensure young South Africans had more access to skills and jobs.

A system similar to community service for doctors had also been mooted on a wider scale.