Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota wants his soldiers to be able to build roads, steer riverboats, clear drainpipes – and “not just to stand there with a gun”.

In trying to convince legislators to support his quest for an increased defence budget, Lekota emphasised the role of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) in developing skills required in the country.

The defence budget has declined dramatically from a high point of 50% of government spending in 1989 to just more than 4% of public spending this year.

As a share of gross domestic product, defence spending will have declined from 8% in 1994 to just over 4% by 2010.

Recent budget increases have also not kept pace with inflation and some arms of service – notably landward defence – have suffered a net decline in budgetary allocations.

The defence minister said that an increased role in peacekeeping and reconstruction in the wake of civil conflict on the continent had shown that civilian skills training would be of critical importance in deployments of this kind.

It would also contribute to job creation at home, Lekota said.

“These deployments have illustrated the need to focus on training in civilian skills that can be ploughed back into the South African economy …

“Since we democratised, the country took the attitude that we should cut down heavily on defence spending.

“But when one considers these issues I am now raising … and the benefits that come back to the country as a result … there is a need to review and proportionally increase the budget for defence,” said the minister.

Lekota also suggested that the army’s role in reconstruction efforts in war-damaged countries should include providing civilian training to those countries’ people to enable them to take over reconstruction tasks from the SANDF.

“You need people with the capacity to build roads, to build bridges.

“You need people who have been trained to do this so that peacekeeping forces in those communities become resources for those communities – not just stand there with a gun – but to educate and train them in certain economic activities that divert their energies from fighting.”

Lekota said that South Africa was faced with the dilemma of high unemployment on one hand and an “unemployable populace” on the other.

President Thabo Mbeki announced in February that the defence force was to receive R700 million for training.

More than 4 000 soldiers are receiving training, but Lekota wants this figure to be boosted to 10 000 a year.

Later, during the budget debate, opposition MPs supported the call for the military to receive a larger slice of the spending pie, but also urged the SANDF to be economical with its spending.

The DA’s spokesperson on defence, Rafeek Shah, warned that the budget levels – taken with a higher than expected involvement in peace support operations – had eroded some of the organisation’s core capabilities.