Military waste
EACH soldier in the SANDF costs South African taxpayers about R 375 000 annually.
This lunacy is highlighted by Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota’s pleadings in Parliament for still more money so that troops can “build roads, steer riverboats, clear drainpipes and not just stand there with a gun” (“Soldiers should do more than just stand there with a gun”, May 28).
At R375 000 each, soldiers are not “cheap labour”.
Their purpose is to wage war, and to kill people. Thankfully there is no conceivable foreign military threat to South Africa, but using soldiers as unskilled, manual labour is an appalling misuse of public resources.
Lekota admits soldiers should not be used to police civilians, and are neither trained nor equipped to replace the police (“Troops will shoot anyone pointing gun at them”, May 28).
It is past time for a complete rethink on South Africa’s security needs in keeping with section 198 (1) of the Constitution, which clearly makes human security a priority before outdated concepts of military security against non-existent foreign enemies.
-
29 Mai 2008 à 12:38 dans
- zsandf (anglais)
