Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

The head of the SANDF’s infantry formation has blasted South Africa’s soldiers for their lack of discipline and spirit.

At the SANDF Infantry Formation’s 54th anniversary celebrations in Thaba Tshwane yesterday, Major-General Themba Nkabinde said the parade was not one to show military might and pride.

“To say that this is a parade ‘as usual’ would be preposterous.”

Instead, the parade had to be used to highlight the serious challenges that faced the army’s infantry.

“I am using this parade to raise issues that lay bare challenges that cause multidimensional problems in the infantry.

“There are challenges facing us as the infantry that need to be addressed because we are getting to a stage where radical intervention is needed to stop us from descending into a state of chaos,” Nkabinde said.

One of those challenges was the lack of discipline.

“No army is worthy of the name without discipline.

“There is no army without organisation and all organisation is defective if they neglect any means to strengthen the unity of combatants,” he said.

Nkabinde said external deployments bore testimony to the true state of affairs in the infantry.

“Soldiers, no matter how well drilled, who are assembled haphazardly into companies and battalions will never have, and never had, the unity which is borne of mutual acquaintanceship,” he said.

Nkabinde said as an organisation, the infantry was struggling to define its culture and establish a solid doctrine.

“We tend to treat the two separately and attempt to develop a doctrine outside culture. This always leads to dismal results. Proof of this is in the training and quality of our troops.”

He said another challenge facing the infantry was the availability of structures and deployable personnel.

“We need to stop with silly power games and engagements in competence assassinations, trying to prove how incompetent, inexperienced or visionless this commander or that staff officer is.

“The infantry cannot afford the luxury of such idiosyncrasies,” said Nkabinde.

He said these were problems that wouldn’t be solved with prescriptive or “science-fiction solutions”, but with simple solutions that would build up companies and battalions.

“This can be done through proper staffing, training, equipping and utilisation if the discipline and spirit is to be returned to the infantry,” Nkabinde said.

n The SANDF Infantry Formation budget manager delivered a crippling budget in Pretoria yesterday.

Parachuting into the anniversary celebrations, Adriaan Penz had to be rushed to hospital moments after landing, apparently after fracturing his ankle.

Penz, who was conducting his ninth tandem jump, together with 44 Parachute Regiment tandem master, Major Laurel Thatcher, slipped on loose gravel as the duo landed to deliver the budget.

Infantry Formation spokesperson Major Merle Meyer said: “We will have to wait for another day for our budget to be delivered.”