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The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, is absolutely correct to take a hard line against Julius Malema’s planned address to soldiers outside the Doornkop/Lenz military base in Gauteng.

The fact is that Julius Malema is playing a very dangerous game by trying to exploit poor service conditions in the defence force in his political battles ahead of the ANC’s 2012 Elective Conference.

We must not forget that service conditions at the Doornkop/Lenz military base were described by the National Defence Force Service Commission as “slum-like” and that the base was the epicentre of the violent protest by soldiers at the Union Buildings in 2009.

We cannot allow Julius Malema to undermine the constitutional imperative that the defence force remains a disciplined military force that is politically non-partisan.

Any soldiers who attend the meeting addressed by Julius Malema must be disciplined by the Defence Force in terms of the military disciplinary code.