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“The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Ms. Lindiwe Sisulu’s appearance in uniform at Freedom Day celebrations at the Union Building was unsuitable. The Minister is the political head after the President as supreme commander of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). The wearing of the uniform can be seen symbolically as the mixing of politics with defence force issues. Such actions politicises the SANDF even further and is unsuitable,” says Mr. Pieter Groenewald (MP), chief spokesperson on Defence for the Freedom Front Plus.
“One of the core findings of the Interim Defence Force Service Commission was precisely that the SANDF is still too politicised and negatively affects the morale of the members. It was found that there are still two systems in place for defence force numbers for soldiers. A system for soldiers from the previous regime and a system for the new regime. The Commission received numerous complaints from soldiers who say that when they have to be considered for courses for promotion, the defence force numbers are first considered. Depending on one’s previous political preferences one is considered for a course or not. It is an absurdity and should be changed immediately but the Minister’s actions definitely do not improve the situation,” Mr. Groenewald said.
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