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Date
: 08/04/2005
Source: Ministry of Defence
Title: George: Defence Dept Budget Vote 2005/2006
Speech by the Deputy Minister of Defence, the Hon Mluleki George
MP, Budget Speech, Parliament
Madam Speaker,
I have recently returned from my first tour of South African
National Defence Force operations in the Great Lakes region,
namely, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. I also
visited Rwanda as a way of setting a context for the visit. As a
result of what I experienced out there I feel it is both timely and
appropriate that I dedicate my speech today primarily to the men
and women of the SANDF deployed outside our borders.
Our foreign policy supported by the good work with regard to
peacekeeping however has been undermined by a combination of
problems, which impact directly on our effectiveness, reputation
and security.
With transparency foremost in mind I decided to travel to the Great
Lakes region with the print and electronic media so that together
we can experience the reality on the ground together.
Madam Speaker,
The truth of the matter is that on the ground we are acknowledged
by both local officials and the UN as the most effective contingent
in both of the operational areas for our discipline, skills,
humanity and ability to deliver on the general expectations of
peacekeeping.
Our troops are always on hand for humanitarian support to the local
communities; prominent local officials often seek to use our
medical facilities and staff rather than their own fully fledged
hospitals; our VIP protection services are in demand; our
engineering teams have performed outstanding work for local
government and operations projects; we are often called upon to
effect logistics for referendums and elections processes; our
troops patrol boats on the Great Lakes have significantly reduced
criminal activity, and, our presence in general as a credible and
effective peacekeeping force has been a major stabilising
factor.
Furthermore, our troops have not only supported schools and
orphanages in the operational zones but many soldiers have of their
own volition, and out of their own pockets, supported individual
children with school fees and equipment for their educational
requirements.
Such is the trust and rapport between our troops and local
communities that local youths often raise money in the community to
give our soldiers to buy them goods from South Africa. In one case
a soldier was given 30 US dollars for a camera. The soldier duly
returned with a camera. The boy then started a small enterprise
charging troops for pictures. Our troops duly pay for the
occasional service, up front, fully aware there is no film
available in the community. No troop has ever actually received his
or her picture. But then again, who cares. Conventional grassroots
wisdom it seems has it that better an entrepreneur than a potential
militia.
Madam Speaker,
I can assure you that every clear transgression by our troops of
the UN or South African military code of conduct on record has been
dealt with by the SANDF swiftly and decisively. However, given that
our troops are under the mandate of the UN we do not act on hearsay
allegations.
To this day the Ministry of Defence does not have a single official
report on complaints against our troops from the UN. I raised these
issues very sharply at the UN’s MONUC headquarters in
Kinshasa and questioned the ethics of allowing for media to
continuously quote the UN, unchallenged, on unsubstantiated
allegations against our troops.
Understanding as they were the response of the UN at MONUC was
rather disturbing as it was clear that they have limited control
over the situation. All my concerns were referred to ‘pending
reports’ and a faceless bureaucracy extending as far as New
York.
I told them that we are concerned about a trend pointing to hidden
political agendas aimed at undermining the success and profile of
South Africa in peacekeeping on our continent.
Madam Speaker,
With regard to our challenges, part of our resources will have to
be utilised for the transformation of the Military Justice System
in order to deal will miscreants in the National Defence Force. We
are concerned that some people that we have employed may not be
committed to our democracy. This is reflected in the kind of
problems we find in our logistics unit where there are some delays
which may impact negatively on our ability to support our troops in
the field.
We have to take the view that we operate in far off countries with
inadequate infrastructure and this means that our ability to send
material and deploy and support our staff on the ground should be
done timeously and as efficiently as possible so that we are in a
position to judge whether these problems are caused by
inefficiencies or by deliberate actions which may call for the
application of the provisions of our code of conduct and relevant
military discipline laws.
Given our proud and much envied reputation for delivery, the
problem of logistics has compromised us to the extent that
competencies that were known to be best provided by South Africans
(engineering for example) are now being eagerly usurped by other
countries.
Members of this house are fully aware of the challenges referred to
and the full extent to which the Department is grappling with these
issues.
In keeping with our peacekeeping commitment I am pleased to inform
the house that in January this year the Military Skills Development
System had it’s highest intake ever with over four thousand
young men and women enrolling for a future in the SANDF. In July we
envisage receiving a further intake of two thousand.
Ultimately the test of our success in going forward will be the
extent to which the Department of Defence can be the employer of
choice for young, talented South Africans. The MSD also ensures
that those who have to leave the service have the necessary skills
to engage in meaningful economic activity.
Whilst the MSD is the ideal vehicle for the comprehensive and
sustainable transformation of the SANDF from both a representivity
and performance perspective, I must also join the Minister of
Defence in acknowledging the recent senior appointments to the
leadership profile and transformation of the Department of
Defence.
Both the Navy and the Air Force have submitted comprehensive plans
and programmes of transformation with clear timelines, measurable
outputs and an intention to monitor implementation.
The comprehensive rejuvenation of the SANDF however can only
further escalate as we start to implement the exit mechanism for
the older cadre and bolster our reserve forces. The success and
speed of the implementation of our HR 2010 strategy depends to a
large extent on additional funding from Government. I say this
fully aware of the concerns of Parliament’s portfolio
committees on certain aspects of our financial management. This too
is receiving urgent attention in the department.
The future and welfare of the Military Veterans of South Africa is
a very high priority. I have just completed the first round of
defence Izimbizo with Military Veterans in Gauteng, Western Cape,
Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. I intend to visit all nine
provinces with the express purpose of consolidating communication
around our strategy for this year with clear timeframes and
deadlines.
Madam Speaker,
In conclusion, I refer to the beginning of the journey where my
sensitivities on matters of peacekeeping were heightened
profoundly.
During a visit to one of the genocide sites in South West Rwanda I
spoke to one of the survivors, Emmanuel Murangira. Out of an
extended family of forty-nine he is the sole survivor of the
Murambi genocide.
As he spoke of the horrors of his experience I looked into the
vacant stare in the eyes of this man and thought to
myself……. I am now more convinced than ever before
that we are doing the right thing by engaging our troops in
peacekeeping.
Africa must not fail the people of the Great Lakes region again.
Let us start by ensuring that our deployed troops are adequately
supported.
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