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Date: 09/12/2003
Source: Deputy Ministry of Defence
Title: Madlala-Routledge: Faculty of Military Science Awards Ceremony


ADDRESS OF THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF DEFENCE, MS NC MADLALA-ROUTLEDGE, MP, AWARDS CEREMONY: FACULTY OF MILITARY SCIENCE, MILITARY ACADEMY, SALDANHA, 9 DECEMBER 2003

Programme Director,
Military Academy Advisory Board Members,
Chief Joint Training, Maj Gen Ntshinga & Mrs Ntshinga,
Outgoing Commandant Military Academy, Brig Gen Solly Mollo & Mrs Mollo,
Newly appointed Commandant Military Academy, Brig Gen Tawana Manyama,
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Operations, University of Stellenbosch, Prof Julian Smith & Mrs Smith,
Dean of Faculty of Military Science, Prof Johan Malan & Mrs Malan,
Mr Max Moss, MP,
Mayor Alderman of Saldanha Bay Municipal Area, Mrs Johanna Stoffels,
Rear Admiral Mudimu and Mrs Mudimu,
Major General Shoke and Mrs Shoke,
Major General Ramahlo,
Generals/Admirals/Senior Officers/RSM of Military Academy/Warrant Officers/Non-commissioned Officers,
Distinguished Guests,
Parents,
Ladies & Gentlemen,
And most importantly, awards recipients.

The Military Academy, in partnership with the University of Stellenbosch, has a rich history that has significantly contributed towards developing and producing a high calibre of successful, educated officers who continue to lead and take charge of powerful positions within the SANDF. Your slogan, "Arm yourself through knowledge" is thus so appropriate!

Tonight's awards recipients have clearly taken this message to heart. I want to thank you on behalf of the SANDF for your determination, drive and commitment to become achievers.

The diverse nature of the prizes awarded tonight clearly indicates to me that the Faculty of Military Science is educating students to become well balanced, critical minded and disciplined individuals. You are the future managers and decision-makers of the SANDF. It is thus encouraging to know that the future of the SANDF is in your good hands.

Congratulations to the parents, family members and friends of our award recipients, for your support, enthusiasm and understanding of the students in their study and career efforts. Last but not least, my sincerest thank you to the personnel and lecturers at the Military Academy for your contribution in moulding these young achievers.

I am particularly pleased and impressed with the research output of the Faculty of Military Science and the Centre for Military Studies. The academic support that you offer in terms of locating, searching and processing information is invaluable to the SANDF.

Your research in the fields of peacekeeping, HIV and AIDS in the armed forces, effective civilian control and labour relations in the Department of Defence is particularly noteworthy. I am excited also about the collaboration we are establishing between the Academy and CSIR on the development of a policy on Developmental Peacekeeping.

This will revolutionise how peacekeeping is done. I hope soon one of your research topics will be how to effectively mainstream gender in the SANDF. It is important to measure the impact of the greater recruitment of women into the SANDF and their increased role within the organisation. This will help us better understand the qualitative input women can bring to defence. It will also help us understand what we need to do to support and enable their full participation and contribution.

As one of the institutions which was historically dominated by men, Defence needs to be at the forefront of gender transformation and mainstreaming. We therefore congratulate the Academy in your effort in this regard. Not only have your numbers of female students and lecturers grown, you have also supported their individual growth and encouraged debate on issues of gender equity.

There is much more to be done and we therefore wish to congratulate our Chief Directorate Equal Opportunities for sterling work they are doing in the area of policy formulation and general awareness raising.

We need to confront the remaining challenges, as we transform all our institutions into truly democratic, non-racist, non-sexist and representative organisations.

We are meeting on the eve of International Human Rights Day, 10th December, as well as the eve of the tenth anniversary of our freedom as a nation. It is proper therefore to dedicate this address to the fundamental values enshrined in our new Constitution.

This is also the end of the sixteen days of activism to end violence against women and children and it is proper to single out this human right, close to the hearts of women, the right to security and safety. Let us unite to end the tyranny of domestic violence and rape. I dream of a country where women and children walk in the streets and live in their homes without fear. We have achieved many other goals and this is also one that we can achieve.

Gandhi wrote that poverty is the worst form of violence. Let us unite to end poverty and suffering. We are witnessing extraordinary developments that will change the nature and way in which we live. Yet, some 1,2 billion people must still survive on less than a dollar a day. If $2 a day is set as the absolute poverty line, nearly half the world's population is destitute.

The political implications of one world with unprecedented power and the ability to shape the future and another powerless in the face of ever-increasing technology are frightening.

Past injustices enable us to better understand the magnitude of the task facing us as constructors of a new nation. President Thabo Mbeki has on several occasions spoken of our society as a country of two nations: a country of rich and poor.

We must interrogate the notion of inequality as it perpetuates itself against the human rights culture that our democratic government has instituted.

In an effort to address the problem of huge backlogs in social investment, government has continued to prioritise spending on education. This year's Medium Term Budget Framework, which is dedicated to growth and development, has again committed a big slice of the budget to Education.

In terms of this, the years ahead will see abut R3 billion spent on the transformation and recapitalisation of higher education institutions and rapid growth in the number of workers and learners benefiting from skills programmes overseen by sector education and training authorities (Seta's).

Funding of learner support materials and other supplies for schools will be strengthened and the primary school nutrition programme will shift from health to education. These targeted interventions seek to improve the quality of learning for students, particularly in poor areas. Over time, the substantial and growing investments in school education will create a deeper pool of skills for economic growth. Investment in the education of our military personnel also contributes to the national pool of highly skilled and competent people.

In 2001 the Ministry of Education launched the National Education Plan to address anomalies in our education system. This plan follows a long process that was started in the early 1990's on debates of how higher education could be transformed to meet the needs of our society and the challenges posed by globalisation.

A problem is the low participation rates in our higher education system, is the low number of students who graduate from the system, compounding the problem is the low number of students who graduate from the system. The annual drop out rate at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level is estimated to be at least 20%. This implies that the government loses over R1, 3 billion in subsidies every year.

Coupled to the low participation rates are the imbalances in of programme participation. Presently most students are registered in humanities as against science and technology and business and commerce. On the other hand, overemphasis on science and technological studies may lead us into another danger.

The decline in the number of students, especially blacks, who study history and African languages, is a cause for concern, at a time when we need to rewrite our history and to promote it in schools. We may end up as a nation without due recognition for our history and philosophy. Our aim is to strike a balance between the economic, cultural and social needs of our society. The variety of awards bestowed tonight is proof that such a balance is indeed possible.

The National Education Plan has a number of strategies to increase the participation rates of especially Africans and Coloureds in higher education. These include the funding of academic development programmes as integral components of the new funding formula for higher education.

In line with Government policy to reposition higher education in this country to meet the socio-economic demands of the globalising world and nation-building, I want to congratulate the Military Academy and the University of Stellenbosch for strengthening their national effort to make access easier for local students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Although the primary role and duty of the SANDF is to defend the people of South Africa against external aggression, our country's policy is to be at peace with other nations. We have chosen to use our military to bring peace to our troubled continent, as part of our collective effort to put Africa on a path to sustainable peace and development. As an important part of Africa, we realised that by ensuring stability in other African countries we contribute to our own peace and development, for South Africa cannot be at peace while her neighbours are at war.

This institute of higher learning was established way back in 1950, in order to provide a competent, highly professional corps of officers for the then Union Defence Force. Today, the Academy is addressing South Africa's new needs of a defence in a democracy. In this regard, we have seen the transformation of the institution in the short period since 1994 to represent the new democratic ethos. We have seen a growing number of blacks and women admitted to the Academy.

We have also seen black and female lecturers join the Academy, thereby contributing to its transformation, relevance and development. As part of this transformation, the Academy appointed its first black Commandant three years ago, who in his pioneering work has shown that it is not the colour of one's skin, but the love for education and one's country, the love for ideas and development, that should determine who leads such an important institution as this one. We should all work for the day, in the not so distant future, when the Military Academy will have its first female head.

As part of the transformation and the new developmental agenda for Africa, the Ministry of Defence has in partnership with Public Works, embarked on a project to conceptualise a more holistic approach to peacekeeping, one that recognises the causes of conflict in Africa to be developmental in nature. The concept of developmental peacekeeping integrates the rebuilding of infrastructure and institutions destroyed by war and conflict and the effective demobilization and re-skilling of ex combatants and their effective reintegration into constructive civilian life as part of building a sustainable peace.

In this way we plan to use maximise the use our resources in the military - our personnel, equipment, the reserves, structures, planning capability, supervision and training - to pursue the peacetime equivalent of war in a war against poverty and ignorance and for peace and development, to build human security in the country and the continent.

This approach will ensure that the peacekeepers of the future will not only carry a gun, but also pick and shovel, chalk and duster, and negotiation and conflict resolution skills. As well as keeping the warring factions apart, they will help to rebuild infrastructure, improve health, education and governance and thus literally start rebuilding the country where they are deployed.

This is imperative as part of the future vision of the SANDF. Our military engineers, doctors, pilots, trainers, accountants, scientists are needed to envisage this goal, not only in post conflict Africa, but also in our own country, which too has emerged out of conflict. You are our best resource. We need you to help us rebuild our country and our continent!

SAS Saldanha Naval College and the Military Academy have risen to the challenge by offering their resources, through the Military Skills Development Programme and CEMIS, to help us make a meaningful contribution to the renewal and development of our country. You are helping us make real the dream of a peaceful and prosperous Africa. Just as South Africa is reconstructed with the mortar of a national unity, so you will construct your individual lives on the foundation of still-potent enthusiasm, values and wisdom that your education has instilled in you.

To the outgoing Commandant, Brig Gen Solly Mollo, thank you for your leadership, vision and commitment. I know that as you prepare to leave your present post, part of your heart will remain here on the West Coast. I hope you will continue to contribute to the development of academic discourse in the SANDF and in SADC forces. My best wishes accompany you. To the new incumbent, Brig Gen Tawana Manyama - I trust that you will continue on the path laid down for you and that you will lead this institution into an even brighter future.

I want to close with a quotation by US author and poet, Maya Angelou, as you reflect on the opportunity you have had and the wisdom that is also present in many others who have not had such an opportunity:

The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education."

This quality of strength, tenderness and intelligence is what we must all strive for, to build on the best qualities nature has bestowed on us.

To the students and lecturers, I end with another quote by Maya Angelou, my inspiration and favourite poet;

"There ain't no pay beneath the sun
As sweet as rest when a job's well done"

Enjoy your rest, for a job well done. Best wishes for the time head.

I thank you.

Issued by the Deputy Ministry of Defence

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