16 November 2009
Johannesburg — CRAIG* would rather have joined the British army, but is still happy with having served his two-year contract in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
After matric, he joined the Military Skills Development Systems, launched in 2003 to rejuvenate the SANDF, improve racial representativity and develop skills. "It was a lot harder than I expected but I'm glad I did it," says Craig, 22, who comes from a military family. But many other young South Africans -- especially from white military families -- are opting for the British army, creating a gap that is potentially undermining the SANDF's transformation objectives.
Reasons for enlisting abroad include better prospects for professional development, overseas experience as well as British citizenship, and access to the European labour market. Some are wary of racial quotas in the SANDF, which they feel prevent the progress of white soldiers.
"They think they will have no career," says Institute for Security Studies researcher Henri Boshoff. Others see a deterioration of standards resulting from the delicate quota system meant to achieve a racial balance.
"Merit just doesn't count any more," says Cathy, whose son Steven has just completed his first tour of Afghanistan as a member of a British unit. "He's very happy," she says, contrasting Steven's experience with what she says is diminished professionalism in the SANDF.
"It's no longer a calling any more; everything is done on quotas, including advanced training," says Cathy, herself a former officer in the air force. Steven had his sights on the French Foreign Legion as a second choice.
"The defence force is not the preferred employer for white males," says Lukas Bakkies, a retired rear admiral and secretary- general of the Council of Military Veterans Organisations. But he says the military -- keen on a racially representative army -- wants more of them to enlist.
Sam Mkhwanazi, the Department of Defence's acting director of communication, strategy and content development, says defence transformation targets are 64% African, 24% white, 11% coloured and 1% Indian.
There were 18862 privates in the military in August, of whom 88,5% were black, 8,4% coloured, 0,25% Indian and 2,9% white.
Mkhwanazi says the shortage of whites at entry level is due to several factors, including the advantages that whites had in the past. "A perception that white youth do not join the SANDF because of affirmative action is not true as is evidenced by the fact that middle management in the SANDF is predominantly white."
Figures from the UK defence ministry early last year showed there were 7240 Commonwealth nationals, including 880 South Africans. The numbers amount to a tenfold increase since the war in Afghanistan began, but they exclude 3700 Nepalese Gurkhas in the British army, which Cathy says is still run on a merit system. "It's a professional army -- that's the difference. If you make it, you make it; it doesn't matter where you come from," she says.
Three years ago, Parliament moved to ban South Africans from joining foreign armies without official permission. But proposed regulations, believed to have been provoked by the arrest of British mercenary Simon Mann for planning a failed coup in Equatorial Guinea, have still not come into effect.
Helmoed Heitman, Africa correspondent for Jane's Defence Weekly, says preference for the British army comes from SA's Commonwealth connections. More recently, Australia has attracted South African service personnel, especially from the air force. "The point here is that most armed forces are short of key people ... and we shoot ourselves in the foot with our racial appointment and promotion policies," says Heitman.
UK High Commission spokesman Gary Benham says they get about 10 inquiries a month, b ut the UK does not actively recruit in SA or fund applicants to obtain visas or travel to Britain.
Meanwhile, Craig -- now studying conservation in the Western Cape -- has no recollection of any race-related discomfort in the SANDF. "You will always get the odd individual. Most of the time there is no problem; we wear the same uniform and do the same job," he says.
He hopes to work for the anti- poaching unit in Limpopo. The military taught him to be independent and helped him find himself. "Any person leaving matric should definitely do it," he says.
*Names have been changed.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Business Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
