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14 June 2007

Chairperson,

In two days time the country will be commemorating an important day in our history, the 31st anniversary of June 16. This day marked the acceleration of our fight for freedom and it also brought the day of our liberation from racial oppression closer. I mention June 16 because of the important role that our youth played in an endeavour to transform our country from a society that was racially exclusive to one that aims to be representative of all its peoples.

Among our senior officer corps we have many colonels and generals who are from the June 1976 generation. We hope that the present youth that joins the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will emulate their example and lead a fully representative defence force of the future. The Department of Defence (DoD) has grappled with the challenges of transformation since 1994, especially representivity among its uniformed staff. However, it is encouraging that we can today state that the issue of representivity is steadily but surely getting resolved. General representivity since 1994 has changed remarkably and women make up 18% of the total strength of the SANDF.

The present gender composition of the Military Skills Development System (MSDS) personnel gives us some encouragement for the future. Of the total strength of 5 166 MSDS soldiers, 1 536, or 30%, are women. If this trend continues, by 2009 we shall be close to achieving our target. The challenge that we need to deal with as far as representivity is concerned among MSDS, is to attract and recruit a sizable number of white young men and women. White representation is at present unacceptably low at six percent. Our recruitment division is busy devising strategies to overcome this challenge.

Chairperson, let me take this opportunity to call on South African youth, both black and white, to join the SANDF. This will ensure that the future SANDF does not become an all black affair, but reflect the demographics of the country at all levels. The challenge that existed over the years with regard to the middle management in the military, unfortunately, still exists. The majority of members in the ranks of Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel are mostly white, and of course, male. The Department of Defence hopes that through the introduction of the Member Exit Mechanism (MEM) and fast tracking of targeted individuals within the SANDF will eventually overcome this challenge. This mechanism, which is voluntary, allows the department to exercise discretion to retain personnel who possess essential skills and experience.

I am pleased to inform the house that two of the submarines that we procured for the South African Navy as part of the Defence Strategic Package have been delivered and are forming part of our fleet at the Simon's Town dockyard. As we acquire this new equipment, we train young people to be in a position to operate them and to this end a large number of black sailors have since been trained.

One of the developments of this training is the ascendancy of Bubele Kitie Mhlana, who is popularly known as "Bravo," to the captaincy of SAS Isandlwana. The process of qualifying as a Naval Commander of a frigate is long and arduous and demands both considerable intellectual growth and development. The command of a frigate is limited to those who truly excel. Bravo Mhlana has joined this exclusive club by passing the required tests to become the first African Commander of a frigate. We are proud of these strides that we are making in the transformation of the SANDF.

Whilst the SA Navy has concentrated largely on its capital renewal programmes during the last number of years, the renewal of its human resource component has not lagged far behind. Through the MSDS the SA Navy has on average provided 600 young men and women per year the opportunity to complete the two years Military Skills Development Programme. Nearly 60% of these youngsters were subsequently afforded the opportunity to migrate into the Core Career Service System and are today serving their country as proud members of the SA Navy. The remaining 40% are assisted to find relevant employment and are also getting incorporated into the SA Navy Reserves. The MSDS has to some extent started to improve our representivity in the SANDF, especially among junior officers. This system has contributed immensely in improving the age profile of the regular force, particularly among privates and non-commissioned officers.

The SA Air Force has in the past few years embarked on improving representivity among its ranks by recruiting more trainers and trainees. This is producing good results from the Langebaanweg Central Flying School. In addition, we have devised a strategy to counter the exodus of our pilots and technicians, by introducing an incentive scheme to retain them. This scheme was implemented from the beginning of the present financial year. The Ministry has engaged the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President of the South African Airways (SAA) to explore ways of encouraging SAA pilots to join the Reserve Force. The benefit of this is that the SANDF will continue to enjoy the expertise of those who separate from the Air Force to join the South African Airways.

In my budget vote address last year I reported that the department together with the Safety and Security Sector Education and Training Authority (SASSETA) had launched a re-skilling project for military veterans. Through the programme we were able to provide a number of veterans with various skills to make it easier for them to find employment.

We started by updating and populating the database for military veterans, as there were a number of bona fide veterans from the Non Statutory Forces whose names did not appear on the Certified Personnel Register. The database helps us to gauge the challenge that we are faced with and also eliminates the danger of enrolling in our programmes individuals who do not qualify thus reserving the limited resources that are available for those that were meant for. I can report that the database is about to be completed within the next few weeks. We have through the database established that about 4 000 veterans are in need of housing and the DoD is engaging the Department of Housing to address this issue. The process to verify others continues.

The SASSETA Project has already trained about 800 veterans, which is 17% of the target. A number of these veterans have been placed in jobs. I am happy to report that some provincial governments have come on board and have started programmes to assist veterans in their respective provinces. I want to mention the Impophoma project in Gauteng, which has embarked on a large scale to offer learnerships to veterans who have received training. Impophoma is planning to spread their project nationally.

Some Metropolitan Municipalities, notably, Ekurhuleni, have also embarked on programmes to train and place military veterans. Other metros have also undertaken to do the same. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry Working for Water project to cut down alien vegetation continues to provide employment and to impart entrepreneurial skills to military veterans in a number of provinces.

This department and some of the provincial governments understand that the challenge of assisting veterans is not a preserve of Defence, but is the responsibility of all departments and tiers of governments. I once again make an appeal to my colleagues in other departments to come on board and assist these destitute veterans who have done so much for our country so that they too, can be able to lead decent lives.

During the current financial year, we intend to finalise the inclusion for medical assistance those veterans and their dependants whose status were verified and appear on the database. While this may add an extra strain on the budget, it will go a long way in assisting all those veterans who are old or sickly and cannot benefit from the skills programmes. We get continuous reports of how these veterans die in miserable conditions. We have learned from experience in working with the veterans that may need psychological counselling to cope with civilian life. We expect the Surgeon General to report to the Ministry of Defence on the work done to achieve this.

Chairperson, I would like to mention the payments of National Savings Fund (NSF) pensions. While the payments of these pensions is a National Treasury responsibility, the Department of Defence plays a role in providing information to Treasury and in tracing some of the members who have separated from the SANDF. At present, 9 280 members have exited the system and therefore qualify to receive an NSF pension. Some of the difficulties that contribute to delays include the tracing of members whose present whereabouts are not known. Other applicants dispute the dates that are stated as the time they joined an NSF.

Measures have been taken to try to resolve the situation and the DoD officials meet with the National Treasury regularly to try to improve this situation. The DoD through the Chaplaincy has embarked on an HIV and AIDS awareness programme of changing behaviour and attitudes on two fronts. Firstly, it is helping our people to make decisions on grounds of values and ethics enhancing their own moral fibre and secondly, helping our people to make value based decisions on all relationships.

More than 10 000 members of the DoD went through the programme in the past four years. At present the DoD is concentrating on equipping all MSD members with these skills within the first 2 months after entering the department. The department has also reached out with this programme to train our fellow chaplains of Southern African Development Community (SADC) as well as those in the South African Police Service (SAPS).

The DoD, through the Chaplaincy, took the lead in hosting a Moral Regeneration conference where, for the first time ever, all religious bodies and faith groups in our country collectively pronounced themselves and committed themselves to Moral Rejuvenation. They also participated with other stakeholders on a broader concept plan of how to address moral regeneration issues in line with the programmes of government. The outcome of the conference was not only helpful for us as a Department, but also to faith groups, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and education institutions to update their own programmes.

As the Minister said, I want to thank the Secretary for Defence, the Chief of the SANDF and the Plenary Defence Staff Council (PDSC) and all the officials in the DoD who positively work to realise the mandate of the department.

In conclusion, Chairperson, I want to reiterate what the Minister said by declaring our appreciation of the role that is being played by the SANDF in ably assisting in hospitals by providing crucial essential services where they are needed during the present workers' strike. I want to put it on record that our soldiers are not deployed there as strike breakers, but are carrying out their constitutional duties of preventing loss of life. While the SANDF during the apartheid era was used to maim and kill our people, they are today used to save lives and alleviate suffering. We indeed have come a long way as a democracy.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Defence
14 June 2007