P Batchelor and S Willett, Disarmament and Defence Industrial Adjustment in South Africa, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998, 249 pp.

Beginning in 1989, South Africa began to re-enter the international community. In that year, with the election of F W de Klerk as President, the cessation of the South African nuclear programme and, in the following year, the release of Nelson Mandela from twenty-seven years in prison, the country slowly changed its internal policies. This was mainly based on the realisation that the previous government’s ‘total strategy’ against internal and external foes had failed, leading to negotiations with the African National Conference to end apartheid and bringing about constitutional reform.

During the years of its isolation, South Africa developed a formidable domestic capacity for arms production. Between 1961 and 1989, military expenditure, as a percentage of gross domestic product, rose from 1,3 to 4,1 per cent. Domestic arms production went from R26 million to R2 056 billion in the same period. Starting in the late sixties and culminating in 1989, South Africa was forced to develop this domestic capacity to supply both its police and armed forces. By the late 1980s, South Africa had achieved a high-level of self-sufficiency, with the ability to produce ammunition and armoured vehicles almost entirely on its own, while still relying on foreign inputs for more sophisticated weaponry, including military aircraft.

In this timely book, Batchelor and Willet present a comprehensive and detailed analysis not only of the South African defence industry, but also of the political, economic and social motivators behind South Africa’s decision to adopt a strategy of self-sufficiency and its current attempt to rationalise the industry in the light of intense global competition and a sharply curtailed budget.

With the post-1989 changes, the defence budget was cut by forty per cent between 1989 and 1993 (in parallel with a severe recession). The need for a defence capacity was strongly debated in the country, and calls for the money that was saved on defence expenditure to be reallocated to development and social spending were raised. The defence force itself went through a process of substantial restructuring, with the incorporation of both statutory and non-statutory forces into the new South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and its consequent downsizing.

In addition to these changes, information about the sales of arms by South Africa to undesirable clients came to light. The Cameron Commission of Enquiry uncovered many details that led to the subsequent restructuring of Armscor and its subsidiaries, as well as the creation of the National Conventional Arms Co-ordinating Committee, a cabinet level body which approves export applications for the sale of military armaments.

Beginning with South Africa’s development from an arms importer and ending with its current status as an arms exporter, Batchelor and Willett analyse the changes wrought in the system with the end of apartheid and the need of the defence force and defence industry in the ‘new’ South Africa. The three phases identified by them, through which South Africa has passed — militarisation, disarmament and demilitarisation — form the framework for their analysis. This overview serves as the basis for their conclusion, in which they recommend several key areas which should continue to receive attention in the future:
  • procurement, including tasking a government department, as opposed to Armscor which has a history of illegal dealings and lacks the legitimacy and accountability, to undertake this;

  • the privatisation of Denel, the production arm of the defence industry;

  • research and development;

  • conversion and diversification; and

  • internationalisation of arms production.
South Africa’s unique history and its unfolding future make the location of defence an incontrovertible fact. Debates over the future of arms sales and the role of the defence in South Africa will continue to remain current. In this book, Batchelor and Willet have done the favour of presenting a sound assessment of the situation to date from which future debates may grow.

Sarah Meek
Institute for Security Studies



Robert I Rotbert and Greg Mills (editors), War and Peace in Southern Africa, Brookings Institution Press, Washington DC, 1998, 296 pp.

This edited volume is aptly subtitled Crime, Drugs, Armies and Trade and describes crime, policing, small arms proliferation, illegal population flows, the challenges of economic development, drug-trafficking and abuse, civil-military relations and the challenge of peacekeeping in Southern Africa.

The book consists of eleven edited papers, first presented at a conference with a similar title which was jointly hosted by the South African Institute of International Affairs, the World Peace Foundation and the Institute for Security Studies in Johannesburg from 4 to 6 August 1996.

Mark Shaw’s chapter on Crime and Policing in Post-Apartheid South Africa describes the quandary facing the government at a time when the estimated cost of all forms of crime was equivalent to some 18 per cent of the national budget (or 5,6 per cent of 1996 GDP). He points to the fact that South Africa was not comparatively under-policed, but although police concentrate strongly on the ‘front-end’ of the criminal justice system, very little progress has been made by the new order to encourage crime detection.

Joan Wardrop offers a closer perspective on the syndicates and ‘doing business’ in Soweto. Her chapter documents the explosion of criminal activities in Soweto in the nineties, questioning official organised crime statistics by estimating that more than 400 gangs operate in Soweto alone. She argues that violent crime should be examined neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood and calls for the careful allocation of scare resources.

Glenn Oosthuysen and Jacklyn Cock discuss small arms in the Southern African region. Oosthuysen examines the weapons-control measures in terms of internal legislation and the success attained in eliminating illegal weapons in a number of countries. He argues that both Mozambique and Angola provide informative case studies on how demobilisation and demilitarisation within a UN context can be applied successfully to peacebuilding efforts. Cock’s chapter on the proliferation of light weapons in the region argues that the problem of light weapon proliferation requires an holistic approach and a social solution. She discusses demand and supply factors, as well as possible solutions.

Hussein Solomon’s chapter focuses on illegal immigration into South Africa and explores the various causes that lead to population displacement, as well as the effects on the host states. His chapter strongly emphasises the comparative dimensions of the problem

In her chapter Katherine Marshall provides a ‘regional portrait’ of Southern Africa. She sketches some of the key economic and social issues confronting Southern Africa, including the enormous economic weight of South Africa and the extraordinary levels of inequality, both within and between countries.
The two chapters on drug-trafficking and drug abuse in the region are written by Robert Gelbard and C J D Venter. Gelbard’s chapter makes explicit mention of the importance of the Nigerian drug threat in recent years, as well as the fact that recent political changes in the region have inadvertently fostered the socio-economic conditions that abet international crime and the narcotics trade. The final part of his chapter proposes a focused and systematic response to the drug trade and the role that the US is playing in this regard.

The informative chapter by Venter first discusses the origin, extent, distribution and trafficking routes of all major types of drugs. This is followed by an analysis of the socio-economic and political implications of drug-trafficking and concludes with a section on enforcement initiatives.

Steven Metz emphasises the importance of the transformation of the South African National Defence Force. This, he believes, can only occur if South Africa’s elected leaders craft a coherent foreign policy, cultivate civilian administrators and elected officials with expertise about defence and maintain internal stability by augmenting the capabilities of the South African Police Service.

The chapter by Jeffrey Herbst casts doubts on the efficacy of the recent notion of ‘African solutions to African problems’, arguing that these are no answer to the complex emergencies which currently threaten a number of African countries. Although in favour of maximum African involvement, he casts doubts on the willingness and ability of African countries to resolve conflicts once war has broken out. He argues in favour of the creation of new sovereign states and a true partnership between African and Western countries that would allow global solutions to African problems.

The chapter by Mark Malan looks at the nature of peace in volatile Africa and the nature of peacekeeping in Mozambique and Angola. The second part of his chapter looks at weaknesses in the international response to African problems, as well as the African response to these various initiatives. Malan argues that regional peacekeeping capabilities should be based on firm foundations of enlightened military professionalism and civic consciousness.

The book successfully explores the link between crime and development in South Africa and the Southern African region, the extent and nature of crime and policing problems and issues in the Southern African region, and the link between prosperity in South Africa and regional stability. It is a concise, sobering and accessible summary of many of the challenges that face the subregion.

Dr. Jakkie Cilliers
Institute for Security Studies