Part-time forces have always formed the backbone of South Africa's defence force. If this role is to be continued into the 21st century, they will have to be a real citizen's army the defence force of all the people of South Africa.

Many of the views expressed publicly about the future of the men and women who form the military are not based on hard facts, address only a small part of the problem, or do not reflect public opinion. The latter is particularly evident from a wide-ranging opinion survey conducted jointly by the Institute for Defence Policy (IDP) and the Human Sciences Research Council in 1995. The Ministry of Defence and the South African National Defence Force are also under constant pressure to cut the defence budget, but to continue providing the same level of support to the police, in border security; to restructure the armed forces, but to do so without additional resources; to change dramatically, but to accept being marginal to public debate.

Finding the money for defence will always be a problem; finding the human resources in this period of transition may also be difficult. The SANDF has embarked on a new policy of volunteerism, equal opportunities, affirmative action, rationalisation and restructuring, all of which will affect the part-time force. Hopefully this monograph, the first in a new series by the IDP, will stimulate debate on the real details of restructuring, which must begin soon.

Midrand
February 1996