Chapter 1

POST-COLD WAR DEMOBILISATION

Over five million military personnel have been demobilised since the termination of the Cold War in 1990. The end of the Cold War has led to significant cuts in military spending in almost all regions of the world, as a result of reduced military threats and a significant decrease in the need to maintain large standing armies. Moreover, the elimination of Cold War divisions in Europe has introduced the possibility of a radical demilitarisation process that could have profound consequences for interstate relations. Demilitarisation and the reduction of military forces has been significant in Europe and less dramatic in the United States mainly because of powerful defence industry lobbies, but has had global implications in general. Post-Cold War influences, the elimination of superpower rivalry, as well as the new commitment to democratic forms of governance have promoted demobilisation on the African continent. At the same time, it has become clear that a successful demobilisation process can have a very positive impact on post-conflict peacebuilding and social stability. Demobilisation can facilitate a reduction in defence expenditure and free scarce resources for economic development and social upliftment. However, a demobilisation process which fails to integrate former combatants successfully into civilian life can pose new and dangerous threats to social stability. Unemployed former combatants often fall back on their military skills to make a living, which could lead to crime and other forms of banditry.

Demobilisation, or the separation of personnel from military units, is followed by the more challenging process of reintegration. The reintegration of military personnel back into civilian life is in many cases an extremely difficult task requiring state assistance in the form of demobilisation packages (primarily financial assistance) along with other interventions such as educational assistance, counselling, skills training, career counselling and employment placement. Effective demobilisation packages are widely regarded as extremely important to ensure the reintegration of former combatants. The risks of failing to integrate highly trained military personnel successfully back into civilian life are self-evident. An effective demobilisation programme reduces the security risk that disaffected former combatants may pose. Successful reintegration requires that demobilised soldiers are able to find sustainable and meaningful civilian employment, sufficient to provide for themselves and their families in the long term. The process thus requires a skills conversion procedure which will turn a trained soldier into a skilled individual able to contribute to the civilian economy over the long term in a productive and meaningful way.

This monograph is the first in a two part study intended to identify the specific problems of demobilised soldiers in South Africa and thus to provide a foundation for planning the next phase of demobilisation, or what the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) terms ‘rationalisation’. This study falls into two parts. Chapters 1 to 9 examine demobilisation in developing countries with a view to provide insights, lessons and ideas for South Africa. The process of demobilisation in South Africa, which was initiated in 1995, is also examined. It remains a key item on the defence agenda. Chapters 10 to 14 deal with the results of a detailed survey conducted among demobilised former SANDF personnel. This socio-economic analysis provides a useful foundation for future planning of demobilisation strategies and reintegration programmes in South Africa. The specific objective of this study is to assist in the successful reintegration of demobilised soldiers into civil society. It is hoped that the research will promote remedies to assist soldiers already demobilised, as well as those who are expected to be demobilised in the future.