PREFACE

The SANDF, like all other armed forces in the Southern African region has undergone, and anticipates that it will be undergoing substantial reductions in its force levels. Initially, it was anticipated that some 138 000 personnel would be integrated into the SANDF in 1994. This consisted of some 90 000 former SADF members, 32 000 former Umkhonto we Sizwe members, 6 000 former Azanian Peoples’ Liberation Army members and 11 000 members of the former homeland armies. At its height, however, only some 101 000 persons were finally integrated.

However, the force levels of the SANDF in 2001 stand at approximately 78 000. Various reasons account for the shortfall from the initial figure of 138 000. Firstly, only 15 000 members of the liberation forces were finally attested for service within the new national defence force. Most opted for employment elsewhere - either in the private or the merging public sector - while some 6 000 were demobilised due to ill health, age or aptitude.

Secondly, the number of former SADF members declined as a result of either having opted for voluntary severance, or termination of service on expiry of their contracts. In addition to these force reductions, the Department of Defence’s policy further anticipates that the force levels of the SANDF will have to be reduced from the present levels of 78 000 to possibly even 65 000 to ensure that the envisaged force design will be aligned with both future national defence requirements (particular the capital-intensive equipment items which the procurement package intends acquiring) and defence budgetary realities (which have witnessed a 59% decline in real terms since 1990).

While persons who are about to leave the armed forces have to be catered for, a profile of those who have already left is also necessary. An attempt must be made to determine the status of their personal circumstances. South Africa possesses numbers of former military personnel, which far exceed the numbers referred to above. Generations of white boys were conscripted into the former SADF, saw service in Namibia, Angola and elsewhere on the continent. Thousands of people saw service in the liberation movements, and a substantial number of them do not appear in the Certified Personnel Register. This is not even to speak of those who rendered military service in the former SADF Citizen Force or Namibian nationals conscripted into the service of the former South West Africa Territorial Force.

Indeed, the major problems of demobilisation do not come back to haunt governments in the immediate aftermath of a conflict but, more often than not, in the following decades. Although the recent invasions in Zimbabwe are mainly about land issues, an equally importantly component is that it is a product of the government’s failure to deal with its own demobilisation process - a process that dates back to the creation of the Zimbabwe National Army in 1980.

This monograph explores some of these issues by examining the challenges confronting the reinsertion of former SANDF personnel into the South African economy and society. It is hoped that it will make a contribution to the emerging policies, strategies and literature on the challenges of South African demobilisation. Regardless on whose side they fought, South African soldiers, both serving and demobilised, are people to whom there is a responsibility to ensure that they live a life of dignity in an environment of security.

Dr (Col) Rocky Williams
Head: Security Sector Transformation Programme
Institute for Security Studies
August 2001