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SA military unravels - and 500-D workers forced into short shifts…

 

‘SANDF would struggle to patrol Mozambique Channel if piracy moved South’

SA Army in Crisis Aug 2 2009 Sunday Tribune ZA Front Page Ed3 August 2 2009 – PRETORIA. The SA National Defence Force is in an "appalling" state of readiness. Its troops are over-age, medically unfit with 60% HIV+ -- and unable to even form one batallion-sized fighting force at short notice...

Basically, all of the country’s defences are down. The SANDF doesn’t have enough manpower nor enough ships to even prevent piracy if it were to move south from Somalia and Kenya along its coastlines, warn  experts at Jane’s Defence Weekly, the Institute of Security Studies, a top maritime lawyer and top politicians.  Despite large-scale purchases of expensive naval ships such as submarines in the fraudulent arms deal, the country’s once so magnificent and totally self-reliant defence force is unravelling very rapidly.

For our recent article on a top maritime lawyer’s warning of this growing threat to South Africa’s crucial harbours from the piracy problem along Africa’s East Coast -  click here

SANDF not capable of handling anything except a minor crisis:

"Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has expressed happiness with the readiness of the defence force," says Jane's Defence Weekly Southern Africa correspondent Helmoed-Romer Heitman. "The reality is that the state of readiness is appalling: The SANDF is in no way capable of handling anything but the most minor crisis."

Piracy dangers: SANDF lacks aircraft, ships to patrol waters effectively…

Heitman says the present SANDF ‘could not mount an effective intervention to stabilise neighbouring Zimbabwe nor even rescue its peacekeeping troops in places such as Darfur. It would struggle to patrol the Mozambique Channel if piracy moved south and hit our shipping directly.  "It lacks the aircraft and ships to patrol our waters effectively," he says. It also lacks the troops to take over border security from the police, as Lindiwe Sisulu has suggested it should.

Over-age, medically unfit troops, broken down vehicles…

Boshoff Henri Institute Security Studies SANDF collapsing he warns Aug 4 2009 Henri Boshoff hoff@issafrica.org of the Institute of Security Studies in Pretoria, a retired military officer, agrees the defence force "would struggle to execute even some simple operations".

“It cannot even deploy a cohesive battalion but must deploy composite units, because too many of the soldiers are ‘over-age and medically unfit’. And budget cuts have had a severe negative effect on, for instance, firearms training.”..

SANDF can’t even form a batallion-sized fighting force now: He agrees with retired Brigadier-General George Kruys of the University of Pretoria that a high proportion of vehicles deployed for peace support operations are unserviceable. "The roots of the problem are multiple," says Heitman. "Most obvious is the mismatch between defence funding and what is demanded of the defence force. "The SANDF is doing an 18-battalion job with an 11-battalion army. That cannot be sustained."

Professor Renfrew Christie, dean of research at the University of the Western Cape, believes that "the (ruling ANC-)secretariat and the generals have self-censored the requirements of the defence force. "The result is that the real needs have not been communicated to the treasury. They should be saying what they really need to do the job."

‘Soldiers without vehicles, ships without sailors, planes without pilots, military hospitals without doctors…’

Heitman also lambasts the wasted costs of  the ill-fated plan to "re-engineer the defence force according to business principles”, which must now all be undone. And he fingers "the unwillingness to enforce discipline or demand integrity, even from senior officers".

  • The result, says Heitman, is a defence force that is unravelling, and that will unravel ever more quickly as equipment runs out of useful life, as pilots leave, for lack of flying- and technical personnel, and “as experienced officers retire and good junior officers leave in disgust".

Democratic Alliance opposition shadow minister of defence MP David Maynier says the country will be left with "soldiers without vehicles, ships without sailors, planes without pilots, and military hospitals without doctors".

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500,000 workers forced into short shifts, low pay…

SA Police Facing Down Construction worker strikers Greenpoint FIFA stadium Marlon Klink reader pic August 6 2009 – PRETORIA. Life in the civilian lane is also getting grimmer fast, reports Solidarity Trade Union. Half-a-million workers now already are being forced to work seriously reduced shifts as the South African economic malaise continues to deepen. These workers now only receive a fraction of their salaries -- or even no salaries at all, warns the trade union Solidarity. They are doing a survey of these mounting problems through their Radio Solidarity programmes – and workers are urged to email them with their own personal experiences. The trade union is also looking for  solutions as to how this gathering storm must be handled. Email Solidarity at radio@solidariteit.co.za in Pretoria.

The economic crisis is also plunging the country into increasingly frequent,  widespread and usually violence-driven rioting by workers who still have jobs but make unrealistic demands of 15% increases, R5,000 monthly house-benefits and free municipal services --  such as these armed construction workers recently did while confronting the thin blue line at the FIFA World Cup 2010 stadium at Greenpoint, Cape Town. This picture was taken by Cape Town resident Marion Klink, and is a strong illustration of the militancy of these strikers and rioters countrywide, who are growing increasingly angry with the ANC-government.

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thousands of  needy toddlers without daily meals since January

August 6 2009 – On the very day that Durban city manager Dr Michael Sutliffe distributed a pomppous newsletter headlined ‘building a caring society’ – in which he claims his forced removal plans for 5,000 Early Morning Market traders and replacing them with  an upmarket shopping centre for the rich is not inhumane -- the Inkatha Freedom Party MEC Roman Liptak also warned that the provincial Social Development government had ‘inexplicably stopped the daily R12 subsidies per child for hundreds of non-profit creches since January this year – leaving hundreds of thousands of children without daily meals and staffers without pay”. The creches qualify for these R12 subdisies per child by signing a so-named Service Level Agreement guaranteeing the government’s rules for daily nutritional requirements for these impoverished children, who often are HIV+ and are administered daily antiretroviral treatments there each day to prevent full-blown AIDS. Yet hundreds of these creches, have not been receiving the daily subsidies since January this year.

“The non-payment of subsidies to hundreds of crèches, which came without warning or explanation in January 2009, has created a full-blown crisis for children, teachers and NPOs in uMkhanyakude District and elsewhere in the province,” warned Liptak. Despite this crisis, most of the creches remain open – but ‘ under extremely difficult circumstances,’ he said. Many teachers have not received a cent in pay this year, and many of these impoverished and often HIV-infected children must bring food from home or go hungry – despite the fact that the HIV-antiretrovirals they take each day, requires a specific minimum food intake.  “Many toddlers go hungry day by day – even though they need food because they are on antiretrovirals,’ warned Liptak. He pointed out that to qualify for the R12.per child daily subsidies, all the registered non-profit crèches have to comply with the government’s Service Level Agreements which run from March to March. The government department has a chaotic policy he warns: “Some creches without the latest signed agreements do get subsidies. “This suggests total chaos and we urge the MEC for Social Development to intervene and see to the needs and rights of the affected children as well as those who devote their time to look after them,” said Liptak. Contact: Roman Liptak, 078 302 0929 5 August 2009

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