A top infantry battalion may have hidden a frighteningly high incidence of HIV/Aids among soldiers by classifying their condition as "dental problems", a DA parliamentarian has said.

Only 138 members out of 612 in 1 SA Infantry Battalion had been classified fit for international deployment, the parliamentary portfolio committee on defence was told at a briefing at Tempe military base near Bloemfontein this week.

The commanding officer, Colin Mokhosi, said that the remaining 474 soldiers - 77,5 percent of the unit - had been classified as "unfit" because of "dental problems".

South Africa has reportedly been asked to provide a battalion for the United Nations peace-keeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The UN insists that all soldiers deployed in its peace-keeping forces must be HIV-negative.

Mokhosi also told the committee that the state of health in the unit was so poor that 175 soldiers reported sick every week, preventing it from taking part in some training exercises.

Hendrick Schmidt, Democratic Alliance spokesman on defence and a member of the portfolio committee, commented: "There is an apparent attempt to conceal the number of soldiers affected by HIV/Aids by classifying them as non-deployable because they have bad teeth. In my opinion, it is a poor attempt to hide the truth.

"It is unheard-of for a soldier to be withdrawn from action because he has holes in his teeth. If soldiers have toothache, they are sent to the army dentists to have their teeth fixed. Most dental problems can be fixed in a couple of hours.

"The suspicion of a cover-up is enforced by the very large number of soldiers reporting sick every week. And the army does not issue sick notices for a cold or a cough - a soldier has to be really sick."

Mokoshi also said that no projects related to the Masibambisane Programme, the army's anti-Aids campaign, had been launched in the unit because posts of officers concerned were vacant.

Mokhosi was not available for comment this week. His adjutant, Anton Otto, said that the number of soldiers who tested HIV-positive when being assessed for international deployment was "confidential". But dental problems were not confidential, he said.

Louis Kirstein of the communications section at defence headquarters in Pretoria, said he knew nothing about soldiers in 1 SA Infantry Battalion who may have tested HIV-positive. "I was told they had dental problems."

The portfolio committee was told at a briefing at Saldanha military base last month that up to 60 percent of soldiers in the defence force could be HIV-positive.

With acknowledgements to Jean Le May and Cape Argus.