The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) might be hiding a frighteningly high incidence of HIV/Aids among soldiers by classifying their condition as "dental problems".

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

Colin Mokhosi, the commanding officer, 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 peacekeeping force in Congo. The UN insists that all soldiers deployed in its peacekeeping 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.

Hendrik Schmidt, the Democratic Alliance spokesperson 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," Schmidt said.

"It is unheard of for a soldier to be withdrawn from action because he has holes in his teeth. 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.."

Mokhosi 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 responsible for the programme were vacant. He was not available for comment this week, but Anton Otto, his adjutant, said that the number of soldiers who tested HIV-positive when being assessed for international deployment was confidential.

Louis Kirstein of the communications section at defence headquarters in Pretoria said: "I don't know anything at all about soldiers in 1 SA Infantry Battalion who may have tested HIV-positive. I was told they had dental problems."

The committee was told at a briefing at Saldanha military base last month that up to 60 percent of SANDF soldiers could be HIV-positive. Mosiuoa Lekota, the defence minister, responded angrily to reports on the briefing, saying that the HIV infection rate in the army was 17 percent to 23 percent and that reports of 60 percent infection were "dangerous and ridiculous".

Schmidt said the committee was also shocked to hear of low morale at the base and a high incidence of theft from army stores. There were problems with the issue of uniforms "because many of the soldiers have put on so much weight that the uniforms don't fit."

With acknowledgements to Jean Le May and Sunday Independent