Nyanda admits to skills shortage but denies alleged low operational readiness

Being chief of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) has to be one of the more difficult of juggling acts in government .

As the SANDF emerges from almost a decade of integration of different armed formations, it is also fast coming up against new challenges such as budget constraints, age, skills shortages and new mission realities, while still struggling to address its legacies.

Defence Chief Gen Siphiwe Nyanda admits to "challenges", such as the skills shortage facing the 77000-strong force, but is highly sensitive to reports about low operational readiness.

Last year the most damaging was that the defence force only had a couple of Rooikat armoured vehicles and tanks that were ready for battle.

The SANDF's reply is these vehicles are for training and it makes little sense to maintain fighting vehicles it has in storage and which can be brought out should the need arise.

"Operational readiness and effectiveness are problems not only of the SANDF, but of all militaries. They all have the same problems of budgets that are skewed towards personnel expenditure, of soldiers who are not physically ready, although they may not have the same disease problems as in SA."

Peace support is an entirely new venture for the SANDF, but Nyanda insists it has learnt quickly and is ready. The largest operation at the moment is the protection of returned politicians in Burundi.

Nyanda agrees that there are dangers in that one of the armed factions has not signed the peace accord, but the basic guarantee for the mission is that the agreement provides a solid base.

While about to embark on a new and more demanding set of missions, the SANDF has its burdens. One is an old-age profile the average age of a private is 32 compared to that of about 22 in most other armies. Under United Nations rules those who are HIV- positive estimated by the SANDF at 22% in line with the national rate cannot be deployed on UN peacekeeping missions.

The SANDF has made proposals to government, but has to wait for a public service package before it can embark on any largescale campaign to attract new recruits. The downsizing that has taken place is largely through attrition and by way of retirement and early retirement.

In 1994 those in uniform in the SANDF numbered 110 000. Today the figure is about 75 300.

"We want the right size but also the right kind of person," Nyanda says.

This year the SANDF will take in about 1 500 new recruits, compared to the average of 500 a year for the past few years.

The aim is to have an annual intake of about 10 000, most of whom would be on short-term contracts. The idea is that these recruits would form the backbone of a more racially representative reserve force.

In the meantime, the commandos are being phased out to the chagrin of many farmers, who partly rely on them for security. In his state of the nation address last week, President Thabo Mbeki said the aim was to create, "a new system whose composition and ethos accord with the requirements of all rural communities".

Spending on personnel and the exit packages that are ultimately offered will burden the defence budget for some time. "We still have to free capital resources to training, which we have not attended to sufficiently."

There is still more capital spending required, in addition to that on the arms packages for the navy and air force. The army's basic fighting vehicle, the Ratel, will soon face bulk obsolescence.

One of the burdens on the SANDF is the criticism that there are far too many generals. At present there are 207 generals in the SANDF, which Nyanda says is a reduction compared to at the time of the Angolan conflict in the 1970s. He says part of the reason for the increase in the number of generals was the decision made to promote all brigadiers to the rank of general.

"It was important in terms of boosting morale," he says.

Nyanda tends to tread carefully on the emotionally charged area of transformation. He is quick to point out that the defence force reflects SA's racial demographics. But whites make up 83% of those with the rank of colonel, and only 3% of those who are privates. Asked when these ranks will reflect broader demographics, Nyanda says it takes years to train a colonel and refers to the need to develop an adequate exit mechanism.

However, the problem for the SANDF has been that those with the skills tend to take the packages. Nyanda admits that absorbing the arms package will amount to a challenge because of the skills shortages and says, "we dare not fail".

On the allegations of scandal surrounding the defence package, the chief is curt. "We are satisfied that we as the SANDF got the equipment we wanted," he says.

With acknowledgements to Jonathan Katzenellenbogen and the Business Day.