Publication: Business Day Issued: Date: 2006-08-23 Reporter: Wyndham Hartley Reporter:

Military Pleased at Progress of Voluntary Exit Programme

 

Publication 

Business Day
Date 2006-08-23

Reporter

 Wyndham Hartley

Web Link

www.businessday.co.za

 

CAPE TOWN ­ Of the more than 1000 personnel who left the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in the past year under its new “exit mechanism”, more than 75% were white and from key middle management posts.

Many of these soldiers would have left the defence force in order to take up lucrative security posts in places such as Iraq. It is these posts that will soon be strictly regulated under the new antimercenary bill presently before Parliament.

Rather than expressing alarm at the exodus, the defence department has welcomed the departures as an opportunity to promote black and women soldiers to middle man-agement levels. Secretary for Defence January Masilela told Parliament’s defence committee yesterday that the “mobility/exit mechanism (MEM)” was starting to work.

It allows members of the force to apply to leave the service and defines the benefits that will be paid to them, depending on their age and length of service.

“The intent is to enable the department to make tangible progress in right-sizing its human resources composition through a process of realistic succession planning,” said Masilela.

At the same time, the force will guard against an exodus of scarce skills and specialist knowledge.

In his report, Masilela said 1189 defence force members had left since August last year when the voluntary programme started. Seven major-generals left ­ six were white; 18 brigadier-generals left ­ 16 were white; 63 colonels left ­ 61 were white; 165 lieutenant-colonels left ­ 143 were white; and 126 majors left ­ 112 were white.

From the engine room of the military, 346 warrant officers left ­ 301 of them were white; while 259 staff sergeants and sergeants left ­ 174 of them were white.

The department said MEM was “already leading to an exit of middle management white males from the regular force, thereby creating capacity for upward mobility of designated (previously disadvant-aged) persons”.

It expected that as new applications were approved, the number of white males leaving would increase. Of the 1189 staff to leave, 240 were women.

In the middle management levels, 486 men of all races left the defence force.

The department said this has also created capacity for the upward mobility of women.

This figure was expected to increase in the years ahead. Voluntary exits had cost the department R181,8m, including the cost of leave.

Of the 1189 staff who left the SANDF, only 22% were older than 50, with the majority between 30 and 50.

“The continuing high voluntary exit tempo of whites also helps the department to improve its equity targets,” the report said.

With acknowledgements to Wyndham Hartley and Business Day.


*1      Rear Admiral (Junior Grade) J.E.G. Kamerman, corvette project director, has recently taken the MEM option and joined ThyssenKrupp, purveyors of shoes, ships, sealing wax and bribes to third world politicians.

Now this is an example of mobility and exit mechanism - the revolving door.