Publication: The Times Issued: Date: 2009-11-19 Reporter:

SANDF is on the road to sandals and civvies

 

Publication 

The Times
Date

2009-11-19
Web Link www.timeslive.co.za



Former navy petty officer: My experience in the defence force (the navy) going back to 1961-1967, tells a different story to what Judge Ronnie Bosielo, of the commission looking into conditions of service in the military, reported.



What am I missing in this report? We were taught discipline and pride as a first step in the defence force.

Conditions at camps were always the direct responsibility of sailors, army and air force recruits - we had to wash, sweep, clean and even paint our own barracks; tidiness was inspected before we were called to breakfast in the morning, by 6.30am, and at unannounced times during the day.

As for the deterioration of the buildings, one does not need to look further than the filthy condition of vehicles to grasp how non-existent control and discipline are now, and to see how far the pride of our defence force has regressed.

It is quite obvious that commanders and the government have no discipline, pride or control themselves - other than what it takes to fill their own coffers.

And, in what I would consider was the most important asset we had in years gone by, there were no unions.

No, Mr Bosielo, your recommendations should include the top echelon in the service being either trained or replaced as a first step. But then who would do the training? It would be a case of the blind leading the blind.

At any rate, the hand-outs should be nipped in the bud, before we are left, like other defence forces on the continent, with a non-uniformed defence force in sandals and civvy clothing.

With acknowledgements to The Times.


The modern SANDF soldier expects an eight hour day and everything, but everything done for him - by inter alia contractors paid with our tax.

In all of our days in the SADF at least in basics (10 weeks) and then in second phase (another 16 weeks or so) soldiers did just about everything.

But even in the rest of the 52 weeks or 104 weeks of service, national servicemen were expected to do their normal duties plus whatever else was required to keep body and soul together.

On the border at Mpacha and Rundu we worked our 6 hour shifts and then threw concrete slabs until 02:00 am and then went on shift again at 06:00. Or filled sandbags, or built pubs, or delivered diesel to outstations 350 km away.

In Pretoria we did our duties and then loaded trains with military vehicles bound for Grootfontein with military vehicles. Then we went on standby for flood relief duty in May 1976 and later on standby for riot control in June 1976.

A troopie just did everything that was ordered of him.

And you weren't allowed to lie in in bed until 08:30 and then give the corporal or the sergeant of the staff sergeant the index finger when they came looking for you.

One wasn't even allowed to strip one's moer and open fire on full automatic with one's R1 at the major or the commandant or the colonel.

There were things called the Military Disciplinary Code (MDC) and the Detention Barracks (BD) and Courts Martial (CM).

These were things not to be trifled with.

And we got paid 93 cents per day, increased later in the period to 97 cents. About a quarter of this was deducted for haircuts, butter and jam.

And we got one 7-day pass per year of service.

Of course we also had to fight a real war as well.