SALVO, Armscor's Corporate Journal
Issue 1, 2001

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) could not have appointed a better person to take over South Africa's military affairs and guide the organisation on a road to transformation. January Masilela is arguably the best qualified available person ever to head the Secretariat of the SANDF.

Masilela was appointed Defence Secretary last year, replacing retired Pierre Steyn. He brings with him to this highly demanding job a sharp intellect on military matters and a wealth of experience acquired during his exiled years undergoing training mostly attached to defence academies in countries of the former Eastern bloc. He is highly articulate, exudes confidence in what he says, and above all, he is a thoroughbred military man. Yet this should not negate the direction taken by the new military order, which is that the defence should be under the overall command of civilian personnel.

His earlier appointment as MEC for Local Government in Mpumalanga during the first term of the democratic government in the country, still begs some questions: How could someone as dyed-in-the-wool as he was in military matters have been appointed in a government post such as this one? To boot it, he later became MEC for Agriculture.

Masilela was born in Mhluzi township outside Nelspruit, Mpumalanga. He was exposed to the injustices of the apartheid system early on in his life. It was then that he decided he was not going to sit back. If it meant losing his life fighting the system, so be it. He left the country in 1975 for Zambia where he joined the ANC, enlisting with MK - Umkhonto weSizwe. That enlisting was to start a long chapter of military training: first in Libya for his basic military training, then to the former Soviet Union where he spent about two years doing a senior course.

Determined to become a "super soldier", and as though he was aware that his role was at the leadership level, Masilela proceeded with his advanced military courses, undergoing further training in Cuba and the people's Republic of Germany (East Germany). Between 1982 and 1984 he studied and received a senior diploma in social science. In 1987 he was posted to Botswana as Umkhonto's Political Commissar. His role covered, among others: strategy planning sending missions across to South Africa, interacting and getting feedback from those already in the country, and also advising on further steps/action.

His primary role as the SANDF Defence Secretary: "I am the chief accounting officer for the Defence Force. Among other things, this entails ensuring that we run an effective and cost-efficient organisation. The position also has the added responsibility of a Principal Policy Adviser to the Minister," Masilela says.

The one greatest achievement that he says the country has had was the successful integration of the seven formations of the past: the former South African Defence Force, ANC's uMkhonto weSizwe, PAC's Apla, and the armies of the four nominally independent states of Bophuthatswana, Transkei, Ciskei and Venda. "I regard this exercise (integration) as very unique, not only for South Africa, but also viewed from a global context. All these forces, with their different cultures of training, and for years sworn enemies, are now serving in one unified defence force, protecting the constitution of the country under one commander. This to me is the greatest achievement we have had and the main pillar of our democracy."

In spite of the integration success story, Masilela conceded that there still existed some teething problems within the force. The challenge facing his department was communicating the new vision of the new order to all levels of the SANDF. The Defence Force had moved away from a culture of clandestine operations to a transparent mode. Furthermore, there were sections within the Defence Force that still had to come to terms with the new civilian command structure(Secretariat). This was one of the priorities his department was dealing with: to communicate the new vision and principles of the new order as widely and effectively within the Defence Force as it was possible.

The other area that was receiving close attention was the issue of representativity. "The SANDF must represent the true demographics of the country.

Percentage-wise, our plan is as follows: 64% African; 24% white; 11% coloured and 1% Indian."

Masilela says they were also addressing the issue of staffing and middle management command, "which is too white. The whites also dominate the technical section because of the skills acquired as a result of the past exclusion of other races. We are working to change this."

The department had started to implement the L-Camps (Leadership Command and Management Practice). The programme, whose objective, among others, was to empower the formally disadvantaged persons, was making good progress. The passing and implementation of the Public Finance Act was aimed at ensuring that the department properly accounted and managed its finances better.

The other major challenge that the secretariat was facing was the huge excess of stock which was estimated at between R70bn and R100bn. "We have a plan in place which will start unfolding sometime in September to dispose of this massive arsenal."

Masilela commended the role played by Armscor, saying the Corporation was performing a valuable task of acquiring that which was needed by the defence or alternatively, selling excess equipment.

"Armscor is part and parcel of the defence. Apart from doing research for us on our needs, they also take on other responsibilities which are essential, but whose expertise do not reside within the Defence Force per se. some of these include the tendering process. We are presently redrafting the Armscor Act which will assist us even more in terms of streamlining the relationship between ourselves," says Masilela.

Masilela is not unduly worried by the cut in the Defence budget and the fact that the overall role of the SANDF might be seen as redundant as a result of the elimination of threats of conventional.

With acknowledgement to SALVO, Armscor's Corporate Journal.