Lindy Heinecken Lost in Transition and Transformation
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications Lindy Heinecken South Africa’s Post-Apartheid Military Lost in Transition and Transformation Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications Series Editor Anthony J. Masys, Associate Professor, Director of Global Disaster Management, Humanitarian Assistance and Homeland Security, University of South Florida, Tampa, USA Advisory Board Gisela Bichler, California State University, San Bernardino, CA, USA Thirimachos Bourlai, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA Chris Johnson, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK Panagiotis Karampelas, Hellenic Air Force Academy, Attica, Greece Christian Leuprecht, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, ON, Canada Edward C. Morse, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA David Skillicorn, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada Yoshiki Yamagata, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan Indexed by SCOPUS The series Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications comprises interdisciplinary research covering the theory, foundations and domain-specific topics pertaining to security. Publications within the series are peer-reviewed monographs and edited works in the areas of: – biological and chemical threat recognition and detection (e.g., biosensors, aerosols, forensics) – crisis and disaster management – terrorism – cyber security and secure information systems (e.g., encryption, optical and photonic systems) – traditional and non-traditional security – energy, food and resource security – economic security and securitization (including associated infrastructures) – transnational crime – human security and health security – social, political and psychological aspects of security – recognition and identification (e.g., optical imaging, biometrics, authentication and verification) – smart surveillance systems – applications of theoretical frameworks and methodologies (e.g., grounded the- ory, complexity, network sciences, modelling and simulation) Together, the high-quality contributions to this series provide a cross-disciplinary overview of forefront research endeavours aiming to make the world a safer place. The editors encourage prospective authors to correspond with them in advance of submitting a manuscript. Submission of manuscripts should be made to the Editor- in- Chief or one of the Editors. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/5540 Lindy Heinecken South Africa’s Post-Apartheid Military Lost in Transition and Transformation Lindy Heinecken Department of Sociology and Anthropology Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch, South Africa The Edition is not for sale in South Africa. Customers from South Africa please order the print book from: UCT Press, an imprint of Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd. ISBN of the South Africa edition: 978-1-77582-210-3 ISSN 1613-5113 ISSN 2363-9466 (electronic) Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications ISBN 978-3-030-33733-9 ISBN 978-3-030-33734-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33734-6 Jointly published with Juta & co. Ltd. ISBN of the Co-Publisher’s edition: 978-1-77582-210-3 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publishers, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publishers, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishers nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publishers remain neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Foreword South Africa’s Post-Apartheid Military is an authoritative and meticulously researched account of how the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), and indeed the Department of Defence and Veterans Affairs, came to be in its cur- rent state of critical decline. Lindy Heinecken tells it clearly and succinctly with the understanding of someone who has studied the military from inside and out for several decades. She is the ultimate empathetic social scientist. For many years, the Institute for Defence Policy (now the Institute for Security Studies), which I founded, was intimately involved in preparing the future for a post-apartheid mili- tary. After the unbanning of the African National Congress and the release of Nelson Mandela, I led several delegations to Germany and the United Kingdom ahead of the April 1994 elections. These were tense trips during which senior members of the National Party; African National Congress; the South African Defence Force; Umkhonto we Sizwe (the armed wing of the ANC); APLA (the armed wing of the Pan Africanist Congress); officers from the Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei (the four nominally independent homelands) defence forces; the Inkatha Freedom Party; and others tiptoed around each other. We listened to how Germany institutionalised oversight and accountability after the establishment of the Bundeswehr in 1955, and took home lessons in how to exercise civil oversight of the military. Across the Channel, we saw how Parliament in Westminster did it based on their traditions. We did not actually understand anything. And, if we did, the incom- ing Government of National Unity applied little of it. The politicians instituted a complex system of civilian control of the military that was ill-suited to South Africa. Effectively, parliamentary oversight of the military is not working because a culture of neglect and secrecy pervades the SANDF. On the advice of consultants, the mili- tary was reorganised, and it implemented recommendations that were rooted in private-sector management theory, with no understanding of the armed forces. Poor leadership and bad management opened the door to confrontational unionism, and, inadvertently, the top leadership in the SANDF became politicised. Amid other per- sonnel challenges, South Africa has ended up with an old, unfit, unsustainable force that clings to unrealistic ambitions. These are reflected in the development and approval by cabinet and Parliament of the 2015 Defence Review. Twenty-five years v vi Foreword down the line, we have a national defence force that is ill-equipped to undertake more than nominal peacekeeping. It cannot really support the police internally, can- not provide more than token border security and does not have the means to provide security in South Africa’s vast rural areas (where the police are even more under- resourced). At the same time, there is little debate or awareness of the role of the military within broader society. This is what happens when a military becomes lost in transition and is stuck in never-ending transformation. There are signs of hope in the generational renewal within the SANDF. As old soldiers fade away, new leader- ship is stepping up that has come up through the ranks. But without a very deter- mined, politically directed intervention, full renewal is still probably at least a decade away, possibly longer. For the SANDF, Lindy Heinecken concludes, the most pressing issue is now to return to the ‘hard’ issues that affect defence transfor- mation and future roles and functions of the military. Tough decisions need to be made in terms of personnel cuts, rejuvenation and equipping the defence force. Decisive, strong leadership is needed. Instead, what is happening is that South Africa is disinvesting in defence. We need to learn from our experience, and there is no better way to start than to read this excellent book. Founder and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees Jakkie Cilliers Institute for Security Studies Pretoria, South Africa August 2019 Acknowledgements Hereby I acknowledge the contributions of the SANDF personnel who have contributed to the content of this book through their participation in the numerous surveys, interviews and research projects over the past 30 years; fellow colleagues from the Military Academy, civilian academics and senior officers for your comments and critique of the various chapters; the research assistants who have assisted me over the years in locating sources, editing drafts and formatting references, saving me an enormous amount of time. I also acknowledge my family, without whose support and patience this book would not have been completed and the four legged beings in my life, who kept me sane during the writing process. In terms of financial support, thanks and appreciation to the various organisations who have funded this book through the various research and writing stages: the National Research Foundation,