Cablegate: South Africa: Former General Troubled by the State

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P 251021Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9684
INFO AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS PRETORIA 001950

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: MCAP PGOV MASS SF
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA: FORMER GENERAL TROUBLED BY THE STATE
OF THE SANDF

REF: PRETORIA 1825

1. (SBU) Summary: Brigadier General (Ret) George Kruys, now a
lecturer at University of Pretoria, shared with Poloffs his
perspective on the current state of the South African
National Defense Force (SANDF). Kruys discussed lack of
discipline as a function of pressure on the institution from
extended deployments, poor training, and high HIV and AIDS
rates. Kruys, who played a pivotal role in South Africa's
military transformation, expressed concern that, despite
promising new recruits, the SANDF might not be able to
withstand the tremendous pressure it is facing from a variety
of internal and external sources. End summary.

2. (SBU) General Kruys met recently with Poloffs to discuss
his work in compiling a report entitled "South African Army
Priorities and Roles in the Early 21st Century" for the
Institute for Strategic Studies. The report made local
headlines with the revelation that the SANDF had recorded
2,159 cases of disciplinary misdemeanors and military trials
involving South African Africa troops deployed in
peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and
Sudan over the past six years. The news of the number of
discipline cases involving SANDF peacekeepers came as a shock
to South African readers accustomed to praise for South
Africa's role in peacekeeping on the continent. The report
and the subsequent admission by Army Lieutenant-General Solly
Shoke that ill discipline is a serious problem within the
SANDF foreshadowed recent violent protests by soldiers (see
Reftel).

3. (SBU) The problem of ill-discipline in the SANDF is
particularly troubling for Kruys, who was one of the early
architects of the transformation of the apartheid-era South
African Defense Force (SADF) into the SANDF. Kruys briefly
discussed his role in the early 1990's in commanding military
forces sent to establish peace between African National
Congress (ANC) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) irregulars.
He also spoke of his work in integrating the ANC's military
wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) paramilitary forces and allied
paramilitary groups into the new South African military, the
SANDF. Kruys credited a 1993 month-long U.S. sponsored
leadership course with playing a critical role in knitting
together apartheid-era forces and newly integrated
paramilitary into a single military command structure. Kruys
commented that one of the most difficult problems facing
today's SANDF, resolving the status of, and assigning
benefits to, Umkhonto we Sizwe veterans, is complicated by
the lack of accurate personnel records on former ANC military
operatives. Encouraging the retirement of unskilled MK
veterans from the SANDF is one of the biggest challenges the
military faces in Kruys' view.

4. (SBU) Kruys expressed a degree of optimism regarding the
quality of the SANDF's new recruits, but he expressed concern
that training practices in place, such as pass-one, pass-all,
will prevent the military from utilizing fully the new talent
it attracts. Kruys would also like to see more joint
operations to encourage the services to work together and
learn from on another. He expressed optimism that new
initiatives are under way to address skills shortages in the
military but was worried that the new programs would not
reach large numbers of officers fast enough to counteract
growing problems.

5. (SBU) The problem of lack of discipline in the military
took center stage on August 26 when a demonstration in
Qtook center stage on August 26 when a demonstration in
Pretoria of soldiers demanding wage increases turned violent.
This problem was underscored when Defense Minister Liidiwe's
Sisulu defended her decision to fire the striking soldiers.
For General Kruys, discipline is lax in the SANDF because
punishment is not implemented effectively and decisively. He
told POLOFFS that large numbers of SANDF soldiers are
suspended without pay as their cases take up to two years to
be reviewed. Kruys commented that the SANDF's long
deployments for peacekeeping operations are detrimental to
strong discipline. The retired general believes the South
African military is over-stretched by overly long-duration
deployments during which soldiers receive no training and are
often bored. Kruys believes that battalion-sized
peacekeeping deployments are too large for the SANDF, and he
added that deployment rotation schedules need to be
addressed. He said that expecting soldiers to be deployed
for six out of every eighteen months is taxing on the
personal lives of soldiers and leads to psychological
problems.

6. (SBU) Kruys noted that added to the SANDF's many other
problems, an HIV rate that could be anywhere from 20 to 40
percent is an enormous burden on the nascent institution.
For Kruys, the hope for the SANDF lies in the future, which
means that attention must be given to HIV testing for new
recruits, to intensifying initial and in-service training, to
planning for joint operations that will build rather than
deplete skills. Finally, General Kruys would like South
Africa's political leaders consider to factor in the welfare
and development of the SANDF when they consider peacekeeping
commitments.

GIPS

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