From: barnhart@netcom.com (Aaron Barnhart)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: IPS:SOUTH AFRICA: DEFENCE FORCE AND ANC
Date: 15 Aug 92 02:03:42 GMT
Reply-To: barnhart@netcom.com
Organization: Netcom

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Europe, western
Title: SOUTH AFRICA: DEFENCE FORCE AND ANC MUST MERGE, EXPERT SAYS


johannesburg, aug 10 (ips/eddie koch) -- south africa should
merge elements of the african national congress guerilla army
into pretoria's official defence force under international
supervision in order to break the current political impasse in
the country.

that is the view of maj-gen a.w dennis, retired director
of the military assistance overseas programme of the british
army, who spoke at a recent conference in johannesburg about
strategic military issues facing south africa in the future.

''large numbers of umkhonto we sizwe (the anc's guerilla army
also known as mk), largely untrained for regular operations,
will have to be absorbed speedily into the new defence force'',
general dennis told the conference.

''the higher management of defence will need to be changed to
accomodate political imperatives. at the same time the new
defence force must be created as an apolitical one with
loyalty to the government of the day and under civilian
control''.

general dennis -- who supervised the successful integration
of rival guerilla armies in zimbabwe into regular units of the
previously white-dominated security forces after rhodesia became
independent -- said this was the only way to remedy the
political deadlock in south africa.

the anc has pulled out of constitutional talks with president
frederik de klerk and says it will only restart negotiations
aimed at devising a new non-racial system  of government for
the country until the current security forces have undergone a
fundamental overhaul.

''a similar degree of distrust seems to exist between the sa
defence force and mk as existed in zimbabwe'',  said dennis.

''the distrust is compounded by the involvement of the sadf
in internal security. a significant reduction in the level of
distrust would probably be achieved if the sadf could be
disengaged from its internal security role.

in achieving acceptable integration the existing south
african defence force must recognise the need to incorporate
members of mk into key and senior positions''.

the general was speaking at a conference organised by the
independent institute for defence politics around the theme of
''military strategic issues for a future south africa''.
(more/ips)


south africa: defence (2)

dennis told the conference he based his comments on
lessons learnt while he served on the british military advisory
and training team (bmatt) that supervised the effective
integration of zimbabwe's rival armies after independence.

the success of that operation, he said, prevented civil war
or a coup d'etat by the white-led security forces after
independence and stemmed a general exodus of whites from the
country.

''a significant problem in achieving integration is common to
both zimbabwe in 1980 and south africa in 1992'',  said dennis.

''only the old established security force had the framework
of administration, control and command upon which a single army
could be constructed and those security forces were totally
mistrusted by the guerilla forces''.

he suggested that a military operation provided by an outside
country, similar to the bmatt project in zimbabwe, would be
able to counter this tension.

such a unit would be able to provide the following essential
services: an 'honest broker' element at the top levels of
defence management to ease tensions: improve the expertise of
umkhonto members and prepare them to take up positions in senior
and middle ranks of the defence force: a roving team of neutral
army officers who could act as neutral unmpires.

general dennis pointed out that britain's bmatt teams had
carried out such operations successfully in zimbabwe as well
as namibia, both countries that now have effective national
armies.

''i would also recommend a major commitment to the
improvement of the general acceptability of the police'', the
general added.

''until that is achieved it is hard to see how the defence
force can be dissassociated from internal security and if it
is so involved, i find it very hard to see how proper
integration can be affected''.

the general made these comments at a time when the sa police
is reeling from criticisms by british police officers who
supervised official investigations into the recent massacre of
over 40 people in boipatong that the local police units were
ineffective in protecting township residents from attack.

the credibility of the police has also been shattered by
claims from south africa's most senior pathologist, dr
jonathan gluckman, that 180 out of 200 prisoners who died in
detention over the past year were ''murdered'' by the police.
(end/ips/ek/oa/92)

-- 
Aaron (Barnhart@netcom.com) -- posting from Evanston, Illinois