He says the intelligence available for the operation was clearly defective. Orders for the mission given to Colonel Robby Hartslief, the commander of the 600-strong force that initially went in, were imprecisely phrased, with the result he had few clear objectives. The force was told to expect little to no resistance. This week senior army officers including the deputy chief of the army, Major General Roland de Vries, and the chief of special forces, Brigadier General Borries Bornmann, were highly critical of the operation, blaming politicians for the botch-up. Our troops could not adapt to the terrain.
Official figures released by the government seem to bear it out.
The integration of the former SADF complement involved the retention of an already bloated, overstaffed military bureaucracy. And only 9 000-odd soldiers applied successfully for voluntary severance packages. But, over this period, Parliament has continued to cut the defence budget. Since 1990 the budget has been cut by more than half in real terms. The decline has not eased during the ANC's four years in power.