Jan Taljaard in Pretoria
THE new chief of the army has encountered a serious problem since moving to Pretoria to take up his new post: the gymnasiums in Pretoria only open at 5.30am.
“No man, that’s much too late,” says Lieutenant-General Reg Otto. Gesturing towards the rather forbidding facade of Army HQ, he remarks: “We start over here at 6.30 which leaves me no time to go to a gymnasium that only opens at 5.30.”
With a lager (the light one) in hand at a post-press- conference function, Otto does not exactly strike one as a fitness fanatic. But both he and his CV attest to the fact that he likes his regular workouts and to that will even add jogging over the weekends.
What a rather bland and perhaps politically sanitised CV (no medals for serious heroics or mentions in bush war dispatches) does not tell one, Otto will nevertheless readily provide.
Presented to the press this week, he answered them all: from questions on indemnity, the death of a soldier in detention, affirmative action and his feelings about working with people that not too long ago were regarded as the army’s enemies.
There was none of the “I don’t think this is the occasion for that kind of question” or the furtive referrals to liaison officers or scraps of paper.
He also did it in both Afrikaans and English and while there was no question in another language, his CV let it be known that he would have been able to do it in Zulu as well.
Right at the outset of the press conference, Otto himself volunteered that he has an informal style of command, but that this does not mean he wants to be popular instead of being effective.
“Someone has to make the decisions and while I like to discuss problems with fellow officers and soldiers I am willing to make the decisions.”
Apparently having decided what affirmative action in the army means, Otto explained: “It means that people must be selected and trained to reach a level of proficiency. The ANC and the previous government had agreed that we should stick to laid-down requirements. To become an officer in the army you have to be trained. We are working with, educating and training people now and doing it according to the requirements expected from a soldier and an officer.”
In the same way the army will continue with a policy of training officers from other African states depending on requests. It is his view that after the initial problems, integration of the different forces is progressing smoothly and may even be completed before the target date of 1997. According to Otto all parties concerned had learned some lessons form the initial problems and, with the lessons in mind, should be able to cope with the remainder of the process.
His reply to a question on his feelings of working with former enemies is immediate: “If I had any ill feelings about it, I wouldn’t be sitting here.”
Assessing the role of the army and the military threat against South Africa, he stated that the threat is rather one of internal stability than a threat from beyond the country’s borders. The army’s role will possibly be one of internal area protection and of assisting the police.
Replying to questions, Otto stated the army is capable of playing a role in peacekeeping efforts, although it was his view that the army should not get