The culture in the newly integrated army is still white, causing widespread racial problems.
Rehana Rossouw reports
AT least four soldiers in the South African National Defence Force are currently being court-martialed on charges of alleging that their commanding officer was racist.
The prosecutions appear to reflect widespread race problems in the newly integrated SA National Defence Force (SANDF). Black soldiers at four defence force bases, informally surveyed by the Mail & Guardian this week, complained about racism. They claim the culture of the army is still white and Afrikaans, and harsh measures are taken against soldiers who were members of non-statutory armies on the grounds of “maintaining standards”.
Even though they are prohibited by army regulations from giving information to the media, the soldiers said that racism is rife in the defence force and soldiers who are too outspoken have been targeted.
There have been physical clashes between white and black soldiers in the Western Cape, which have led to soldiers being charged and found guilty of charges in military tribunals. The number of clashes and charges is unknown but soldiers said there were “many”.
Black soldiers complain that their infringements of army discipline are treated harshly while infringements by white members are often overlooked. They say their political leadership has abandoned them and does not respond to their complaints.
The soldiers said that shortly before the start in 1994 of their integration into the SANDF a policy called “Operation Juggernaut” was lanched. They were told this was an attempt to maintain “standards” in the new defence force and which meant soldiers found violating military rules would be summarily dealt with.
This, said a soldier based at the Youngsfield Military base in Cape Town who asked not to be named, meant maintaining the “racist South African Defence Force norms” which were not consistent with international military norms.
“It means black soldiers are ridiculed and ostracised by some of their white counterparts. What it is ultimately geared at is lowering the morale of former members of Umkhonto we Sizwe [MK] and the Azanian People’s Liberation Army [Apla] in an attempt to force us out,” said the soldier.
“Already many people have left the army because of racism and harassment and there are many more who are thinking of leaving right now.”
The complaints appear common across the Western Cape. In the Boland, two members of Group 31 Battalion are currently facing a court-martial on charges that they claimed their commanding officer was racist.
Black soldiers at Group 31 claim their commanding officer, Colonel George McLoughlin, told them standards would be so high in his unit that MK and Apla members would be forced to seek employment at “Shoprite and OK Bazaars”.
Group 31 soldiers said they had examples which clearly indicated that white soldiers who infringed military rules were not dealt with as harshly as black soldiers. A coloured member of the unit, Lieutenant- Colonel A Fredericks, was brought before a military tribunal and fined after being found guilty on charges of abandoning his post and using a military vehicle without authority.
Group 31 soldiers say Fredericks received a telephone call from relatives in February last year claiming that a young girl had been abducted. The callers told him the police would not respond to a missing persons report until 24 hours had elapsed.
Fredericks set off in a military vehicle to find the girl. He managed to track her down and remove her from the men who had abducted her, before returning to his post. Two weeks later, members of the unit were informed that they were needed to assist a civilian who reported that he had lost his wallet. Group 31 soldiers were dispatched, in military vehicles with high-tech night vision equipment to search for the missing wallet. The officers who ordered them to assist were not charged.
“This shows clearly what kind of people were in command of Group 31. When a black child’s life was threatened and a soldier who is sworn to protect the public went to help, he was disciplined. But when members were ordered to help a white man find his wallet, the officer who gave the order wasn’t disciplined,” said a soldier based at Group 31 who asked not to be named.
Soldiers at Group 31 claim the SANDF’s refusal to fund Booysen and Pheiffer’s legal costs because the lawyer defending them was in private practice, also smacked of racism.
They claim the army is paying the legal costs of Captain Dirk Rheede, who is white and based at Military Intelligence in Cape Town, who was charged with attempted murder following an incident which occurred while he was not on duty.
Ironically, Rheede’s case illustrates that not only black soldiers are concerned about racism in the SANDF. Rheede is alleged to have shot at a Lieutenant Potjie, a white soldier based at the castle in Cape Town who is facing charges of bringing the army into disrepute by claiming his commanding officer is racist and a poor manager.
Former members of MK and Apla have also alleged that the SANDF was racist in its allocation of housing units in the Western Cape. However, a commission of inquiry instituted three months ago – consisting of two white officers – cleared the Western Cape command of any wrongdoing.
Black soldiers claim their political leadership has abandoned them and that their appeals to ANC leaders for intervention have been ignored. A Lieutenant Magama, based at 9 South African Infantry Battalion, who allegedly wrote a letter to President Nelson Mandela complaining about alleged racism in the army, has been threatened with a court martial on the grounds that he should have complained to his commanding officer instead.
“They use this all the time. They expect us to complain to the very people who are unjustly discriminating against us,” said a former MK member who is now a lieutenant in the SANDF. The problem is, I don’t think Joe Modise [Minister of Defence] and Ronnie Kasrils [Deputy Minister of Defence] know the half of what is going on in their army.
“It is very difficult to keep our sanity and remain in the SANDF in the face of constant racial attacks. They are trying to drive us out of the army and they are succeeding.
“Morale is very low among former cadres. It is getting to the stage where we are even too scared to support each other. When one of us is being targetted, the others keep their heads low in the hope that the trouble doesn’t spill over.”
The Western Cape Command of the SANDF, army headquarters in Pretoria and the Ministry of Defence said they were unable to comment on these allegations before the M&G’s deadline.