”Dental reasons” have reduced the number of troops that can be deployed internationally at one South African infantry battalion from 612 to a mere 138, the unit’s commander says.
Colonel TC Mokhosi, commander of 1 SA Infantry Battalion (1 SAI) last week told the Parliamentary portfolio committee on defence that a significantly larger number could be used domestically, because of lower medical fitness standards.
Soldiers who are deployed on foreign soil must be HIV-negative, among other requirements, in line with United Nations (UN) dictates.
Mokhosi also told MPs the general state of health was so poor the unit received 175 sick notices per week in winter, which was preventing the battalion from participation in certain training programmes. The average age of his line infantry was between 34 and 38.
The unit was also understaffed with only 612 of its 1021 posts filled.
President Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday said South Africa would react positively should he receive a formal request from the UN to reinforce an existing peace mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The SA National Defence Force (SANDF) has reportedly been asked to provide a battalion group of about 1500 consisting of four rifle and one support company.
A ”robust” air contingent was also requested in addition to a field hospital and military field engineers.
Institute for Security Studies analyst Colonel Henri Boshoff said initial indications were that the force would be made up of mechanised infantry from 1 SAI and 61 Mechanised Infantry Battalion.
It is common for the South African military to make up ad hoc units for operational deployments at short notice.
But a military representative denied that 1 SAI and 61 Mech were tipped to deploy to the DRC.
He would not name the likely units on record or discuss their personnel status, citing security reasons.
While the ”dental reasons” were not explained, the huge discrepancy in the number of troops employed at the unit and number available to support South African regional commitments were disconcerting, military analysts said.
”The briefing to MPs amplify concerns about the readiness of the SANDF to discharge its mandate raised at a briefing for MPs at Saldanha earlier this month,” the African Armed Forces Journal’s Peter McIntosh said.
Held to probe the readiness of the reserve component of the SANDF, the Saldanha meeting found much wrong with the regulars as well.
It was found that the defence force’s salary and acquisition bills had left too little money in its budget to deploy or train troops.
”Judging by the 1 SAI figure, some units have now been reduced to welfare providers. This is not a military function. Useful as the bulk of 1 SAI’s troops may be in supporting the police, if they cannot be deployed in defence of the nation or in support its regional commitments, they shouldn’t be there,” McIntosh said.
On the face of it, 1 SAI should be able to field a full mechanised battalion of the size required by the UN. But because of poor health and understaffing it can now only field a weak company — about the same as most reserve infantry battalions.
The commentators said it would be in the best interests of the SANDF to urgently audit all its units so that its planners, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, Mbeki, regional allies and the UN could know what was actually available.
Meanwhile, the military would be able to meet the UN’s needs by casting its net wide. – Sapa