A South African anti-mercenary Bill under discussion in Parliament is discriminatory, the Freedom Front Plus said on Thursday.
”The statements made by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aziz Pahad … that people should come forward with names of South Africans who are currently serving in the Israeli army, is proof that the new anti-mercenary Bill … will discriminate against South African citizens who are legally members of foreign countries’ military services,” party spokesperson for defence Pieter Groenewald said in a statement.
The new Bill would require citizens seeking to enlist in foreign military services to obtain permission from the national conventional arms-control committee (NCACC).
If at the time of application the NCACC determined that the country in question was involved in conflict, permission would not be granted as it was illegal.
”This implies that it is a political criterion which will be used, and it is in contravention of the South African Constitution as it infringes upon the citizens’ freedom of choice of career,” Groenewald said.
The draft Prohibition of Mercenary Activities and Prohibition and Regulation of Certain Activities in Areas of Armed Conflict Bill compels South Africans to get authorisation to enlist in foreign armies. Such authorisation would lapse automatically once the armed force was deployed.
Parliament’s defence portfolio committee heard in June that an agreement existed under which Commonwealth member countries allowed their citizens to serve in each other’s armed forces.
South Africa could therefore not simply bar such participation, a Department of Defence official said at the time — conceding the deployment clause was problematic.
The Bill, which seeks to close perceived loopholes in existing anti-mercenary legislation, is still under parliamentary consideration. It has also been criticised for hampering South Africans doing humanitarian and legitimate security work abroad by requiring authorisation in each instance.
Between 4 000 and 20 000 South Africans are estimated to be selling their military skills abroad, including in Iraq.
British businessman Mark Thatcher was arrested two years ago under the country’s existing Foreign Military Assistance Act, which bans South African citizens and residents from engaging in mercenary activities.
Thatcher was accused of partly financing an alleged plot to install opposition leader Severo Moto in Equatorial Guinea. In January last year he pleaded guilty in Cape Town to violating South Africa’s anti-mercenary laws.
The son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher paid a R3-million fine at the time and has steadfastly denied that he knowingly took part in the conspiracy. — Sapa