The South African peacekeeping mission in Burundi struggled for four years with chaotic accounting systems, inadequate logistical support and complex supply lines that left numerous vehicles and other equipment unserviceable, ammunition supplies vulnerable to theft and accident, and made it impossible for the mission to balance its books. Those problems are graphically illustrated in the proceedings of a 2005 board of inquiry into ”discrepancies” at the Burundi base. The Mail & Guardian obtained a copy of the confidential proceedings of the board and discussed its implications with Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and the Secretary of Defence, January Masilela.
It appears that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) may not have lost large quantities of vehicles and weapons in the jungles of Burundi, but instead misplaced them in a chaotic accounting system.
ML: It is true that our recording and accounting system lagged behind the actual operation. In the handÂÂover from South African Battalion 3 to South African Battlion 4 [in 2004] a number of queries arose, which is why we set up a board of inquiry. That was followed by an implementation and verification task team. All of the vehicles are now accounted for.
The proceedings of the enquiry make it clear that many senior officers believe the logistical systems and command and control infrastructure of the SANDF are totally inadequate to deal with peacekeeping missions.
JM: We had to deploy externally, we had never done that before. We are an organisation in transition. We had 23 logistical systems and each arm of service was using its own. We are now combining them in a new Operational Information Logistics System.
This isn’t just about accounting. If equipment is not accurately recorded, chances of it going missing are increased. And according to the proceedings of the board of inquiry, the majority of SANDF vehicles in Burundi cannot be serviced owing to a lack of spare parts — also a systems problem. Are you saying that situation is resolved?
JM: We recognised the difficulty, that is why the board was instituted. It is our instrument to establish where the weaknesses are.
The evidence presented to the board paints a very poor picture of the management of the Burundi deployment. There was ammunition stored under the special forces canteen. Other ammunition was stored close to fuel tanks and a runway; security procedures were inadequate; weapons were stolen. Weapons weren’t properly signed in and out. Is anyone going to be held responsible?
ML: This is not South Africa we are talking about. Here I have men and women that I drop in Burundi. They are surrounded by warring groups and they have limited land space. It is bound to happen that in the beginning there will be problematic situations. These bases were attacked twice and the loss of weapons was due to break-ins by Burundian military formations. We plead guilty, there were things we had to sort out. But systematically we took steps.
Are you confident that peacekeeping deployments are now better managed?
ML: [Previously] the situation was not that well managed, but all the vehicles are up to date, all the weapons, the uniforms and so on.
But surely someone should be held accountable?
ML: Look, you hold investigations, if no crime is committed … you have to look to other measures. For example, we had a problem in Hoedspruit with the theft of explosives. When it was traced back there, we found that the command structure there — white officers who had sworn loyalty to this country — were involved in the theft. Now we are having a problem in Ladysmith and I have no doubt that people we kept, and upgraded, because we trusted them, are involved.
The fundamental question remains, have you overhauled your accounting and logistics structures sufficiently to rapidly and effectively deploy into a complex operational environment if necessary?
ML: The old SADF had no experience in this, everybody had to learn. Now we have experience and other African countries are asking us for advice. The Dutch committed â,¬5-million to peacekeeping and they said they would only provide the money if it was managed by us. We are established now.