Termination of Integration Intake Bill; Demobilisation Bill; National Conventional Arms Control Bill: briefing

Meeting report

SECURITY AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE
22 October 2001
TERMINATION OF INTEGRATION INTAKE BILL; DEMOBILISATION BILL; NATIONAL CONVENTIONAL ARMS CONTROL BILL: BRIEFING

Chairperson: Mr Mokoena

Relevant documents:
National Conventional Arms Control Bill [B50B-2001] (email [email protected] for this)
Termination of Integration Intake Bill [B5B-2001]
Demobilisation Bill [B6B-2001]
Update on Integration (see Appendix 1)

SUMMARY
The Department of Defence briefed the committee on the three Bills. Admiral Bakkes reported on integration into the SANDF. A similar report was made to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence earlier in the year.

MINUTES
Mr Rathebe (Department of Defence) briefed the committee on the Termination of Integration Intake Bill and the Demobilisation Bill.

Termination of Integration Intake Bill
Mr Rathebe said that the Constitution provided for the integration of the former MK, APLA and TBVC soldiers. MK and APLA soldiers had to enter into an appointment contract in order to join the SANDF. The Department now feels that a stage has been reached where reasonable time has been allowed for those who wanted to join the SANDF to come forward. The Bill brings the process of entering into the appointment contract to an end.

People whose names appear on the Certified Personnel Register must come forward before 31 March 2002. After this cut-off date, the right will no longer exist for people on this list to join the SANDF. The Bill also caters for persons in prison for political crimes who get amnesty as they too can join.

The cut-off date is enacted by an amendment to section 236 of the Constitution. The section in the constitution stated that the Non-Statutory Force members had to be given reasonable time to come forward. The amendment takes out the reference to reasonable time and says that they must come forward by 31 March 2002. This constitutional amendment will not need a two thirds majority vote because it falls under item 25. The amendment can therefore be enacted in an ordinary section 75 Bill.

Mr Mathee (NNP) asked if the amendment to Clause 5 of the Bill was the only change that the Portfolio Committee had introduced. [They amended the cut-off date from 31 December 2001 to 31 March 2002].

Mr Rathebe said it was the only change. The Committee had felt that more time should be allowed.

Report on Integration
Admiral Bakkes made his report to the committee (see Appendix). The issues raised by Admiral Bakkes are the following:
- 122 MK and 63 APLA are currently being considered for integration
- Nobody knows by how much this number will increase by 31 March 2002.
- There is a final intake planned for the end of February 2002.
- The amnesty intake will be part of the final intake.
- The Portfolio Committee on defence is awaiting details from the MK and APLA war veteran association about bona fide members that are not on the CPR by 16 November 2001.

The Chair asked how will people know about the intake.

Mr Rathebe replied that another intensive advertising campaign will be embarked upon.

The Chair asked what will happen if amnesty is granted after the cut-off date.

Mr Rathebe replied that if amnesty is granted after 31 March 2001, the person has a 90 day grace period to come forward.

Demobilisation Bill
Mr Rathebe said that there were persons on the Certified Personnel Register who did not want a military career or wanted one but could not meet the entry requirements for health reasons. These persons were demobilised and granted a gratuity.

The Demobilisation Act 99 of 1996 had 31 March 1998 as a cut off date for demobilisation. Many did not meet this date and it was extended to 31 March 1999 by way of an amendment.

There is going to be a new intake and if people cannot enlist because of health reasons they need to be given a gratuity. An amendment is needed to provide a legal framework to spend this money. The new date will now be 31 December 2002. This extension however does not make it possible for people to apply for demobilisation if the 31 March 1999 deadline was missed.

There were no questions.

National Conventional Arms Control Bill
Mr Maree (Dept of Defence) said that Bill was a Cabinet committee Bill and was merely administered by the Department of Defence. The Bill seeks to establish legislation that has been in practice for the past five years. There are no changes in principle in that government has direct control in conventional arms transfers.

Mr Maree went though some of the clauses:
- Conventional arms are defined broadly and do not include weapons only but also things such as intellectual property.
- Brokering services that includes financing and the facilitating of arms transfers is a new area in the legislation.
- Another new area is dual use goods. There is a narrow divide between what is a commercial and what is a military use. The definition could catch people who are operating solely in the commercial sense.
- The inclusion of the inspectorate has been in the pipeline for a while.
- The National Arms Control Committee (NACC) is formally established. This shows that SA is responsible and transparent when it comes to arms control.

Mr Maree indicated that the functions of the NACC are technical. The NACC is currently comprised of thirteen persons. The bill does not specify the number of persons on the NACC. The Departments of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Trade and Industry are the key members.

The Bill does not allow the import or export of arms without a permit. The NACC determines how permits are applied for. Clause 15 contains new guidance principles for the granting of permits.

Clause 17 deals with end user certificates. The recipient country agrees to certain conditions. So if the arms end up in another country, the SA government can hold the recipient country to account.

Clause 23 prohibits disclosure. There is debate as to how much disclosure is needed. Export statistics do get promulgated annually. Categories of exports are provided but it does not state what exactly is exported. The details are given to Cabinet quarterly but not to the public. The NACC will report quarterly to the Portfolio Committee on Defence.

A new clause is the disclosure of interest. If any party has an interest in the decision making process it must be disclosed.

New regulations will be published to strengthen the Bill.

There were no questions or comments and the meeting was closed.

Appendix:
INTERGRATION PROGRESS REPORT TO THE JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE

AIM
1. To inform members of the progress on integration since June 2001 as a final report will only be available the end of March 2002.

BACKGROUND
2. In anticipation of the end of integration being 31 December 2001 the Department of Defence had planned to have a final intake during November 2001 and to integrate additional members on an individual basis before 31 December 2001.

3. The Portfolio Committee has now decided to recommend that integration should end on 31st March 2002 and the Department will have to adjust their intake planning accordingly.

IMPLICATIONS
4. At present the names of some 122 former MK and some 68 former APLA members have been submitted by the MK and APLA Personnel Offices to be considered for integration i.e. a total of some 190.

5. It is not certain whether these numbers will change substantially because of extension of the date to 31 March 2002.

6. The SA Army is responsible for providing personnel facilities and capacity to handle the final intakes and during the first three months of 2002 will also be involved in dealing with the new recruits to the SANDF from the school leavers. To deal with large numbers of intergratees during the same period will therefore present a real challenge which will however have to be met. One of the options would be to carry on with the planned November 2001 intake and to handle members who subsequently have to be considered for integration on an individual basis as happened during November 1 999.

PROGRESS ON MATTERS IN JUNE 2001 PIOC REPORT
STATUTORY FORCE INTERGRATION
7 Matter finalized: Home Affairs Department still verifying ID's of former SADF foreign born members.

DEMOBILISATION
8. The Portfolio Committee on Defence has recommended 31st December 2002 as the formal end of demobilisation.

AMNESTY CASES
9. Due to the passage of time amnesty cases whose names appear on the CPR's will now be dealt with as part of the final intake and not necessarily on an individual basis.

MEMBERS NOT ON THE CPR
10. Without making any commitment the Portfolio Committee on Defence have invited MKMVA and APLAVA to submit the names of bona fide NSF members whose names are not on the CPR by 16 November 2001. This will enable the Committee to determine the extent of the problem and to take a view on how to deal with the members concerned. This was however not considered to be a matter that should delay the process of the end of integration legislation.

FRAUDULENT ENLISTMENTS
11. Documentation has been received from 18 former MK and 4 former APLA members who claim other persons used their names to integrate. These are currently under investigation by the SANDF.

AUDIT OF RANKING
12. 2112 serving former NSF members of the SANDF in the rank group Corporal to Major are at present being audited to determine whether they have suffered clear prejudice during the 1994 ranking process before the matter can be further pursued.


BIDGING TRAINING SA ARMY
13. The twenty members requiring basic bridging training has been
reduced to 10, the 1028 Corp Bridging Training to 926 and the Career Development Bridging Training from 223 to 150

SA AIRFORCE
14. Of the 703 members 221 are currently doing Bridging and Development training

SA NAVY
15. Basic bridging training has been completed. 88 members still require to do Naval Bridging Training and 105 Career Development Training,
down from 168.

SA MEDICAL HEALTH SERVICE
16. Of the previous 450 members only 376 still have to complete their Basic, Development and Functional Bridging courses.

(L. M. BAKKES)
ACTING DIRECTOR INTERGRATION: Radm (JG)
SANDF

[Graphs and tables not included. Email [email protected] for these]

Appendix A: PARLIAMENTARY INTERGRATION COMMITTEE REPORT: June 2001
SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE
INTEGRATION PROGRESS REPORT TO THE PARLIAMENTARY INTEGRATION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE (PIOC) 2001

Appendix A: Graphic Representation of Facts contained in this Report.
B: BMATT Report to MOD

AIM
1. The aim of this report is to inform the members of PIOC of the background to and current position with regard to the integration of personnel in the SANDF.
scope
2. The following issues are addressed in this report:
- Background regarding the composition of the SANDF in terms of the Constitution, the SANDF Integration Committee (IC) and the British Military Advisory and Training Team in South Africa (BMATT)
Statutory Force integration.
- Termination of Non -Statutory Force Integration
- Demobilisation
- Certified Personnel Registers (CPRs)
- Integration of members granted amnesty.
- Members not on CPRs and Fraudulent Enlistment.
- Lack of capacity of SA Army and financial and other implications
- Audit of ranking
- Bridging Training
- Medals
- Conclusion

COMPOSITION OF THE SANDF
3. Integration was the process of combining seven military forces into one South African National Defence Force (SANDF)
4. In terms of Section 224 and 236 of the Interim Constitution, 1993, the SANDF at its establishment consisted of
- all members of the South African Defence Force (SADF);
- all members of any defence force forming part of a national territory i.e. former Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei defence forces (TBVC); and
- members of a defence force or armed force of a political organisation under whose authority and controls it stands. Initially only Mkhonto we Siswe (MK) was included and later also the Azanian People Liberation Army (APLA).
- In accordance with a constitutional accommodation 2000 members of the Kwa-Zulu Natal Self Protection Force (KZSPF) became eligible for incorporation in the SANDF. KZSFP members were therefore taken into service in accordance with normal employment policies and regulations, as approved by Cabinet at the time.
- Annexure 1 contains a comparison of the Department of Defence Personnel strength per Former Force for 1994, 1996 and 2001 measured against the 1998 Defence Review Guidelines whilst Annexure 2 contains a comparison of race distribution in the DoD for the years 1994, 1996, and 2001.

SANDF INTEGRATION COMMITEE
7. Established in September 1994 the SANDF Integration Committee has played a major role in the Integration process. After more than seven years of integration the outstanding issues are now well addressed and can in future be catered for within the normal SANDF structures. The last IC meeting in its current format will take place in September 2001. The current Chairperson of the IC, Lt Gen A.M. L Masondo, will be retiring in October 2001 from the SANDF. It is not intended that he be replaced. Consideration is however being given to the establishment of a smaller monitoring forum to deal with matters that may arise during the final proposed intakes of former NSF members whose names appear on the CPRs.

BRITISH MILITARY ADVISORY AND TRAINING TEAM: SOUTH AFRICA
(BMATT SA)
8. On 8 April 1994, the South African Transitional Executive Council issued a formal invitation to the Government of the United Kingdom Government to assist in the process of integration in the SANDF. BMATT (SA) become operational on 13 June 1994.
9. The main tasks of BMATT (SA) are threefold as agreed to by the two Governments in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU):
- The validation of criteria and standards for the SANDF.
- Monitoring assessment, selection and training across all four services of the SANDF, i.e. SA Army, SA Air Force, SA Navy and SA Military Health Service.
- To adjudicate if disputes arise between parties involved in the integration process.
10. BMATT (SA) is commanded by a Brigadier. He is responsible to the UK Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Committee) and ultimately to the UK Chief of Defence Staff. In South Africa he is responsible to the Minister of Defence. Commander BMATT (SA) regularly briefs the Minister of Defence, Secretary for Defence, C SANDF and the Service Chiefs on integration issues. Appendix B is the final report of the outgoing Commander BMATT, Brig J.J. Keeling. The new incumbent is Brig S.G. Hughes.
11. BMATT (SA) personnel operate in South Africa under the terms agreed to by the two Governments in a joint MOU.

STATUTORY FORCE INTEGRATION.
12. The integration process of the statutory force members in all the services has been completed, except one administrative matter that is currently being dealt with. This relates to the South African ID documents held by foreign-born members whose citizenship is being verified by the Department of Home Affairs.

NON STATUTORY FORCE INTEGRATION
13. The Termination of Integration Intake Bill together with a Constitutional amendment and an amendment of the Demobilisation Act have been tabled for deliberation by Parliament in 2001.
14. The intention of this proposed legislation is to formally and legally bring the integration process to an end.
15. Subject to the promulgation of the draft legislation a final intake of former non statutory force members will be undertaken prior to September 2001 should this still be the final end date.
termination of integration and demobilization
16. The background regarding the proposed legislation is summarized as follows:
a. Integration has been ongoing since 1994.
b. NSF members had to integrate within a reasonable time, in terms of the Interim Constitution (Act 200 of 1993).
c. Seven years constitutes more than a reasonable time to bring integration to an end.
d. The process cannot deny amnesty cases who were in prison to integrate on being granted amnesty.
e. In terms of the Demobilisation Act (Act 99 of 1996), applications for demobilisation closed on 31 March 1999 and this date will have to be extended to coincide with the end of integration date as proposed in the draft legislation to make provision for possible cases who cannot or do not wish to enter into an agreement to serve in the SANDF.
f. Adequate communication attempts were made to inform former NSF members of their right to integrate in a final mass intake held in July 1998.

g. Forty five members of the July 1998 intake could for valid reasons not report and were given the opportunity to integrate on individual basis during November 1999. Thirty one of these members were in fact so integrated. The remaining fourteen did not report for integration.
h. The July 1998 and November 1999 intakes were intended to be the final intakes.
i. The proposed legislation is intended to provide for amnesty cases and for other cases who for some exceptional or other valid reason have not as yet integrated.

PROVISIONAL LISTS OF NSF MEMBERS ON CPR FOR INTEGRATION
- The MK Personnel Office has furnished a provisional list of 217 names and the APLA Personnel Office a list of 142 names of members on the CPRs who can be considered for any proposed final intake. The final numbers of members will only be determined once the lists have been finalised and the names have been verified.

DEMOBILIZATION
18. In terms of Section 224 (2) (c) read with 236 8 (d) of the 1993 Constitution, all members of MK and APLA whose names appear on a CPR, were eligible to enter into an agreement to serve (Integrate) in the SANDF if they met the laid down criteria.
19. Those members who are unable or unwilling to serve in the SANDF were dealt with in terms of the Demobilisation Act 1996. A member could either choose to integrate by entering into an agreement with the SANDF or apply to be demobilised. Members who demobilised were paid demobilsation grants.
20. Only members called up for the last integration intake and who qualify may still demobilise subject to the appropriate amended legislation being passed by Parliament.
21. - To date a total of 9 771 demobilisation gratuities were paid out, including 677 gratuities paid to dependants of deceased former NSF members. The total amount paid to date iro demobilisation grants amounts to RM246,2.

CERTIFIED PERSONNEL REGISTERS (CPRS)
22. The submission of CPRs of the non statutory forces ie MK and APLA, were provided for by the Transitional Executive Council Act (Act 151 of 1993) and the Interim Constitution (Act 200 of 1993).
23. These lists (hereinafter collectively called CPRs, although technically the APLA list was termed a Namelist) were to be compiled before 27 April 1994. CPRs submitted before 27 April 1994 were allowed to be updated on a monthly basis. The cut-off-date was extended for MK and APLA to 8 May 1996 and subsequently to 23 August 1996 and 11 October 1996 respectively to enable them to bring their CPRs up to date.
24. During the subsequent two years between 1994 and 1996 MK and APLA brought their CPRs up to date by adding a total of 8 219 names; MK adding 4 355 and APLA added 3 864. By implication the provisions of Schedule 6 of the Constitution (Act 108 of 1998) prohibited any further names being added to the NSF CPRs after 11 October 1996.
25. Therefore only bona fide members of MK and APLA appearing on the CPRs may be considered for integration into the SANDF. The proposed amendment to the existing legalisation in fact is intended to end integration after seven years during which eighteen intakes of NSF members took place.
26. Annexure 3 depicts the status of NSF members as at 15 May 2001 wrt integration, demobilisation and losses compared with the CPRs as follow:
Total numbers on MK & APLA CPRs 44 143
Members integrated in the SANDF 15 641 (MK 10 619 &
APLA 5 022)
Members who demobilised 9 771
Losses, i.e. retired, resigned, discharged or deceased 5 859
Not reported to be integrated or demobilised 12 872
Former SADF members in SANDF 43 036 (82 705 in SADF in 1994)
Former TBVC members in SANDF 5 931
Former KZSPF members in SANDF 1 599

INTEGRATION OF FORMER NSF MEMBERS GRANTED AMNESTY WHOSE NAMES APPEAR ON THE NSF CPRS
27. The Amnesty Committee of the TRC has already granted amnesty to a number of former NSF members still in prison for politically related offences which they committed. An unknown number of applications are in the process of being heard by the Amnesty Committee.
28. Since this category of former NSF members do not form part of a scheduled intake, additional measures to ensure control over the process have been instituted to afford these former NSF members the opportunity to be considered for integration into the SANDF. Even after the date of 30 September 2001, proposed for the end of integration, amnesty case members who apply and conform to all laid down criteria will still be considered for integration, provided they apply for integration within 90 days of being granted amnesty.
29. - Amnesty cases whose names do not appear on the NSF CPRs cannot be considered for integration.

MEMBERS NOT ON THE CPRS
31. In terms of the Constitution no member whose name does not appear on a CPR can be integrated into the SANDF. The fact that a member's name is not on the CPR is a matter between that person and his/her former force and not one to is be resolved by the SANDF.
32. Consideration could be given by the SANDF to bona fide NSF members whose names are not on the CPRs to be given the opportunity to be recruited into the SANDF via the normal recruiting channels without certain integration privileges, subject to the SANDF having adequate financial capacity and to the persons meeting the requirements of age, qualifications and medical fitness and that suitable posts are available. Their previous NSF service and experience will be taken into account in determining their ranks on appointment as is the case with normal recruiting practice.
33. In the event of such former NSF members being successfully recruited into the SANDF the matter of their previous NSF service to be recognised for pension and leave credit purposes could thenbe pursued.

FRAUDULENT ENLISTMENTS
34. The legal position is that a bona fide NSF member, whose name on the CPR was fraudulently used by another person, and who wishes to now integrate, is to criminally prosecute the perpetrator and remove him/her from the SANDF because according to the State Law Adviser only one person can be accommodated in the SANDF against a name appearing on the CPR. Some 5 such reported cases are currently being investigated by the SANDF.
35. The relevant SA National Defence Force instruction now provides that should it be discovered that a potential integratee's name was used by someone before, either to integrate or demobilise, the matter is reported to the Director of Personnel Acquisition, who is involved in the integration and who, in conjunction with Chief Military Legal Services, will determine the course of action to be taken. Each case will be handled individually, based on its merits. In appropriate instances the matters are being dealt with by the State organs which deal with fraud cases.

LACK OF CAPACITY OF THE SA ARMY
36. The SA Army does not have the capacity, budget or the resources to handle mass intakes of NSF members or to provide bridging and other training for large numbers of integratees. The SA Army has, however, budgeted to deal with a final intake of approximately 300 NSF members during 2001. Although the SA Army will provide the facilities to handle the final intake the other three Services will also be required to absorb their quotas of integratees.

FINANCIAL AND OTHER IMPLICATIONS
37. By way of example the cost of integrating 300 members at R69 991 per person is RM20,999 excluding the costs of logistics, uniforms, accommodation, food and training. These costs will have to be offset against the 2001/2002 recruiting budget which was intended to recruit 1 600 Grade 12 school leavers into the SANDF and their numbers will have to reduced according to the number of NSF members who integrate.

AUDIT OF RANKING
38. - The SANDF Integration Committee received several requests from former members of the NSF of the so called Wallmannsthal 1, Hoedspruit and De Brug 1 intakes for their ranks to be reviewed.
39. The matter was reported to the Plenary Defence Staff Council which, after a full discussion, decided that a review of ranks should not be carried out in the first instance. It was, however, decided by the Council that an audit of ranking should be carried out.
40. The main aim of the audit is to determine whether, taking all the relevant factors into account and based on the principle of proof that clear prejudice was suffered, a re-ranking may be indicated in respect of specific members.
41. The members involved will be informed of the final results of the audit in due course.

BRIDGING TRAINING
42. Bridging Training in the SANDF is about 85% complete which has resulted in the promotion of former NSF members.
43. It is expected that the members in the SA Army who still require basic bridging training will be reduced to twenty, seven years after integration started, whilst 1 028 former NSF members still need to complete their Corps Bridging Training. The Army Formations have all formulated action plans to reduce the current backlog. In addition 223 members still have to complete Career Development Bridging Training.
44. - There are currently 714 serving SA Air Force uniformed former NSF members of whom 266 are at present under Bridging and Development Training. The task is therefore 63% complete.
45. - The final Bridging Training requirement in the SA Navy will be determined as soon as the placement of individual members has been confirmed. The Chief of the Navy has introduced new processes to expedite Integration and Bridging Training in the SA Navy. Some 88 former NSF members still require to complete their Bridging Training and 168 have to undergo Career Development Training.
46. The relevant Officers Commanding in SA Military Health Service have shown commitment to complete the Bridging Training process and only 450 former NSF members still have to complete their Basic, Development and Functional Bridging courses. Only 8,4 % of Bridging Courses are still outstanding.
47. The Chief of the SA National Defence Force, in conjunction with BMATT, continues to monitor the situation to ensure that all the outstanding bridging training is completed as expeditiously as possible.
48. Annexure 4 shows former force distribution per rank as on 15 May 2001.
MEDALS
49. A full series of medals has been instituted for former NSF Service. The series include awards for deeds of bravery, merit and long service. The revision of qualifying service for long service awards has resulted in 4 668 members of the SANDF who had rendered former NSF service, being decorated. A further 17 members have been awarded campaign medals.

CONCLUSION
50. Integrating seven different former forces, each with their own culture, traditions and military histories into the SANDF admitting to a common culture and identity, was a very complex process. Adding budget cuts, re-structuring and rationalisation into the same time frame, the integration process remains one of the biggest armed force success stories in recent times. The SANDF is proud of what has been achieved and remains united in common allegiance to comply with the tasks our country's Constitution assigns to the SANDF.

(LT GEN A.M.L. MASONDO)
CHIEF OF THE SA NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE: GENERAL