Lindy Heinecken

Facing a merciless enemy: HIV / AIDS and the South African armed forces.

The impact of HIV/AIDS on health, development, and security is nowhere more daunting than in southern Africa, where many claim that it has the potential to destabilize the entire region. In this article, the impact of HIV/AIDS on southern Africa, the factors contributing to the rapid spread of the disease, and how it is affecting the armed forces are highlighted. As an important regional economic and military power, how South Africa and more specifically, the South African armed forces manage the impact of the disease is of national and regional, if not global, concern. The various policy, human rights, human resources, health, and educational challenges facing the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) are discussed with specific reference to its impact on operational capacity and capability. Should the SANDF be unable to manage the disease efficiently, there may be a profound effect on peace and stability in the entire region.

LIVING IN TERROR: The looming security threat to Southern Africa

Unlike terrorism, HIV/AIDS deaths are seldom spectacular. The reason being, that those dying are dispersed and the impact not clearly visible. Yet it is one of the greatest threats to mankind as the disease slowly erodes the social fabric of society and weakens national economies, making it difficult for states to respond to the social challenges and political instability this disease poses. This is especially the case in countries with large inequalities in income, which experience rapid urbanisation and where there is high mobility and a Breakdown in social cohesion within society. Armed forces are a crucial part of any states security, but are often worst affected by this disease as it impacts directly on their operational effectiveness. Where armed forces face high infection rates it renders them less capable of coping with the internal disruption this disease causes as well as with the ability to provide humanitarian and peace support to those in need. With Southern Africa being the region most affected, South Africa as the regional economic and military power is becoming less capable of serving as regional peacekeeper or stabilising force as the impact of the disease becomes more visible.

Adjusting to peace: Military values in a cross-national comparison.

Cadets at military academies represent an elite group of junior officers destined to fill the top posts in their respective armed forces and set the future standards of professional behavior. But in an era where the military profession is undergoing tremendous change as a result of a shifting mission requirements-from conventional warfare to peacekeeping and humanitarian aid-how committed are young officers to their future careers and involvement in such missions? To what extent does military socialization shape this commitment? Our research, comparing the attitudes and values of cadets at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point to those of student officers at the South African Military Academy (SAMA) at Saldanha, indicates that the values and long-term commitment of officers to their respective armed forces are directly influenced by both military socialization and reinforcement of those values by the broader society.

South Africa's Armed Forces in transition: Adapting to the new strategic and political environment

Abstract This article focuses on the transformation of the South African armed forces since the end of the Cold War. The first section illustrates how the SANDFs mission focus has changed since 1990 from countering a “communist onslaught” on the country, to support of the people of South Africa and regional peacekeeping. Hereafter, the challenges of transformation are discussed in more depth, addressing the changes in civil control over the armed forces, organisational and farce restructuring, cultural transformation, including the integration process, representivity and gender issues and the need to bring defence policies and practices in line with the new Constitution. Here, some of the more controversial issues are discussed such as equality before the law, labour rights for soldiers and HIV/AIDS. The final section places the transformation process in context, by referring to international trends and the universal challenges facing armed forces in their plight to adapt to the changed security and political environment associated with the end of the Cold War.

HIV/Aids, the military and the impact on national and international security.

Abstract This article examines the impact of HIV/AIDS on the armed forces and the implications high infection rates among military personnel poses for national and international security. Data are provided of the current HIV/AIDS infection rates in the different regions of the world, with specific reference to Southern Africa and the armed forces of the region. The implications high infection levels within African armed forces hold for operational effectiveness are highlighted and the impact this epidemic has on future peacekeeping and humanitarian aid missions discussed. In the last section of the article, the link between human, national and international security are expanded upon, emphasising the destabilising effect HIV/AIDS has on global security and why this disease has been declared one of the most pressing transnational security challenges facing mankind.

The Politics of Race and Gender in the South African Armed Forces: Issues, Challenges, Lessons.

This article examines the politics of race and gender in the South African armed forces since 1994. The first section provides an overview of the changing racial profile of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). Thereafter the challenges which the integration of former enemy forces and affirmative action have posed in terms of changing power relations, professionalism, efficiency and effectiveness are discussed, before providing a brief overview of the different approaches to diversity management. The focus then shifts to gender and the debates on gender equality. The implications of the changed gender/racial profile are sketched, before moving on to some of the more contentious issues of sexuality, authority relations, leadership, sexual harassment and gender-based violence. The final section examines some of the difficulties women face whilst deployed on peacekeeping missions and how the unique needs of women in this patriarchal environment continue to be overlooked. The final section looks at how gender mainstreaming initiatives are being managed. For the SANDF finding the right balance between demographic representivity for the sake of redress and political expedience, and efficiency for the sake of military effectiveness continues to be an ongoing challenge.

Diversity in the armed forces

For armed forces, the pace of change since the end of the Cold War in 1989 has been extraordinary. Even though a major world war no longer seems to pose a serious threat to international peace and stability, militaries find themselves operating in more diverse envi-ronments than ever before. In the past, military astuteness and a clear picture of the enemy were sufficient. Today members of the military must-in diffuse political constellations- negotiate with belligerents from all sides of a conflict and remain neutral, at the same time remaining able to defend themselves against aggression. They also have to deal with a host of international actors in the theater of operations, including representatives of multilateral organizations, the media, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). And they must do this in a foreign cultural environment, in a country devastated by war, far removed from family and friends. Such conditions demand a high level of intercultural competence.

Mussel and oyster culture in Saldanha Bay, South Africa: potential for sustainable growth, development and employment creation

Worldwide declines in fish stocks have a significant impact on the livelihoods of coastal fishing communities as jobs are lost and alternative forms of employment are limited. Mariculture (marine aquaculture) is considered by governments to be a viable solution to address unemployment and poverty in such communities. In Saldanha Bay, South Africa, the growing mussel and oyster industry has considerable potential for poverty alleviation, hence food security enhancement. In the first part of this study, we examine the potential ecological carrying capacity of the Bay to produce bivalves, and estimate the impact of this on employment creation should the sector’s growth potential be fully realised. This growth potential could take the sector to 10 to 28 times its current size, providing direct employment for 940 to 2,500 people in the Saldanha area. Secondly, we assess five factors that affect the sustainable growth, development and employment creation potential of small-scale mariculture in South Africa and other countries. These are state support, markets, funding, the natural environment and the local community. Participants in the sector perceive its expansion potential to be hampered by regulatory issues such as incomplete implementation of a cohesive and accessible financial support policy, slow processing of mandatory samples required to monitor product safety, poor facilitation of access to international markets, price undercutting by imports subsidized in their countries of origin, and injuriously high lease fees for water levied by the parastatal harbour authority, coupled with lack of medium- and long-term lease tenure. The risk of environmental degradation from competing harbour use by large, fossil fuel and ore transport industries is of potential future concern.

A DIVERSE SOCIETY, A REPRESENTATIVE MILITARY? THE COMPLEXITY OF MANAGING DIVERSITY IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN ARMED FORCES

After providing a brief background as to why issues of diversity management within armed forces have become important internationally, this article outlines the diversity challenges facing the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). The first part of the article describes how the racial, language/ethnic and gender profile of the SANDF has changed since 1994 and the tensions this has evoked. The second part provides a brief conceptual framework against which diversity management in the SANDF can be interpreted, whereafter the various diversity management programmes instituted over the years to cultivate a respect for diversity are outlined. It is argued that the predominant emphasis on ‘workplace diversity’ at the cost of ‘valuing diversity’ has meant that existing stereotypes and tensions within the ranks have remained, with dire consequences not only for the cohesiveness and effectiveness of the SANDF, but also for civil-military relations.

Outsourcing Public Security The Unforeseen Consequences for the Military Profession

Since the end of the Cold War, there has been an exponential growth in the use of private military and security companies. Few have debated the long-term consequences outsourcing of security holds for the military profession. The first section of this article outlines the evolution of military outsourcing. From here the focus shifts to how outsourcing affects the armed forces’ ability to retain the monopoly over their “own” knowledge and skills base, and how it affects their autonomy, corporateness, and service ethic. The implications that this has for the armed forces and the military profession are deliberated. The conclusion is reached that extensive growth and use of private security have affected the intellectual and moral hegemony of the armed forces as providers of public security. The long-term implications of this in terms of the social structure and the identity of the military profession are not yet fully realized.