10 February 2004
Honourable President of the Republic of South Africa, Cde. Thabo Mbeki, Honourable Deputy President, Cde. Jacob Zuma, Honourable Ministers, Honourable Members and Comrades. I also want to acknowledge the presence of our people in the gallery.
Sepedi key a ledumesa ka Moka. Ke bile ke thaba go tsea karolo mo ngangesamong ye ya Mo- President wa Naga ya Puso ya Batho Pele.
MADAM SPEAKER
As South Africans, we can look back over the last ten years with an enormous sense of pride. We have triumphed against overwhelming odds, weathered much criticism, entered into dynamic discussions and experienced dramatic changes to the world order.
In the SANDF, we can take pride in knowing that the debate around our country's defence requirements has been acknowledged as one of the most transparent and consultative in the world.
The Defence Force exists through its primary objective, which is to defend and protect South Africa, its territorial integrity and its people in accordance with the Constitution.
WHAT HAVE WE ACHIEVED?
Since the advent of democracy, South Africa has undertaken one of the most systematic defence and security reviews in the developing world.
This has led to the abandoning of nuclear deterrence, a commitment to collective and common security and the adoption of a new framework for the management of security.
One of the major tasks over the last few years has been to build an integrated defence force, and ensure that the integration of the various armed formations went off smoothly. Given the historical animosities amongst the various armed forces, this was an admirable achievement.
Transforming the SANDF has been a long and difficult process as it was witnessed in the Tempe and Phalaborwa shootings.
There remains challenges of structural re-engineering of the management of information and control systems necessary to support the Defence Secretatriat with regard to its statutory obligations. In many SANDF Divisions, top leadership remains white and male. Gender transformation also remains a daunting task in the Department of the Defence.
The policy framework of the SANDF evolved through the comprehensive Defence Review which formed the basis of the White Paper of Defence and the subsequent legislation that governs this important area of our national security.
The White Paper set out important principles for civil-military relations and for the organizational structure of defence management. It also brought to prominence the fact that Parliament "has a range of significant powers regarding military affairs in order to assert democratic control over the armed forces and defence policy."
Some of the other successes to date within Defence include:
Another project, which is collaboration between the Department of Defense, the Medical University of South Africa and the United States Department of Defence, offers treatment options for HIV positive SANDF members. This project's main objective is to provide treatment to HIV positive SANDF members and their dependants. This project will also focus on the management and treatment of HIV infection amongst SANDF members and their dependants. People involved in this project will consist of experts from SANDF, South African Universities and the International community. Together, they will provide the best possible care and support for SANDF HIV positive members and their dependants.
According to the White Paper on South African Participation in International Peace Missions, the SANDF continues to prepare for support in peace missions. Since 1999, the SANDF has established a reserve of military observers for deployment.
The African Renaissance is both a strategic objective and a call to action, and our role in security on the continent is becoming more important. To date, over 900 members of the SANDF have been deployed in the United Nations, African Union and other missions.
Members are deployed in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia/Eritrea, Algeria, the Comoros Islands and Burundi.
The SANDF also participated in SADC initiatives in Lesotho. Support to the SANDF has include securing the launch of the AU and other international events that we hosted such as the World Conference Against Racism, The World Summit on Sustainable Development and so on.
The Defence Force also played an important role during the floods in Mozambique a few years ago. All SADC member states also have the opportunity to annually train members of their armed forces at our establishments.
The Department's programme to replace obsolete equipment is on track, with the acquisition of air force and naval equipment and will continue into the next decade.
Most importantly, the Department continues to demonstrate its responsibility as custodian of land entrusted to it through active co-operation in the land redistribution and restitution policies of government. It co-operated in a pilot study regarding the closing down and re-use of redundant military bases for the purposes of alternative economic land-use initiatives.
Security, or rather, insecurity, was one of the most critical challenges facing the ANC-led government when it took office in May 1994. The military had carved a powerful role for itself in the apartheid government and society.
Ten years later, the ANC-led government has presided over far-reaching demilitarization process, establishing effective civil control over the armed forces, integrating the seven different military formations into a single SANDF working towards securing a common security regime in Southern Africa and cutting the defence budget in real terms by more than 50 per cent.
The achievement of South Africa's first democratic government in the fields of defence and policy are remarkable and considerable. Formulating alternative policy to those of the apartheid structure and transforming a national defence force into a respected and dynamic core force is laudable. However, policy translation and implementation requires more effort and presents a challenge to all who serve in the SANDF.
CORRECTIONAL SERVICES
Another challenge facing our government is the transformation of our prison system.
We acknowledge that while prisons are the right place for some offenders, it is the wrong place for others. Contained within this thought, the Correctional Services system within this country has sought to exercise its mandate of delivering correctional services with integrity and commitment to excellence.
The Department of Correctional Services has to be commended for striving ahead notwithstanding the legacy it has been burdened with, and for the achievements it has made within a relatively short period of time.
As part of its core programme, the Department has sought to place rehabilitation at the centre of all its activities.
The Draft White Paper of DCS, aims to ensure that the Department achieves this objective. With this aim in mind, the Department has also developed individualized training programmes to develop the skills of its personnel.
However, overcrowding remains the major factor that impacts negatively on the Department's costs, performance and service delivery. Our prisons are overcrowded and the number of awaiting trial detainees grows each day. The awareness that comes forth is that our already overworked court system is unable to cope with the number of cases awaiting a hearing.
Overcrowding in prisons appears to affect both first world and developing countries. The number of people incarcerated in the United States reached two million in the year 2000, a staggering figure both in absolute terms and in terms of the incarceration rate it represented. The most obvious worldwide trend is the growing prison population. There are now over 8.5 million men, women and children in prison. Some are pre-trial detainees; others have been convicted and sentenced. Half of this number is in three countries: the US, Russia and China.
A positive taken by our Department to address this crisis in our prisons, has been the formation of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS), to identify blockages that result in increased offender numbers.
Some of the solutions to alleviate this problem have been publicizing of community corrections within the Department of Justice, transfer of unsentenced juveniles to places of safety, conversion of sentences by courts and Saturday Courts.
The Department has placed emphasis on Restorative Justice where offenders are encouraged to accept accountability for their actions and tries to promote healing within the community. It is based on the belief that everyone affected by crime- the victim, offender, as well as the community- must be part of the solution.
Other aspects to the rehabilitation programme, focus on skills training. Since 2001, the Department has constructed 14 skills training centres throughout the country to enable offenders to acquire skills in computers, bricklaying, woodwork, welding, garment-making and business skills.
Members of the community are also invited to participate and have the use of the training facilities so that they may also acquire the necessary skills.
In 2002, a strategic plan for HIV/AIDS was approved and it is in the process of implementation. The Portfolio Committee will engage with the Department to determine the progress in this regard.
The Judicial Inspectorate and the Good Governance Unit within the Department are structures that seek to promote credible and transparent administration, inspections, utilization of resources and compliance or non-compliance of directives.
The Jali Commission and its inquiry to investigate allegations of corruption, mismanagement and crime in certain South African prisons, has yielded results and progress has been registered on its efforts to root our corruption in the Department. We await the final report of the Jali Commission.
All these positive steps are directed to the creation of the most optimal conditions for the regeneration of the offenders' spirit and conduct. This is a challenge, not just for our justice system, but the people of this country, in other words, "A Peoples' Contract."
I thank you