Mapisa-Nqakula warns against ill-discipline in the army
Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula addressing 119 young graduates at the Drakensig Military Sport Complex in Limpopo
Photo by African News Agency
Acts of ill-discipline amongst members of the SA National Defence Force will not be tolerated, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said.
“The military is a family unit, where in a war situation the duty to protect life doesn’t lie with you, but with your fellow soldier,” said Mapisa-Nqakula, at the Drakensig Military Sport Complex in Limpopo on Thursday evening.
“A simple act of ill-discipline, even if it relates to punctuality, cleanliness, order and personal conduct, will simply not be tolerated or accommodated because it breeds a culture that will result in the most dire consequences for the military.”
Mapisa-Nqakula was addressing 119 young graduates who have completed a six-month SA Air Force basic training.
“Any military force with poor disciplinary record will perish on the battlefield, hence it is our collective responsibility to create an effective and efficient force that is capable of defending this country and its people,” said Mapisa-Nqakula.
“The saying is ‘a teaspoon of sweat in training saves a bucket of blood in war’ and that is what we all adhere to, in dedication and discipline here.”
The recruits began their training on January 26.
As their basic training has ended, most of the soldiers would remain at the Limpopo air force gymnasium to complete their first military development course, a junior leadership development programme, while others will be attending the officers-forming course at the Air Force College in Pretoria.
Mapisa-Nqakula hinted that her son was also part of the graduands.
“I speak to you as a soldier, who comes from a family of soldiers, having married while in the military, and today as a mother of a soldier who made his own independent decision to join the military,” she said.
Last month, Mapisa-Nqakula said too few whites were joining the SANDF. She then ordered the SANDF to recruit more whites to the military.
“When I look at the entry levels of the army, the younger ones, you see that if you go into a hall…you can literally count…how many white young people are coming into the force,” she said.
“That’s a matter of concern because we want to build the kind of defence force which in five years will still continue to reflect the demographics of our society.”
At the same time, Mapisa-Nqakula announced she would be raising the retirement age for SANDF staff from 60 to 65.
“I don’t know why on earth we developed a regulation which directs us to get our people to retire at the age of 60,” she said.
Mapisa-Nqakula said there was no need to change the law, but she would alter regulations which would give effect to the new retirement age.
Earlier on Thursday, chief of the SA Army Lieutenant-General Vusi Masondo said his institution has begun an intensive programme to lure young, white South Africans into the military.
“The Minister of Defence (Mapisa-Nqakula) gave the SA Army a directive that we must robustly continue tapping into underrepresented communities and bring in capable, young men and women from that sector of society to serve in our military,” Masondo told reporters at a breakfast session in Pretoria.
“The minister made it known that through government’s non-racial policies, extra efforts have to be made to ensure that we redress the imbalances of our painful past. We must guard against falling into an undesirable situation where our military gets disproportionately dominated by one race group.”
The chief of the SA National Defence Force appealed to the media to help in the national drive to lure young, white South Africans into the armed forces.
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