DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE

FINAL INTEGRATION REPORT

TO THE

JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE
SITTING AS THE PARLIAMENTARY INTEGRATION
OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE (PIOC)

2003

Appendices A - C: Graphic Representation of Facts contained in this Report.

AIM

1. The aim of this report is to inform the members of the PIOC of the results of the formal termination of the integration and demobilisation process in the SANDF.

SCOPE

2. The following issues are addressed in this report:

a. Composition of the SANDF.
b. British Military Advisory and Training Team in South Africa (BMATT).
c. Certified Personnel Registers (CPRs).
d. Statutory Force integration.
e. Non-Statutory Force Integration.
f. Demobilisation.
g. Public Hearing on Termination of Integration and Demobilisation Le2islation.
h. Amnesty cases.
i. Fraudulent Enlistments.
j. Bridging Training.
k. Audit of ranking.





COMPOSITION OF THE SANDF

Integration was the process of combining the following seven military forces into one South African National Defence Force (SANDF):

a. The South African Defence Force (SADF);

b. The former Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei defence forces
(TBVC); and

c. The former forces of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and Azanian People's
Liberation Army (APLA).

4. Two thousand members of the Kwa-Zulu Natal Self Protection Force (K7SPF) became eligible for incorporation into the SANDF.

5. Appendix A contains a comparison of the Department of Defence Personnel strength per Former Force for 1994, and 2003 measured against the 1998 Defence Review Guidelines whilst Appendix B contains a comparison of race distribution in the DOD for the years 1994 and 2003.

BRITISH MILITARY ADVISORY AND TRAINING TEAM: SOUTH AFRICA (BMATT SA)

6. The main tasks of BMATT (SA) in respect of the integration process were as follows:

a. The validation of criteria and standards for the SANDF.

b. Monitoring bridging training across all four services of the SANDF, i.e. SA
Army. SA Air Force, SA Navy and SA Military Health Service.

c. To adjudicate if disputes arise between parties involved in the integration process.

7. In terms of the MOU between the UK and the RSA the mandate of BMATT was
terminated on 31 March 2003. A small BMATT closing down team will complete its work by 1 June 2003.

CERTIFIED PERSONNEL REGISTERS (CPRs)

8. The submission of Certified Personnel Registers (CPR)/name lists, for all the constituent forces of the SANDF, is provided for in terms of Section 16 (3)(b) of the Transitional Executive Council Act. 1993, Section 224 (2) of the 1993 Interim Constitution and Section 3 of Annexure D of Schedule 6 of the 1996 Constitution.

9. CPRs were to be submitted to the Transitional Executive council (TEC) before 27
April 1994. Authority was, however subsequently granted to the Non-Statutory Forces
(NSFs) until 11 October 1996 to add names to the original lists. A total of 8219 names (MK
4 355 and APLA 3 864) was then added. No names could, however. be added to the CPRs
after 11 October 1996.

10. Only bona fide members of the Statutory and Non-Statutory Forces appearing on the CPRs were therefore considered for integration into the SANDF or demobilisation in the case of the NSF.

11. Appendix C depicts the number of NSF members who had integrated and demobilisation and losses compared with the CPRs as follows:
Members integrated 21 212
APLA 6421
MK 14791

Members currently serving 14592
APLA 4 572
MK 10020

Members who demobilised 9 847

Former Statutory Force Members still serving as at 15 April 2003
Former SADF 39200(82705 in 1994)
Former TBVC 7896(10739 in 1996)
Total 44 817

STATUTORY FORCE INTEGRATION

12. The integration process of the Statutory Force members in all the services has been
successfully completed. in accordance with sections 224 and 236 of the Interim Constitution,
1993.

13. In the case of these members their integration from their previous force to the SANDF
was conducted according to the then Public Service Commission's translation measures. The pension audit of personnel files and records of these members was part of these measures. Members of the Ciskei Defence Force (CDF), former Transkei, Bophuthatswana and Venda Defence Force members have been admitted to the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) and are contributing to the fund. Some individuals from the CDF are disputing the statistics of the GEPF. National Treasury and the SANDF, regarding former service in the CDF. These cases are being dealt with on an individual basis through the Human Rights office in King Williamstown.

14. The procedures for the audit of these records were stipulated in the Verification Process. and consisted of the audit of the files and the written notification of members that the) were folly integrated into the SANDF when their records were found to be in order.


15. The SA Air Force completed the verification of all records on 3 October 1999 and the SA Navy on 31 October 2000.

16. The SA Army and the SAMHS completed the verification process of former SADF and TBVC members on 31 June 2001.


NON STATUTORY FORCE INTEGRATION

17. The Termination of Integration Intake Act, 2001 and the Demobilisation Amendment Act. 2001 formally and legally brought the integration process of Non-Statutory Force members to an end as at 3 December 2002.

18. During the final intakes of November 2001 and March and November 2002, 181 members integrated and 28 members were demobilised.

DEMOBILISATION

19. In terms of the Demobilisation Act, Act No 99 of 1996 as amended. only former members of the Non-Statutory Forces whose names appear on a valid CPR or personnel list could be demobilised. The Minister of Defence was also mandated to order the inclusion. on good cause shown. the name of any former Non Statutory Force member who was by reason of an administrative oversight or error or for any other reason not included in the CPR or name list for demobilisation purposes on or before 3 1 March 1999 only.

20. The members whose names appear on the CPR's who reported on or before 3 1
December 2002 for the last integration intake and who did not qualify to join the SANDF
were demobilised in terms of the provisions of the Demobilisation Amendment Act. 2001.

21. A total of9 847 demobilisation gratuities have been paid out. including 677 gratuities paid to dependants of deceased former NSF members. The total amount paid in respect of demobilisation grants amounted to RM242. These payments were made since the implementation of the Demobilisation Act of 1996 and ended on 31 December 2002 in terms of its subsequent amendments.


PUBLIC HEARING: TERMINATION OF INTEGRATION AND
DEMOBILISATION LEGISLATION: FORMER NSF MEMBERS NOT ON CPR's.

22. At the Public Hearing on 4 October 2001 to discuss the termination of the Integration and Demobilisation legislation, the Portfolio Committee on Defence invited the submission to the Committee of the names of bona fide MK and APLA members whose names do not
on the Certified Personnel Register/Namelist.

23. Lists containing 4 033 names were submitted to the Portfolio Committee on Defence on 4 November 2001. The PAC/APLA had submitted a list of 1 419 and the MKMVA a list of2 614 names of persons whom they claimed were genuine former APLA and MK members whose names did not appear on the CPRs.


24. Regarding these persons the DOD had at its request informed the Portfolio Committee on Defence that in terms of the law a member of the NSF cannot be considered for integration or demobilisation if her/his name does not appear on the CPR.

25. The Portfolio Committee on Defence took no further action in this matter and the termination of Integration and Demobilisation Amendment Acts of 2001 were promulgated without any amendment to provide for the addition of any further names to the CPRs.

26. In view of the above, it was not possible for former APLA and MK members whose names do not appear on the CPRs to be integrated or demobilised by 31 December 2002.

AMNESTY CASES

27. Sixteen members who were granted amnesty and released from imprisonment and who had applied and conformed to all laid down criteria, were integrated in November 2002.

28. Amnesty case members whose names do not appear on the NSF CPRs could not be considered for integration or demobilisation.


FRAUDULENT ENLISTMENTS

29. 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 Attorney only one person can be accommodated in the SANDF against a name appearing on the CPR. Some 58 such reported cases were investigated by the Inspector General of the Army and no concrete evidence was found to suggest that fraudulent enlistments were committed in any of these specific cases.


BRIDGING TRAINING

30. Although the Integration process was formally concluded on 31 December 2002 the question of the conclusion of bridging training remains. (See Par 35 below). A number of former NSF personnel will remain within Bridging Training Programme in the various
Services with a 95 % completion rate anticipated by the end of 2004. The SAAF is the Service with the largest residual Bridging Training courses as most of the members of the last four intakes chose to serve in the SAAF.

31. It is expected that the members in the SA Army who still require basic bridging training will be reduced to twenty, whilst 620 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 124 members still have to complete Career Development Bridging Training.

32. There are currently 754 serving SA Air Force uniformed former NSF members of
whom 266 are at present under Bridging and Development Training. The task is therefore
65 % complete.

33. The Chief of the Navy has introduced new processes to expedite Integration and Bridging Training in the SA Navy. Some 233 former NSF members still require to complete their Bridging Training and 155 have to undergo Career Development Training.

34. The relevant Officers Commanding in SA Military Health Service have shown
commitment to complete the Bridging Training process and only 168 former NSF members
still have to complete their Basic, Development and Functional Bridging courses. Only
2,8 % of Bridging Courses are still outstanding.

35. The Chief of the SA National Defence Force, in conjunction with the Chief of Joint Training, will in future monitor the situation to ensure that all the outstanding bridging training within the four Services is completed.


AUDIT OF RANKING

36. Since late 2000, the Department has been engaged in a process to identify former NSF members who may have been prejudiced during the first integration intakes at Wahlmanstall, Noedspruit and De Brug because the processes followed then had not been refined through experience. An audit of 2 015 serving. former NSF members was done, leading to the SANDF now dealin2 with the rank adjustments of 384 members who were identified to have been under ranked. No further similar audit of ranking process is planned. A robust audit trail will be required to ensure that the genuine and properly motivated cases are re-ranked in accordance with Departmental, Financial and DOD HR guidelines.


CONCLUSION

37. 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. Notwithstanding problems encountered, budget cuts re-structuring and rationalisation, 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. Especially as we approach ten years of the SANDF's anniversary in 2004, the process of intakes which started in 1994 can now be considered to be successfully concluded.


















(S. NYANDA)
CHIEF OF THE SA NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE: GENERAL

May 2003



SECRETARY FOR DEFENCE: DIRECTOR GENERAL

May 2003

DISTR

For Action

Members of Joint Standing Committee on Defence (PIOC)