delivery
31 March 2006
Madam Speaker,
This morning, the Minister of Defence, the Hon Mosiuoa Lekota, set the tone
for the 2006 Department of Defence (DOD) Budget Vote with a clear and
unequivocal message that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF)
continues to be ready and fully prepared to carry out its Constitutional
Mandate to defend all the people, the territorial integrity and democracy of
the Republic of South Africa.
The Minister went further to suggest that the Department and the people of
South Africa need to re-establish consensus on the current terms of reference
of the concept of the âState of Readinessâ in the context of Government
direction and foreign policy in particular. In this regard a key consideration
for the DOD is the extent to which we audit our performance with regard to
human resource management.
Thus the transformation agenda of the Department of Defence as it relates to
representivity, gender equity, improved management and the principle of Batho
Pele, remains central to the achievement of any of the Departmentâs long-term
objectives for sustained military preparedness.
A key initiative to sustain the Departmentâs state of readiness in the
context of people-centred transformation in the DOD, is the âHuman Resource
2010 Strategyâ (HR 2010). The aim of HR 2010 is to ensure that the Department
has the most effective, efficient and economical human resource composition of
both uniformed and civilian members to deliver on our mandate and support for
Government.
The broad challenge in this regard is to ensure that we are continuing to
provide the leadership and innovation to guarantee that our most valuable
asset, the men and women that make up the Department of Defence, are motivated,
skilled and managed for optimum service delivery.
Service delivery in the Department of Defence is therefore primarily about
the quality of training and career opportunities offered to the people of South
Africa, the end product of which is a capability to support international
defence, security and development initiatives; and, the people of this country.
Without an appropriately skilled, young and professional SANDF the Department
will struggle to continue to meet its mandate and Government ordered
commitments.
Madam Speaker,
The innovation required of the Department of Defence to deliver on this
complex requirement of the Government required an innovative approach. In this
regard the Military Skills Development System (MSDS) launched in January 2003
has been increasingly successful.
Since the inception of the MSDS the Department of Defence has recruited 12
465 young men and women who have completed or are in the process of completing
the programme. The DOD has made steady progress in numbers of recruits from
year to year: the current 2006 MSDS intake stands at 8 298 compared to the 2005
intake of 6 222 members. This represents an increase of 2076 members.
Further, the DOD Core Service System, introduced in January 2005 as the
first step for MSDS recruits to be taken into the regular forces, currently
stands at 5804, a significant increase of 4 864 as compared to 940 members in
2005.
Another integral part of the MSDS initiative is the placement of qualified
recruits. This year two major milestone were achieved.
Firstly, the Joint Operations Division has for the first time deployed 299
MSDS trained members in operations outside the country. Secondly, in November
2006 the SA Army will place 200 MSDS members in full time employment in four
private companies whilst securing 30 days per annum for each of them for
Reserve Force duty.
The Services continue to open doors to young women recruits in highly
specialised skills. In this regard the SA Navy has recently appointed three
women Officers Commanding to the SA Navy Combat Platforms including an
appointment to a Navy Fast Attack Craft, SAS Makhanda.
The acquisition of the Strategic Defence Packages has opened new doors for
further transformation in the DOD. In this regard twenty officers have had new
opportunities for submarine training in India and Germany. Consequently the SA
Navy will shortly have two qualified women on the Type 209 Submarine, a first
in Africa.
Similarly, the South African Air Force will qualify twelve women pilots by
end of 2007. Six of them are black and three have so far been earmarked for the
combat line via the new Hawk Lead-in-Fighter-Trainers.
A further 13 women, six black and seven white, have been identified for
training as navigators and engineers in 2007.
Madam Speaker,
It is important to note that these achievements are against the backdrop of
ongoing challenges in the Department of Defence as a whole.
The main challenge to the MSDS rejuvenation of the SANDF, however, is to
ensure the balance of the inflow of recruits with the outflow of DOD personnel
excess to requirements. Secondly, to sustain the placement of trained MSDS
recruits inside and outside the DOD.
With this in mind the Mobility Exit Mechanism (MEM), a âvoluntary severance
packageâ for uniformed members of the SANDF was introduced in July 2005 as a
tool to facilitate right-sizing the DOD HR composition through a process of
realistic succession planning whilst guarding against an exodus of scarce
skills and specialist knowledge.
For a new initiative the Department is quite pleased with the initial
indications that the MEM is, albeit slowly, delivering on its objectives by
creating space for rejuvenation whilst addressing the challenge of how to deal
with stagnation and the transformation agenda for representivity in areas
targeted by the Department.
The challenge to the DOD has been to at least sustain and then increase the
numbers of people taking the MEM so as to open further opportunities for a
greater number of young, deployable and employable members.
Progress in this regard so far has been quite encouraging. The 2005/06
targets for the MEM were 500 and the Department achieved 553. The target for
the 2006/07 financial year stands at 750 and the Department already has 209
with a target range of 700 to 1000.
Of the cumulative total of 762 there are clear indications that those taking
the MEM are primarily from the key target areas of concern with regard to
representivity and career stagnation.
Gender equity is still a major issue especially as it relates to progression
to middle and senior management. In this regard it is clear that in the
Services and Divisions of the SANDF the attainment of the 30% threshold
recruitment of women through the MSDS has been achieved all round. However,
progression of a significant number of women to specialised fields and higher
ranks remains a challenge.
At a strategic level the DOD has complied with the Government requirement
for a Gender Forum and Gender Focal Point, budgeted for gender programmes,
developed clear prescripts for 50/50 representation of women at all decision
making bodies, developed a Departmental Gender Mainstreaming Strategy and
developed policies on elimination of sexual harassment and the advancement of
women.
However, whether at Service level or as an integrated Department, the DOD as
a whole has not yet achieved any significant progression with the
representation of women at middle and senior management.
Madam Speaker,
The health status of SANDF is a key determinant of our combat and deployment
capabilities. The South African Military Health Services (SAHMS) have
identified the national HIV and AIDS pandemic as a potential force preparation
risk and continue to prepare appropriately for the prevention, management and
treatment of this disease.
In this regard the SAHMS âMasibambisaneâ awareness prevention campaign
continues unabated. The treatment focus continues through âProject Phidisaâ, a
joint initiative between the SAHMS and the US National Institute of Health
seeking to research the efficacy of Anti Retrovirals in a military environment
and its impact on combat readiness. Further, the Departmentâs pending alignment
with the Department of Health Anti Retroviral roll out and Khomanani campaign
will further boost our capacity for treatment.
Madam Speaker,
Support for the future and welfare of Military Veterans is a priority of the
Department of Defence. In June 2005 the Department, the National Skills Fund
and the Defence and Trade Education Training Authority - signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) to ensure support for training and upskilling of military
veterans.
Since then, we have embarked on the issuing of identity cards for registered
Military Veterans whilst implementing the MOU, which has now yielded
approximately 1 276 jobs across the country in fields such as: private
security, driver training, metro policing, traffic wardens and the construction
industry. There are more jobs and skills training opportunities in the
pipeline.
The central challenge to progress with the implementation of Military
Veterans benefits however is fragmentation. In 2003 we launched the South
African Military Veterans Association (SAMVA) with the understanding and hope
that there would be agreement on a single nodal point for all issues relating
to veterans.
The current âMilitary Veterans Affairs Actâ unfortunately provides for this
fragmentation of military veterans associations, which is against the spirit of
a single national defence force and a united non-racial country.
At a practical level fragmentation also works against the proper
co-ordination and administration of Military Veterans issues as there are often
blurred lines of responsibility and authority.
The Department of Defence as one of a number of role players with regard to
Military Veterans affairs will continue to canvass the various stakeholders on
the benefits of a unitary approach.
It is imperative however for me to stress that issues relating to the NSF
and Special Pensions are the responsibility of the Department of Finance. The
role of the DOD in this regard is that of a facilitator.
Madam Speaker,
The Military Justice System also remains a challenge for us. As already
alluded to in our last Budget Vote, a Ministerial Task Team was appointed to
look into the transformation of this system. The Task Team recommended
significant changes with constitutional implications.
The implementation of these recommendations however requires that the Act
would have to be revised. For now we are aiming to have a new Bill in place
shortly and by next year, the new Act will have been promulgated.
In conclusion, I wish to reiterate that the people-centred approach of the
Department of Defence is aimed at ensuring that we have the requisite skills
base, discipline, motivation and direction to continue to deliver on our
service to Government and the people of South Africa.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Defence
31 March 2006
