Department of Defence Annual Report 2008-2009

| Department of Defence |
| Appendix A |
• Equipment Transfer to Foreign Recipients.
The DOD transferred 88mm blank ammunition
to the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force for
utilising in gun salutes for visiting heads of
state. Fifteen containers were also transferred
to the DRC Armed Forces for the safe storage
of weapons.
• African Standby Force. There were no
changes in terms of the RSA contribution in
force structure elements pledges to South
African Development Community Brigade
(SADC BRIG).
As part of the road map to operationalise the SADC
BRIG, three exercises were planned and presented
to SADC Chiefs of Defence in Angola. All three
exercises were recommended by the Ministers of
Defence and Chiefs of Defence Forces, and later
approved by the Heads of State/Government during
the SADC Summit in the RSA, in August 2008.
Thus, the map exercise (Exercise GOLFINHO)
took place in Angola in February 2009, with the
planned command post exercise scheduled to take
place in Mozambique in April 2009, and the eld
training exercise in the RSA in September 2009.
While the SADCBRIG is in a process of being
operationalised, the SADC Heads of State/
Government considered deploying a SADC Military
assessment team to Eastern DRC, to assess possible
options to help alleviate the humanitarian crises and
suffering experienced by the Congolese nationals in
the region.
Two work sessions were conducted under the
auspices of the African Union Peace and Security
Council.
The rst session was conducted in East Africa and
the second in SADC with regard to developing
the concept for an African Standby Force rapid
deployment capability.
Specic Defence Diplomacy Actions
The Africa Aerospace and Defence Exhibition 2008
(AAD), presented from 17 to 21 September 2008,
was by all accounts viewed as extremely successful.
AAD had a number of aims of which enhancing
defence diplomacy is but one element. Sixty-seven
delegations from foreign defence forces were
hosted by the Minister and Deputy Minister of
Defence and the DOD’s Top Management. They
included 10 Ministers of Defence, four Deputy
Ministers of Defence, 10 Secretaries for Defence,
11 Chiefs of Defence Forces, two Army Chiefs,
20 Air Force Chiefs, three Navy Chiefs and seven
Surgeon-Generals. Of the total delegations, 43
were from African countries. The delegations, their
individual and combined programmes and their
allocated military liaison teams were managed and
co-ordinated by a dedicated DFR team, supported
by allocated members of the Services. Positive
feedback was received from various stakeholders
who had a vested interest in the presence of
these delegations, validating the efforts of the coordinating
committee over a six-month period prior
to the event.
Post-Conict Reconstruction. Over the reporting
period, the DOD deployed in the following postconict
reconstruction situations:
Operation TEUTONIC (DRC). A South African
detachment assisting with integration and training
was deployed to render assistance to the DRC Armed
Forces with the integration and registration process.
Fighting in the Eastern DRC has frequently delayed
the completion of the integration process. The
South African Military Health Service (SAMHS) has
contributed to this integration effort through the
facilitation of teambuilding and cohesion exercises,
by especially social workers and psychology
ofcers.
Operation VIMBEZELA (Central African
Republic). A contingent deployed to render
assistance with the refurbishing of infrastructure
at training bases, providing equipment and training
members of the Armed Forces of the Central African
Republic. The Operation is due for completion by
2010.
Defence Intelligence Training. As a contribution
to post-WWconict and reconstruction, Defence
Intelligence members were involved in post-conict
reconstruction and training projects in various
countries in Africa.
Training Trainers. In 2009, a new course –
Intelligence Training of the Trainers of SADC
member states – was presented at the College for
Education Technology. The course is designed to
empower the course members to train their own
members in intelligence- related matters.
Annual Report FY 2008 - 2009 182