June - Department of Defence

spending by the government accountfor a mere two percent of the totalbudget in a country where twelvepercent of the population is HIVinfected and a third of the populationis displaced. According to the HumanRights Watch, US $4bn in oil revenues,which vanished between 1997and 2002, cannot be accounted for, letalone traced. Angola used to be thefourth largest coffee producer in theworld, but now has less than threepercent of arable land under cultivation.These facts paint a bleak pictureregarding the country's future. Someobservers think the worst is yet tocome as they feel this oil-rich countrymay spiral back into civil war.ZimbabweSocio-economically Zimbabwe isfailing and resembles its otherAfrican counterparts like Liberia,Sierra Leone and Somalia. Had thecountry conducted a transparent landre-distribution based on economicgrowth and food security, this wouldhave stimulated international investorconfidence, something the countryurgently needs for economic rescue.The country is slowly heading forcollapse and delays in this regardincrease the waves of mass action andcivil disobedience. At the moment thecountry's unemployment is soaring atseventy percent, while the country'sinflation stands at 599 percent.Unabated levels of crime and foodshortages are reaching unacceptablelevels. From a humanitarian perspective,this is not good news for theregion, particularly South Africa.Firstly, this does not make SouthAfrica a secure country for foreigninvestment. In 2003 the ZimbabweResearch Initiative found that SouthAfrica was paying dearly for the crisisin Zimbabwe - it found that the costto South Africa (2001-2003) wasR15bn and nearly 40 000 jobs (ie dueto a mere 1,3% growth in grossdomestic product, instead of 3,2%),and also on account of the negativeeffect the crisis had on the Rand inthe same period. The effect on theSouth African real economy comesthrough reduced South African goodsand services exports, unacceptablelevels of crime, a drop in tourism, andZimbabwe's failure to service its debtOur protection in the Eastern CapeBy Maj Merle Meyer,SO1 Communication,SA Army Infantry FormationDuring the late 1940s a convener forthe commandos was required and theAlgoa Group consisting of Albany,Humansdorp, Uitenhage, Kirkwood,Jansenville and Port Elizabeth wasestablished.On 6 June 1969 Group 6 wasformally established in the old SouthEnd Base and by 1988 it was a fullyfledgedgroup with six commandounits and three Citizen Force units. InSeptember 1991 Group 6 moved tothe Algoa Military Base. Today fifteencommando units from areas as farapart as East London, Aberdeen,Middelburg, etc falls under thisgroup. A landmark in Port Elizabethis the Algoa Battery situated on theGroup 6 grounds. The need for a batteryobservation post was identifiedin 1940. This observation post formedpart of the forte observation poststhat were built in Amsterdamhoek,Seahill (Cape Recife peninsula) andSchoenmakerskop. All the observationposts consisted of a doublestoreybuilding with a flat roof thatcould be reached with a steel ladder.The Algoa Battery, as it wasknown, has free-form parapets surroundingthe flat roof, angle buttresses,wing walls and traces of camouflagepaint on the fish-scale plasterwalls. These features are designed tobreak up the straight-line appearancefrom the sea and air and to blend it inwith the bush landscape. Group 6 hasmanaged to preserve the battery andplans to establish a small coastalartillery and military museum in it.As Group 6 is situated in PortElizabeth's Golden Mile it maybecome one of the popular attractions.The commandos of Group 6have been very active in 2003. Theyprovided protection during the ICCto South African companies such asEskom (R80m) and Telkom (R60m).International investors will also beconcerned about a possible similarimitated "land-grab" culture by thedesperate and landless people of thiscountry.Secondly, the country willstrongly feel the strain severely asZimbabwe is slowly collapsing; thiscountry will be the first stop forZimbabweans. This will bring alongincreased crime, food shortages andthe spread of disease among SouthAfricans, thus crippling the localeconomy.The challengeThe challenge facing the SADCregion, therefore, in the light of thetwo mentioned examples, ie Angolaand Zimbabwe, is to focus on humansecurity threats and not only onmilitary threats or military issues.The fact is, the humanitarian crisis inthe region is serious and is likely toexplode at any time and, if takenlightly, can devastate the entireregion and take years to repair thedamage.World Cricket Competition and everyyear they support the SAPS to ensurethat tourists visiting this beautifulpart of the country have a safe andenjoyable holiday.The present Officer Commandingof Group 6 is Col Richard Majola. His08:00 tea is a discussion and feedbackevent, which has ensured that it isone of the best informed groups inthe Infantry. In 2003 during theroadshow to the area by the Chief ofthe SA Army, Lt Gen Gilbert Ramano,Col Majola indicated that thecommandos were very active incurbing stock theft, preventing attackson farms and ensuring that the areawas safe.The Group's emblem carries thepicture of an elephant, a well-knownsymbol of the Eastern Cape. Themotto is "Don't Assume" and like theelephant do not assume that it isfriendly: it is dangerous and veryefficient.33J U N E 2 0 0 4 • S A S O L D I E R