annrep 1011 1 to 148.qxp - Department of Defence

Chapter 6D E P A R T M E N T O F D E F E N C EP R O G R A M M E 3 :L a n d w a r d D e f e n c eO v e r v i e wIn the year under review, the South African Army (SAArmy)fulfilled all its internal and external commitments, notwithstandingthe fact that it is severely overstretched, especially inthe infantry, engineer and support capabilities.Approximately 85% of force levels required by C SANDFwere provided. Deviations were as a result of logistics andhuman resource challenges experienced, especially theunavailability and / or un-serviceability of prime missionequipment (PME) (A, B, C and D vehicle fleets), shortages ofcertain ammunition types, medical health status of personnel,shortage of personnel in specific musterings, ie technical andhospitality service personnel as well as suitable qualified andknowledgeable instructors to ensure quality training andskills transfer.The SA Army's commitments for the year under review,included inter alia, the provisioning of landward forces forPSO deployment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC) (Op MISTRAL) and Sudan (Op CORDITE); trainingmissions in the Central African Republic (CAR) (Op VIM-BEZELA) and the DRC (Mission THEBE); border safeguardingdeployments on the RSA/Zimbabwe, Mozambique/RSA and Swaziland/RSA borders; and internal deployment inco-operation with the South African Police Service (SAPS).In the DRC 109 SA Army members are on the verge of completingtraining of two rapid deployment battalions (FARDC42 & 43 Bns) consisting of six infantry companies trainedfrom lower / sub-unit level. In total 1 780 FARDC memberswere trained. In the DRC soldiers were handed over to theMinister of Defence of the DRC after completing a plannedcycle of training in October 2010.The SAArmy provided 8 923 members for deployment to theUnited Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) Missions inAfrica, border safeguarding and internal deployment.Learning opportunities were afforded to 93 members belongingto 11 foreign defence forces namely: Botswana,Zimbabwe, Namibia, Rwanda, South Korea, Nigeria,Republic of Congo, Pakistan, CAR, India and Tanzania at SAArmy Centres of Excellence.The support to the SAPS and the Department of Health by theSA Army forces provided during the national public servicestrike by government employees in August/September 2010was among the 'not initially planned for' milestones. In thisregard, 1 868 members were deployed. This was over andabove the forces provided for the successful hosting of 2010FIFA World Cup (Op KGWELE).The SAArmy demonstrated its collateral utility by contributingto the construction of a suspension bridge in conjunctionwith the National Department of Public Works (NDPW).Limited construction work by SAArmy engineers is in stagesof completion at a number of facilities. The Works Regimentrefurbished the hospice in the Lenz military base and theRegiment was transferred to Joint Logistics as an operationalcapability on 1 April 2011.The rejuvenation of the support musterings, particularly inthe Technical Service Corps (TSC), Ordinance Service Corps(OSC), Signals, Catering and Ammunition Corps environmentsremains a challenge as only a limited number ofMSDS members could be accommodated due to financiallimitations. The retention of qualified members is not alwaysguaranteed and this negatively impacts on the sustainmentcapacity and the ability to support SA Army forces and unitsin their force employment and preparation roles.In the wake of the increased operational tempo in external,internal and border safeguarding deployments, the SA Armyutilized its Reserve component substantially to augmentshortages in its Regular component. Approximately 18 000call-ups were issued for a variety of duties including administrative,guards training and operations. Despite this, thedefined end state for the SA Army Reserves could not beachieved, due to the low rate of MSDS members entering theReserves and a lack of funding in general.All current SA Army projects are essentially partial acquisitionsand do not provide for the full capability requirementsin accordance with the Defence Review or the SA ArmyForce Design/Structure due to current funding shortfalls.Operational gaps due to shortages of PME are already evidentin certain capability areas due to end of life-cycle, obsolescence,under-funding and late delivery dates. Currentfunding levels will not be able to sustain the SAArmy's PMErequirement. An achievement however, in terms of the rejuvenationof PME, is the 35mm Mk V Gun system that hasbeen re-commissioned.ANNUAL REPORT FY 2010/2011 61