letters to the editor - Department of Defence

stories from 2004S A S O L D I E RParliamentarians visitedour soldiers abroadArticle and photo by Sgt DavidNomtshongwana (an extract of whatwas published in SA Soldier:January 2004, page 22)The visit is a clear indication of their support andaugurs well for the morale of the soldiers.The recent visit by the PortfolioCommittee on Defence and theJoint Standing Committee onDefence to the soldiersdeployed in the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo (DRC)and Burundi over the period 28to 30 October 2003 is a clear indicationof support and augurs well for themorale of the soldiers.The parliamentarians were led by MsThandi Modise, Chairperson of bothcommittees, which consisted of membersfrom different political parties,while V Adm Martyn Trainor,Chief of Corporate Staff, led the SANDFdelegation. Before their departure fromWaterkloof Air Force Base Maj GenMbuyiselo Mgwebi, the General OfficerCommanding Joint Operational HQ atChief Joint Operational Division,briefed the delegation and the membersof the media on the situation inthe DRC and Burundi. The first stop ofthe visit was Kindu, and after a briefingthe group left for Bujumbura.In Bujumbura they were welcomed byMaj Gen Sipho Binda, theForce Commander of the AfricanMission in Burundi (AMIB), and hiscontingent. Also present wasAmbassador Mamadou Bah, the specialrepresentative of the AfricanUnion, who was the Chairperson andthe Head of Mission of AMIB.He informed the delegation aboutprogress in Burundi, especially interms of disarmament, demobilisationand repatriation. Ms Modise urged theMs Thandi Modise, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee onDefence and the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (middle),and the female soldiers deployed in Burundi stationed at theDemobilisation Centre Area 1 with Col Liz van der Post, ActingPSO to V Adm Martyn Trainor, and Maj Madeleine Harmse, theLiaison Officer, at the back.ambassador not to forget that womenand children were part and parcel of thewhole procedure to be implemented.The ambassador emphasised that it wasin their best interests not to leave othersbehind or to fail to acknowledge theircontribution. The inclusion of womenand children who had participated inthe struggle for a transitional governmentwas very important because itwas their right to be involved in theprocess. Although political, it is a majorchallenge to realise those requirements,but there is still hope because ofprogress on some agreements.The delegation also visited the offices ofthe United Nations (UN) in Burundiwhere they met Mr Ayité J-C KPAKPO,the Senior UN Adviser for theBurundi Peace ProcessImplementation MonitoringCommittee. The parliamentarianswanted to know when the UN wasgoing to be involved in taking over thedeployment of the soldiers in Burundi.Even though the members of thePortfolio Committee on Defence wereengaged in other commitments inBurundi, their mission was to visit thesoldiers and to see if they had beenproperly resourced and were performingtheir duties as expected. The visitby the members of the PortfolioCommittee on Defence also helpsParliament to decide what the requirementor the challenges are that facethe AMIB.M A Y 2 0 1 1 • s25