Chief of
South African National Defence Force, General Zakaria Shoke witnessed the parade among other dignitaries.
"Paradigm Shifts, South African Defence Policy and the
South African National Defence Force: From Here to Where?", South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 32, No 1, pp 89-118.
Rather than "disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate" the apartheid-era South African Defence Force, its proxies, and the armed wings of the liberation movements, the new government instead integrated them into a new national military force, the
South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
The
South African National Defence Force (Sandf), formed in 1994 in the wake of the country's first democratic elections, has now digested its first post-Apartheid wave of arms purchases, and is preparing for a second.
Even senior members of the
South African National Defence Force thought that such expenditure was absurd.
In the 11 chapters, they discuss the response of the
South African National Defence Force, the impact of HIV/AIDS in prison and the military, the social history of the disease in the country, children orphaned by AIDS, the right of access to treatment, grass roots activists in the country, prevalence among educators, and the disease in poor rural households.
(40.) Senior
South African National Defence Force official, telephonic interview by the authors, 10 December 2007.
The South African Security Forces Union (SASFU) is accusing the
South African National Defence Force (SANDF) of discriminating against HIV-infected people by refusing them employment, promotion or deployment to foreign posts.
What is nevertheless evident is, firstly, an increasing emphasis of African strategic imperatives and resultant proactive initiatives pertaining to peace support operations and the corresponding realignment of armed forces and arms procurement; secondly, the strategic repositioning of the
South African National Defence Force in accordance with revised defence legislation and a future orientated military strategy; thirdly, the emergence of more specific official views regarding positive intelligence; and, finally, the further development of official views on contemporary challenges and emerging security issues.
The disjuncture between the arms deal and stated defense policy is even more apparent given that the
South African National Defence Force (SANDF) committed itself to an enhanced conception of security, ostensibly privileging human security over the traditional, narrowly defined military conception thereof.
South Africa has a limited capacity to contribute to the reintegration of both the statutory (the
South African National Defence Force under the apartheid regime) and non-statutory armed forces (the liberation armies) of South Africa since the democratic elections in 1994.
Tensions have run high between black and white personnel in the
South African National Defence Force since the fall of apartheid and the amalgamation of the old white-run army and guerrilla forces, dominated by the African National Congress.