The Chief of the South African Army Welcomes the Media to his Customary Breakfast on 12 February 2009

Article by Major Thérèse Bester, South African Army Corporate Communication
Speech by Lieutenant Colonel Ishmael Moeketsi, Vision 2020
Photos by Staff Sergeant Nico Jacobs, 1 Military Printing Regiment
Staff Sergeant Nolene Oberholzer, 1 Military Printing Regiment

The Chief of the South African Army, Lieutenant General Solly Shoke’s annual breakfast with the media was held at the South African Army College, Paratus Club on the morning of 12 February 2009. Guests attending were members of the media and the South African Army Command Cadre.

The atmosphere inside the venue was very comforting and warm compared to the cold and windy conditions outside. The South African Army Command Cadre had the opportunity to interact with the media prior to the event.

From left to right: Major General Vusumuzi Masondo, Major General Keith Mokoape, Mr Peter McIntosh, Editor of the Armed Forces Journal

From left to right: Mr Leon Engelbrecht and Mr Graham Emmeric, both from Defence Web, Mr Louis Oelofse - ETV, Ms Erika Gibson - Beeld, Mr Kim Helfrich - Citizen

From left to right: Ms Erika Gibson – Beeld and Brigadier General Lawrence Smith

Colonel Sidney Zeeman welcomed the guests to the event and gave Chaplain Thomas Magodi the opportunity to open with scripture reading and prayer. A short video of Vision 2020 was shown and a warm breakfast was served to the guests, on that cold windy morning. Lieutenant General Solly Shoke was given the opportunity to address the media.

Chief of the South African Army, Lieutenant General Solly Shoke

Invited guests during the address by Lieutenant General Solly Shoke

Media briefing by the Chief of the South African Army, Lieutenant General Solly Shoke

“It is my pleasure once more to welcome you all to this customary breakfast. Your presence is highly appreciated.

I wish to start by stating the mandate of the South African National Defence Force as stipulated by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa that:

• the defence force must be structured and managed as a disciplined force;
• the primary objective of the defence force is to defend and protect the Republic, its territorial integrity and its people in accordance with the Constitution and the principles of international law regulating the use of force.

Once again, I would like to assure you that we will not deviate from this mandate.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to inform you that the South African Army, notwithstanding the overextension in internal and external deployments especially in the Infantry, Engineers, and Support Corps, has honoured all ordered commitments in terms of peace support operations.

We successfully completed the training of one of the three battalions in the Democratic Republic of Congo in rapid deployment. A total of 143 instructors were involved. We are also involved in training and organising the defence force of the Central African Republic.

Internally in our centres of excellence, the South African Army managed to train 14 481 members. In terms of combat-readiness training, we successfully conducted Exercises SEBOKA and YOUNG EAGLE. There was a marked improvement in the organisation and execution of these exercises.

It is also worth noting that we are steadily building up some of the capabilities that were lost during the early period of transformation, for instance technical, catering, explosives and ordinance disposal capabilities.

The South African Army sent some of its members to places such as Brazil and India to be trained as instructors in jungle warfare. Some instructors have already successfully completed training in hand to hand combat.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would also like to report that the Works Regiment is progressing very well. We are currently training more than 300 members who are participating in Army projects. As we speak, they are completing the hospice in Lenz and are also busy with renovations of the A Mess.

Challenges

Having given you a brief synopsis of some of our successes, I would also like to mention that we have a lot of challenges in terms of prime mission equipment, which needs to be replaced as soon as possible.

We have to look into Human Resource Management to avoid a recurrence of the situation in which we currently find ourselves namely old troops with no possibility of growth in the organisation. A special dispensation, independent of the rest of the public service, should perhaps be considered for soldiers.

Discipline is one of the problems with which the South African Army is grappling. Together with our legal services, we are looking at mechanisms that will enable commanders to institute disciplinary measures. The South African Army will, therefore, be harsh with those ill-disciplined elements in our midst and we call upon the public to support us in this effort.

Once more, thank you for gracing this occasion; it is highly appreciated.”

This customary breakfast was the ideal opportunity for the media to interact with the Chief of the South African Army and with his Army Command Cadre.