From Defence To Development: Redirecting Military Resources In South Africa

FROM DEFENCE TO DEVELOPMENT This page intentionally left blank FROM DEFENCE TO DEVELOPMENT Redirecting Military Resources in South Africa Jacklyn Cock and Penny Mckenzie for The Group for Environmental Monitoring David Philip Cape Town International Development Research Centre Ottawa, Canada First published in 1998 in Africa by David Philip Publishers (Pty) Ltd, 208 Werdmuller Centre, Claremont 7700, South Africa First published in 1998 in the rest of the world by the International Development Research Centre, PO Box 8500, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1E 3H9 ISBN 86486 415 9 (David Philip) ISBN 0 88936 853 8 (IDRC) Compilation © 1998 Jacklyn Cock and Penny Mckenzie The contributors claim copyright on their individual chapters All rights reserved. Printed in South Africa by National Book Printers, Drukkery Street, Goodwood, Western Cape Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Cock, Jacklyn From defence to development: redirecting military resources in South Africa Includes bibliographical references ISBN 0-88936-853-8 1. Militarism South Africa. 2. South Africa Military policy. 3. South Africa National security. 4. Sustainable development South Africa. I. Mckenzie, Penny. II. International Development Research Centre (Canada). III. Title. IV. Title: Redirecting military resources in South Africa. UA856.5C621998 355.6 0968 C98-980043-1 CONTENTS Foreword Thenjiwe Mtintso vii Acknowledgements vii List of contributors xi 1. Introduction Jacklyn Cock 1 2. Guns or Butter? Growth, Development and Security Gavin Cawthra 25 3. The 1996 Defence White Paper: An Agenda for State Demilitarisation? Laurie Nathan 41 4. Reclaiming the Land: A Case Study of Riemvasmaak Penny Mckenzie 60 5. Weapons testing: Its impact on people and the Environment Penny Mckenzie 85 6. South Africs arms industry: Prospects for Conversion Peter Batchelor 97 7. Light weapons proliferation: The link between security and development Jacklyn Cock 122 8. Still killing: Land-mines in Southern Africa Alex Vines 148 9. Apartheis nuclear arsenal: Deviation from development David Fig 163 10. After the war: Demobilisation in South Africa Tsepe Motumi and Penny Mckenzie 181 11. Demobilisation and reintegration in society: Human resources conversion Rocky Williams 208 12. Militarised youth: Political pawns or social agents? Monique Marks and Penny Mckenzie 222 References 235 Index 244 FOREWORD Thenjiwe Mtintso This book addresses some of the most controversial aspects of our transition from apartheid to a non-racial and non-sexist democracy. The creation of a representative and legitimate defence force is probably the most difficult aspect of our commitment to create a common society and to build institutions which unite rather than divide us. The role of the new defence force is to protect and consolidate democracy: this implies a total break from the past when the South African Defence Force helped to make South Africa a terrorist state reliant on fear to maintain its authority. In the past vast resources were devoted to the SADF to support white minority rule. Today military expenditure must be appropriate to our central task: to address the real threats to our security poverty and unemployment. In the past military issues were also shrouded in secrecy, whereas today we are committed to transparency. In this context th