Union wants answers from Modise over starving soldiers

LAWYERS representing the “starving” troops deployed to maintain law and order in KwaZulu-Natal have threatened to haul newly-appointed Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise before the courts should she fail to provide them with a proposed solution or plan of action.

“Our instructions are that the South African National Defence Union (Sandu) has been inundated with complaints from its members under deployment in Operation Prosper, more specifically so from units deployed in the northern regions of KZN. (They) are either fed one meagre meal per day; or some days do not receive any rations/ food; or are not being paid the meal allowances provided for in an Army Order for them to be able to buy food daily,” read the letter by law firm Griesel & Breytenbach.

Reports of the starving soldiers first emerged after EFF leader Julius Malema shared on social media a screenshot of a text message sent to him by someone identifying himor herself as a soldier deployed in KZN.

“We are suffering in the SANDF. There is no food for us since last week. We are buying food from our own salary. (The) army promised us meal allowances. Please help us. You are our last hope. If we ask them, they victimised us,” read the message.

To those reports, the SANDF conceded that there were “challenges” regarding ration packs and payment of meal allowances.

“These challenges received the necessary attention. As a measure to address the developing challenges, there are processes in place to prioritise and address challenges as and when they prevail. This is an ongoing process for the duration of the operation.

“It is outright disingenuous to suggest or to insinuate that soldiers are starving and are considering withdrawing from the operation,” said the SANDF.

But Sandu lawyers said yesterday troops had communicated to the union their extreme dissatisfaction and severe demoralisation due to the current situation.

“In addition, false social media reports have been doing the rounds that certain soldiers were going to withdraw due to this situation. It is obvious that the longer the situation remains unattended the more dire the situation becomes and the more the risk of sensationalising the matter when in fact it is something that should and could be dealt with swiftly by Military Command.”

“Key to addressing this challenge will be the speedy implementation of government economic policies to address the bottlenecks in the economy, with an investment drive to key sectors of the economy, such as manufacturing,” Mhango said.

The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) said the figures were a strong indicator of socioeconomic disparities between men and women.

“One of the biggest drivers of inequality between women and men in South Africa is inequitable access to education and training opportunities,” said Fedusa.

The data confirms that women constitute the majority of the poor, the unemployed, and the dispossessed, said Colleen Morna of Gender Links.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is salt to this wound. South Africa is one of the only countries in the world in which women constitute the majority of those infected by Covid19, as well as dying as a result of Covid-19. They are the majority of those infected but also, crucially, of those affected,” said Morna.

Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said: “This is very alarming considering that more than

50% of people in the workingage population are officially unemployed. It is also calamitous for the country because it means millions of workers will be dependent on the state for their well-being and that of their families. These unemployment numbers are an outcome of the policy choices by the policymakers and, in this regard, the influence of the National Treasury.”

He said the unemployment numbers reflected not just the devastating impact of Covid-19, but also of the government’s “misguided austerity strategy that is geared towards containing public debt and reducing budget deficit, instead of achieving structural economic transformation … ”.

“It is deeply troubling that, in the face of such devastating unemployment statistics, the newlyappointed Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana has been quoted as saying that there is no plan to change the country’s macroeconomic framework. These depressing figures provide proof that there is no real commitment to accelerating shared economic growth, and transforming the structures of production and ownership by government,” he said.