Defence Force not ANC hired guns

With democracy in South Africa seemingly under assault from all sides – from demagogues to xenophobes to dictatorial government ministers – it was encouraging to see a soldier standing up for the constitution this week. General Solly Shoke, Chief of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF), drew a clear line between politics and the military, indicating that he and his fellow officers had no intention of allowing this country’s defence force to be manipulated by politicians – and vice versa… in what has happened in many African countries in the post-independence era.

Shoke’s warning to soldiers to stay away from party politics came in the wake of a call by retired SANDF lieutenant-general Maomela “Mojo” Motau for a “cadres’ meeting” of senior officers to debate the current situation in the ANC.

Some said the meeting – summoning former members of the armed wing uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) to be part of a debate – could be the launch point for a coup… something hotly denied by Motau.

It is not clear where Motau’s sympathies, or those of other MK veterans, lie, although the MK Veterans Association is a staunch ally of former president Jacob Zuma.

The SANDF is mandated, constitutionally, to be loyal to the “government of the day” as elected by the citizens of South Africa. That means it recognises the difference between a political party and a government, albeit that the ANC does call the shots.

The SANDF can never become the ANC’s armed wing because, if it does, it will be used to ensure that the party rules until Jesus returns, as Zuma used to put it.

Members of the SANDF are there to protect the country and the constitution but are also “citizens in uniform”and have as much to lose as everyone else if their units become politicians’ hired guns.