Veterans face battles of different kind
WHILE South Africa celebrates 20 years of democracy, soldiers from the different units have spent the time trying to rebuild their lives, sometimes without success.
The soldiers, some of whom spent most of their adult lives in exile, have since 1994 been trying to find a place in society.
Liberation armies including Umkhonto weSizwe and the Azanian People’s Liberation Army, and the pre-1994 South African Defence Force were disbanded in 1994 and the current South African National Defence Force was formed. Former Umkhonto weSizwe regional commissioner Sandile Manase, 65, said soldiers who were involved in the struggle had spent the last 20 years trying to build new lives for themselves, as they could not go back to their old ones.
“The ANC had built highly capable cadres, and when there was no ‘war’ to fight, it was assumed comrades with experience in combat were only good for security work or work related to that, nothing else.
“But most of us had lives before that. I, for example, am a qualified journalist, but because of my association with the military, I could never be employed in journalism after democracy. Who you were before you became a soldier gets lost.”
Manase said while soldiers celebrated the change brought by democracy, most still struggled with issues from the past.
“There is still a deep need for counselling and rehab for soldiers, which I feel is not done properly. There is a culture of avoidance when it comes to soldiers and veterans, and that is why a number of them become alcoholics, because they battle with marriages that are not stable and society that has no space for them.
“When we took up arms, we knew we were not guaranteed privileges, but soldiers should be entitled to shelter and a job so they can live decent lives.”