How can you complain at rank being given out like sweets, while at the same time complain of 30 year old privates??

i can only agree with you, what more is their to say?

Well! When 16 so called black soldiers, fire 2800 rounds of ammunition at a target only 3 metre's away, with only one bullet hitting the target, what can be expected? No wonder the terrorists had to be handed the south africa on a plate by that white terrorist de klerk....without him, they would still be trying to piss the police force off in soweto.

You´re right Rylan, things have gone downhill for ZA´s defense since 1994 and it´s my opinion that a lot of it has to do with integrating the ANC terrorists into national defense. From being the last bulwark against communism in Africa, the SADF has become a joke. Afrikaners can´t join the force because of ¨positive discrimination¨ and they made up the backbone of the old SADF.

Ha, it´s no wonder the government were up in arms only a few months ago about a military museum housing old hardware... it represented a genuine challenge to the SANDF.

I have to agree, with only a few working equipment those harware in the museum were probably in the best condition and the only deployable weapons South Africa have. To think, this country once fought and held back 50 000 Cuban soldiers BUT now it will take only about 50 to totally destroy the "proud" SANDF !

You have no idea mate. The SANDF is probably one of the worst forces in Africa at the moment. I left in 2000 and so has a lot of my friends. If you had any savvy you had to leave. I know some of the problems I am going to mention has already been posted but you have to understand to what level they go. AIDS is something that the UN does not want in a soldier simply because it is contagious and can start affecting physical abillity at any time. I worked in a unit were 75% of the total personnell (including Officers and NCO's)were HIV positive. Equipment is non existent, things like Caspirrs, Mambas and Ratels are all obsolete but does mean that the distance on your feet get made a little shorter, if there are any of them working which happens to be never. The biggest problem at that stage (and I think it still is) was that discipline was non-existent and the fact that there was no way in which discipline could be enforced. Troops could not be disciplined by Officers or NCO's and rascism would immediately come into the equation. Court marshalls and the punishment they dish out are a joke. It came to a point that my whole day was taken up by stopping pay and filling out AWOL documentation. Luckily I got out of regular infantry and into another unit where work ethics and the pride of being a soldier still had some meaning. I can go on all day but it is becoming boring and I dont moan very well. The crux of the matter is that the SANDF has fallen apart the South African people just dont know it yet.

As an 'uitlander' who has worked a good deal with the SANDF over the last 6 years. It would be difficult to comment on their capabilities. As the white officers are purged, it seems that the standards are also purged. Most of my work has been done in Bloemfontein and this may not be representative of the rest of the SANDF but the white officers there care very much. The black officers who I have encountered are unfit for command, technically/tactically inept, and seem to be in place for political reliability rather than for any measure of exhibited confidence. Through all of this, it is interesting to note that with all of the splurges on defense spending (3 submarines, 4 corvettes, Airbus 400s, and the new fighter/choppers) that there have been no requisitions for new armored vehicles and/or new infantry equipment. As a military advisor I would say that this only shows a government who fears the only element that could effectively threaten their power. If I can generalize, I would say that the SANDF is still the most capable military force on the continent (although Nigeria is catching up). Possibly this is a testament to the SADF/SANDF and the legacy it has built. Whether this will remain the case in the future? I suspect that is more of a political question than one of force structure/doctrine.

I was curious as to what role you had with the SADF in an advisory position and whether or not you were doing any more work with them in future.