Judge Ronnie Bosielo, chairman of a commission looking into conditions of service in the military, told Parliament's defence committee the situation was so dire that he had submitted an urgent interim report to Lindiwe Sisulu, minister of defence and military veterans, telling her that the crisis was "a ticking time bomb" and she had to act immediately.
"[SANDF] members are demoralised. They are disgruntled, they don't know where they stand. Something must be done about it. These are the harsh realities we are confronted with," he said.
Members of Bosielo's commission told the committee that they would recommend a salary adjustment for soldiers, but warned that Sisulu would need a budget increase because it could not be done from existing funds.
"The minister is going to need money very fast to respond to these challenges," said Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, a member of the commission.
Bosielo and members of his commission told MPs that barracks were in decay, with ceilings collapsing, and toilets and showers not working. He said conditions were "sub-human".
1Military Hospital, in Pretoria, once the flagship of the Medical Corps, was falling apart. It did not have a resident radiographer, the committee was told.
The commissioners said soldiers wanted to join trade unions because grievance procedures were not working. There was a backlog of more than 660 cases waiting to be heard, and some had been in the queue for several years.
"We wondered how soldiers survive with the salaries they are getting," Bosielo said.
"Because of the salary bracket they are in, they do not qualify for RDP houses. At the same time, because of the meagre salaries they earn, they do not qualify to go to banks to secure bonds, so they are falling [through] the cracks. And what are the cracks? To go to the informal settlements and stay in the shacks in the townships.
"This is what prompted us to draft and prepare an interim report to the minister; to draw her attention and say we are sitting on a time bomb. If you don't attend to it today - or yesterday - you're going to regret it," Bosielo said.
A private with more than 10 years of service takes home R3,000 to R3,200 a month after deductions, including medical aid and pension contributions. If he lives in military accommodation, he pays about R500 a month.
The entry-level pay for a soldier can be as low as R2,300, compared with about R6,400 for a police constable.
"At Doornkop and Lens [two major military bases that the commissioners visited] there is a complete breakdown of discipline - complete," Bosielo said.
Sisulu appointed the commission after soldiers from two military trade unions stormed the Union Buildings in August, claiming that their conditions of service were untenable.
Sisulu and President Jacob Zuma condemned the attack and blamed the military trade unions for the breakdown of discipline.
Though Sisulu and Zuma said that soldiers should not belong to trade unions, Bosielo insisted that two Constitutional Court rulings had endorsed union rights for soldiers.
"We cannot wish away the trade unions," he said.
Bosielo said his commission had made contact with the unions to discuss their grievances, but was warned off when Sisulu changed the commission's terms of reference and told him to stay away from the issue because Zuma had decided that the military unions should be disbanded.
The revised mandate was handed to the commission on November 9, but it has not been published.
Reading from a copy, which he would not allow reporters to see, Bosielo said: "The president, as the commander-in-chief, has, with the support of the Cabinet, declared that de-unionisation of the SANDF must be accomplished as soon as possible. No other person has authority to countermand the president in that command. It is advisable for the [commission] as it meets to steer as far as possible from entertaining issues to do with unions."
Commission member Mpumlwana defended the decision to speak to the unions, saying the interviews took place before Sisulu changed the rules.
He said most of the soldiers the commission had interviewed believed that their plight would not be in the spotlight if they had not marched on Zuma's office at the Union Buildings.
"There was not a single unit that we visited that did not have very strong views in favour of the unions.
"I believe that part of our success can be attributed to the fact that we were not shy to meet the unions. If that is an offence, I would like to say it is regrettable," Mpumlwana said.
Bosielo said the commission would meet Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan soon and would make a final report before Christmas.
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