Gearing for war

The military is no longer preparing for peacekeeping in other parts of Africa - it is now gearing for war.

The South African Army will be on standby from December 1 to deploy as part of the African Union's African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crisis force.

Currently 1500 soldiers - including from the infantry, artillery and armoured divisions, engineers and medics - are preparing for combat in some of the deadliest hot spots, including fighting Islamist terrorists in Somalia, Mali and Nigeria.

The preparations for ACIRC, an interim initiative of President Jacob Zuma, has to date cost local taxpayers R4-billion.

This does not include the cost of deployments, which could begin in December.

Troops will be fighting genocidal forces with Gripen fighter jets, Rooivalk attack helicopters, transport aircraft, artillery, armoured vehicles and anti-aircraft weapons, including ground-to-air defence missiles.

But the deployments have military analysts and academics worried, especially about the lack of airlift capabilities to resupply or evacuate troops.

Army chief Lieutenant-General Vusi Masondo said yesterday: "We will go wherever. If the AU says we go to Somalia then that is where we go."

He said South Africa was expected to deploy a battalion but was "going further".

"While we cannot preclude losses, we are deploying a robust force that will face the worst . so we don't have another Central African Republic situation," he said, referring to the killing of South African soldiers in April last year.

The other nine countries to be part of ACIRC include Algeria, Liberia, Sudan and Uganda.

"This force will be plugging gaps that have been created by the AU standby force, which has not yet come into operation. It is designed to ensure the protection of the innocent, women, children and the elderly," Masondo said.

"We are sending a stern warning to opposition forces - we are prepared for any eventuality," he said.

Brigadier-General Lawrence Smith, general officer commanding 43 Brigade, whose officers are training the troops, said the mission was "beyond peacekeeping".

"This is the biggest challenge that we are going into. We have drummed into the troops that they will not be deployed into anything but crises and very bad ones ... genocides, gross human rights violations and total breakdown of societies after natural disasters.

"The training we are giving is totally different from what troops have received before.

"Lessons learnt in CAR have seen us training a robust fighting force for rural, urban, conventional and unconventional warfare."

Smith was speaking after a display of the troops' capabilities in Lohatlha, Northern Cape, yesterday.

He said: "We have carefully been monitoring and observing conflicts on the continent. Everything that we have seen we are putting into training, making it easier for the troops when their boots hit the ground. This is about rapid response within days, not months and years, which has been a UN shortfall in terms of peacekeeping."

Military analyst Helmoed Heitman said the deployments, which South Africa had no option but to make, had to be properly implemented and financed.

"If the troops are not properly armed and equipped and [do not] have the necessary aircraft to bring in troops, resupply them and evacuate them in a hurry our soldiers are going to die unnecessarily."

He said a major repercussion for South Africa going into war zones, especially those controlled by terror organisations, was that the attacks could come home.

"They are coming anyway, but with these deployments they will come a lot quicker."