New unit to replace commandos

2003-02-17 14:36

Cape Town - The defence force's commando system would be phased out and replaced by a new special police unit, set up to protect South Africa's borders, national key points and VIPs, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Monday.

Known as the Protection and Security Services Division, the unit had already provided protection for 676 VIPs at 32 major events, including the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the Cricket World Cup, he told a media briefing at parliament.

Nqakula was elaborating on President Thabo Mbeki's announcement last week that the commando system would be phased out and a new system introduced for rural safety.

Mbeki's announcement was criticised by organised agriculture, opposition parties and some security analysts, who believe the phasing out of the commando system would undermine rural safety.

There are 183 units comprising about 51 000 commando members in South Africa, which - according to statistics - carried out thousands of operations during 2000 and 2001.

About 27 000 individuals depend solely on the income derived from part-time duty in commandos.

In addition there are about 18 army "group headquarters", staffed by between 200 to 1000 people, to support and command the commandos and any regular troops deployed for border control or SAPS support.

Nqakula told reporters the commando system was established during a specific period of South Africa's history as the first line of defence for rural communities against the "infiltration of guerrillas into the country".

"Because of this, commandos have never been as accepted as they ought to be by people."

Nqakula said there were many cases of people reporting atrocities by commando members.

The phasing out of the system, however, did not mean that commando members would be without jobs.

He suggested they could be taken up in the new system, but did not elaborate.

Nqakula expressed concern about the high level of stock thefts on the South Africa-Lesotho border, which, he said, had developed "into violence and the use of weapons of war".

He acknowledged that the new police division would require a lot of resources.

On fears that rural security would be compromised, he said farm security was part and parcel of South Africa's crime prevention strategy.

A rural safety plan was in place and he was awaiting a final report into the matter, following an investigation into farms attacks in South Africa.

Farm attacks were not only against white farmers, but also their black colleagues, Nqakula said.

Deputy safety and security minister Joe Matthews said there was a 94% success rate in arresting people involved in farm attacks.

"The problem we have is not arrests. The question is, why is it happening? We are puzzled by the phenomenon. Very often it is not accompanied by robbery or theft."

Matthews said that despite "exhaustive interrogation" of suspects, "we can't discern whether there's anybody or any syndicate behind the attacks on farmers".

He noted that because of the high success rate in arresting suspects, the government was even being criticised in some quarters for using a disproportionate amount of resources to protect white farmers, as opposed to other crimes that were affecting the majority of South Africans.

In his reaction last week, Agri SA president Japie Grobler said the phasing out of the commando system would only undermine rural safety.

"Phasing them out, while experience has shown how difficult they are to replace, will be negative for safety and negative for the country.

"It's the old story of hundreds of plans being hatched while crime continues unabated."

Institute for Security Studies director Jakkie Cilliers cautioned against any plan to abolish commandos before an effective alternative was in place.

"Commandos have traditionally been functioning as a blanket of support in rural safety," he said.

Cilliers said the fight against crime in general might also suffer if commandos should disappear.

"The government is struggling to recruit enough reservists, which means that military support for the police remains vital."

Commandos operating in rural areas to curb lawlessness enabled the police to deploy more staff for the battle against crime in urban areas.

Perceptions that misconduct was rife among members of commandos were not accurate.

"There were only isolated incidents of this nature," Cilliers said.

- SAPA