Both the SA National Defence Force and SA Police Service have long proved worse than useless
14 July 2021 - 17:00
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Members of the South African National Defence Force. Picture: LOYISO MPALANTSHANE/THE HERALD
The 1996 defence white paper acknowledged that there was no conceivable foreign military threat to SA, and that the apartheid legacies of poverty were SA’s main security problem. It is internationally well proven that huge investment in public education and health is the most effective means to alleviate and eliminate poverty.
Instead of prioritising education and health, the ANC squandered hundreds of billions of rand on the arms deal plus “black empowerment” of the political elite, and other looting of the economy. Because of the ANC’s betrayal of the struggle against apartheid, SA now faces the consequences of an understandably angry, undereducated and unemployable population. And as long evident, both the SA National Defence Force and SA Police Service have proved worse than useless.
There is still no conceivable foreign military threat to SA. Accordingly, it is appropriate to revisit the “Costa Rica option”. Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948. It reallocated military spending to health and education, the standards of which now compare with those in Western Europe. This tiny democratic country in Central America also leads the world in environmental awareness and renewable energy. By contrast, its neighbouring states of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, run by US-supported military dictatorships, are social and economic disasters.
The US and its Nato allies annually spend $2-trillion on war preparations in their arrogant attempts to impose global hegemony. Yet 20 years after deliberately unleashing wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and other countries, the US and Nato are facing ignominious defeat. A tenth of the world’s population in 2021 is literally facing starvation, overwhelmingly because of those wars and conflicts, and the global economy is in shambles.
A fraction of that $2-trillion could fund climate change mitigation, poverty alleviation, education, health and related issues. We dreamt of a post-apartheid SA that would become a beacon to the international community. Now, during this time of crisis, is the moment to resurrect that dream set out in the preamble to the constitution:
“We, the people of SA, recognise the injustices of our past, honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land, respect those who have worked to build and develop our country, and believe that SA belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.
“We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this constitution as the supreme law of the republic so as to heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights; lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law; improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and build a united and democratic SA able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.”
Terry Crawford-Browne
World Beyond War SA
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by email to letters@businesslive.co.za. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Money in the military is money ill spent
Both the SA National Defence Force and SA Police Service have long proved worse than useless
The 1996 defence white paper acknowledged that there was no conceivable foreign military threat to SA, and that the apartheid legacies of poverty were SA’s main security problem. It is internationally well proven that huge investment in public education and health is the most effective means to alleviate and eliminate poverty.
Instead of prioritising education and health, the ANC squandered hundreds of billions of rand on the arms deal plus “black empowerment” of the political elite, and other looting of the economy. Because of the ANC’s betrayal of the struggle against apartheid, SA now faces the consequences of an understandably angry, undereducated and unemployable population. And as long evident, both the SA National Defence Force and SA Police Service have proved worse than useless.
There is still no conceivable foreign military threat to SA. Accordingly, it is appropriate to revisit the “Costa Rica option”. Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948. It reallocated military spending to health and education, the standards of which now compare with those in Western Europe. This tiny democratic country in Central America also leads the world in environmental awareness and renewable energy. By contrast, its neighbouring states of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, run by US-supported military dictatorships, are social and economic disasters.
The US and its Nato allies annually spend $2-trillion on war preparations in their arrogant attempts to impose global hegemony. Yet 20 years after deliberately unleashing wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and other countries, the US and Nato are facing ignominious defeat. A tenth of the world’s population in 2021 is literally facing starvation, overwhelmingly because of those wars and conflicts, and the global economy is in shambles.
A fraction of that $2-trillion could fund climate change mitigation, poverty alleviation, education, health and related issues. We dreamt of a post-apartheid SA that would become a beacon to the international community. Now, during this time of crisis, is the moment to resurrect that dream set out in the preamble to the constitution:
“We, the people of SA, recognise the injustices of our past, honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land, respect those who have worked to build and develop our country, and believe that SA belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.
“We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this constitution as the supreme law of the republic so as to heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights; lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law; improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and build a united and democratic SA able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.”
Terry Crawford-Browne
World Beyond War SA
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by email to letters@businesslive.co.za. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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