DURBAN - STARVING armed military forces deployed in July to defuse tensions in the wake of the recent civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng are crying out for help.
Sources within the army in KZN, who spoke to the Daily News on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said they desperately needed help to put pressure on the state to meet its obligations and feed the hungry soldiers who have been hard at work assisting the police to restore order over the past two months.
One source alleged that more than 220 soldiers based at Estcourt Secondary School have so far received only R600 for meals since they were deployed on July 15.
“We are paid between R16 000 and R18000 before deduction, so can you imagine what this is doing to us? Deploying us and never (providing) food and clean water,” said the source.
He added that one of the soldiers had to be rushed to hospital last Thursday when his body collapsed after weeks of starvation as he did not have money to buy food.
“We love our jobs and we are here to serve, but things can’t carry on like this. We are hungry and we need help,” said the soldier.
A soldier deployed to Hammarsdale and overseeing the Pietermaritzburg area said they were also starved and had not been provided with basic supplies. He said the Gift of the Givers Foundation had come to their rescue.
Hlengiwe Nkwanyana, provincial spokesperson for Gift of the Givers, confirmed to the Daily News that the organisation had helped to provide food to the soldiers.
“We have been assisting them with groceries so that they can cook for themselves. We have also assisted others in the community,” she said.
Advocate JG “Pikkie” Greeff, national secretary of the South African National Defence Union (Sandu), said the union would write to the ministry demanding answers, and instruct them to act immediately to resolve the collapsing state of the army.
“Our soldiers are demoralised by what is happening. The appalling conditions they find themselves in are of great concern. How do we expect soldiers to perform to their level best of soldiering and serving the nation when the state fails to provide basic things such as food?
“Although we don’t encourage them to abandon their posts, we are unhappy with how the government is treating our soldiers.”
Greeff said newly appointed Minister of Defence Thandi Modise was not to blame for the army’s collapsed infrastructure as she had been appointed to the post only two weeks ago.
Regarding reports about the hospitalisation of one of the soldiers, Sandu spokesperson Jeff Dubazane said the union had not been informed about this but would institute an investigation into the matter.
SANDF spokesperson Brigadier-General Mafi Mgobhozi told the Daily News that a meeting was held on Monday and had resolved to attend to the issues.
He acknowledged that there were problems with the administration which, among other matters, emanated from the roll-call which helped indicate who was at work and what was needed.
He said the R600 provided initially was for two days and the army would now provide more than R4500 to each soldier as a food allowance.
“These challenges received the necessary attention. As a measure to address developing challenges, there are processes in place to prioritise and address challenges as and when they prevail. This is an ongoing process for the duration of the operation.
“It is outright disingenuous to suggest or to insinuate that soldiers are starving and are considering withdrawing from the operation,” said Mgobhozi.
Jakkie Cilliers, an expert from the Institute for Security Studies, said depriving soldiers of nutritious food was unacceptable, if this was true. “It is completely unheard of.”
Cilliers said the Department of Defence was responsible for providing food to its soldiers.
“This is done in the form of deploying kitchens to the camp, delivering food or by providing a stipend to enable soldiers to purchase their food.”
Cilliers said the Defence Minister operated at policy level and had no control of the day-to-day running of the army base and camps as it was the commander’s responsibility.
He said it would be unfair to link her to the starvation of soldiers.
Daily News