One thing which has always categorised the South African military – and even in the “bad old days” of apartheid – was that it was largely apolitical. In the pre-1994 era, though, the thinking of the then SA Defence Force (SADF) aligned with that of the ruling National Party, which believed the current was facing a “total onslaught” from within and outside.
Those who argue against that need simply consider what happened in 1994 and the years immediately following black majority rule in this country.
The white-led, professional SADF – which later became the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) – continued to operate on the principle that it was loyal to the “government of the day”.
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They may not have liked the ANC, but they did nothing to try to reverse the results of the elections on 27 April 1994. And, up to now, the SANDF has remained steadfastly aloof from politics, even as the ANC, the hand which feeds it, kept cutting back on the financial sustenance.
The question now is: did the SANDF deliberately ignore President Cyril Ramaphosa’s order that the Iranian frigate should be withdrawn from the joint, Chinese-coordinated but South African-hosted Will for Peace 2026 naval drills off the Cape coast?
Or is it possibly that Navy Chief Vice-Admiral Monde Lobese – who stepped out of his lane late last year to slam the lack of funding for the Navy – was thrown under the bus and blamed for the Iranian chaos?
If he is scapegoated for this, it would be a convenient way to get rid of an outspoken critic.
And would it not be convenient to blame mutiny, rather than the fact that the ANC – alleged champions of human rights – stumbled to correct itself after belatedly realising that its friends in Tehran were slaughtering thousands of protesters?
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