HUMAN SECURITY AND THE CONCEPTUALISATION OF SOUTH AFRICAN DEFENCE: TIME FOR A REAPPRAISAL

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abel Esterhuyse
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Human Security ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Conceptual Basis ◽  
The South ◽  
The World ◽  
Strategic Changes ◽  
Security Operations ◽  
National Defence

The article traces the unfolding of the human security agenda as the primary organising framework for constructing the security outlook of the South African military. Questions are raised about the utility of human security as a conceptual basis for thinking about and the construction of defence. Human security is historically contextualised within the security conceptualisations of the 1990s. Since then, however, various geo-strategic changes in the world necessitated a return to a more traditional outlook on security and strategy. This reality was also increasingly visible in South Africa's foreign policy approaches and, more specifically, the employment of its armed forces in Africa. The article concludes by arguing, firstly, that the South African armed forces did not at any time critically question how a military should be organised, trained, and equipped for human security operations and, secondly, that the South African National Defence Force never questioned its own operational deployments through the human security perspective.

scholarly journals Pre-deployment preparation of military nurses of the South African National Defence Force for participation in peace support operations

Curationis ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer D. Jumat ◽  
Marthie. C. Bezuidenhout ◽  
Theodor G. Neethling
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Training And Development ◽  
The South ◽  
Military Nurses ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Psychological Training ◽  
Resource Requirements ◽  
Professional Nurses ◽  
National Defence

Background: South Africa has dedicated itself to participate in peace support operations (PSOs). The concept of ‘jointness’, involving different arms of services, was adopted within the South African National Defence Force, thus involving nurses in PSOs.Problem statement: Combat-readiness being a prerequisite for those involved in PSOs raised questions as to the readiness of forces to participate in these missions. There is a need for specific nursing care during PSOs, but the role and functions of nurses during such operations were not clearly defined; thus their preparation for these missions had very little scientific grounding.Objectives: These were to explore the pre-deployment preparation needs of military professional nurses during PSOs, and to describe the experience of these nurses whilst being deployed.Method: A quantitative exploratory, descriptive and contextual approach was used. Questionnaires were distributed to 99 professional nurses who had deployment experience, and 72 participated (73% response rate). Relevant peace mission concepts are the environment, jointness, behaviour and mission readiness, which served as the conceptual bases for the study.Results: Findings indicated that the nurses were not fully informed of their responsibilities during deployment or the circumstances under which they would have to work and live. Their preparation is not fully integrated with that of the other armed forces, and deficiencies in their training and development were identified which negatively impact on their mission readiness.Conclusion: Recommendations were made in terms of human resource requirements, psychological training, better integration of jointness training, and content of training and development to ensure mission readiness of nurses.

scholarly journals A relevant ministry for the armed forces: An agenda for the South African National Defence Force chaplains praxis

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mnyalaza T. Masuku
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Church History ◽  
The South ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Military Chaplaincy ◽  
Historical Developments ◽  
The Military ◽  
National Defence

Chaplaincy in South Africa (SA) recently became an attractive ministry and research fields for both ministers and theologians, respectively, more especially since the dawn of democracy in 1994. The military chaplaincy has been flooded with applications and enquiries from ministers and leaders from religions other than Christianity who want to secure their space in the ministry to the SA armed forces. Individual churches are also joining the queue for enquiries. As SA is a multireligious nation, religions other than Christianity are also knocking at the door of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), claiming their right to be accommodated. For this reason, it is important for churches, other religious organisations, leaders, ministers and theological institutions or faculties to have knowledge of this unique world and its context, as well as the ministry dynamics and challenges involved. This will assist them in order to prepare appropriately in terms of shaping the curricula and qualifications of their ministers for effective ministry to the armed forces with special reference to the SANDF. This article investigates the dynamics of the military chaplaincy in relation to historical developments along similar chaplaincies globally, the nature of its ministry to the SA armed forces and the challenges posed by the ministry context (SANDF environment), and finally, it crafts and proposes a suitable curriculum for a relevant and effective ministry in the SANDF and the world.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article is located in the field of Missiology. However, it has interdisciplinary implications that affect disciplines such as Military Science, Sociology, Practical Theology and Church History, which all assist as building blocks towards a relevant ministry for the armed forces.

Serbia and Croatia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filip Ejdus
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Small States ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Defence Strategy ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
National Defence

During the cold war, the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia was a middle-sized power pursuing a non-aligned foreign policy and a defence strategy based on massive armed forces, obligatory conscription, and a doctrine of ‘Total National Defence’. The violent disintegration of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s resulted in the creation of several small states. Ever since, their defence policies and armed forces have been undergoing a thorough transformation. This chapter provides an analysis of the defence transformation of the two biggest post-Yugoslav states—Serbia and Croatia—since the end of the cold war. During the 1990s, defence transformation in both states was shaped by the undemocratic nature of their regimes and war. Ever since they started democratic transition in 2000, and in spite of their diverging foreign policies, both states have pivoted towards building modern, professional, interoperable, and democratically controlled armed forces capable of tackling both traditional and emerging threats.

scholarly journals TEOLOGIA PÚBLICA NO BRASIL: UM PRIMEIRO BALANÇO

2012 ◽  
Vol 44 (122) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Rudolf Von Sinner
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
South African ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
The State ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Rio Grande Do Sul ◽  
The South ◽  
The World ◽  
Uniform Definition ◽  
Different Parts

À luz de desafios atuais presentes no espaço público brasileiro, a discussão sobre a presença de crucifixos em tribunais gaúchos e a atuação de políticos evangélicos no Congresso, o artigo propõe-se fazer um primeiro balanço da reflexão sobre uma teologia pública no Brasil. Assim, procura responder à pergunta “o que é teologia pública?” não de forma definitória, inequívoca, uniformizante. Antes, mostra uma variedade de origens do termo e de oportunidades, bem como de perigos contidos neste conceito. Num primeiro passo, o artigo apresenta quatro linhas de abordagem presentes na emergente discussão brasileira. Em seguida, recorrendo ao sul-africano Dirk Smit, mostra a diversidade de origens e usos do conceito em várias partes do mundo. Por fim, procura evidenciar a pertinência e o potencial de uma teologia pública no Brasil – com ousadia e humildade.ABSTRACT: In view of actual challenges present in the Brazilian public space, the discussion on the presence of crosses in courthouses in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, as well as on the activities of evangelical Congressmen, this article ventures into a first balance of reflection on a public theology in Brazil. It seeks to respond to the question “what is public theology?” not with a clear and uniform definition. Rather, it shows a variety of origins and opportunities, as well as dangers contained in the concept. In a first step, the article presents four lines of thought present in the emerging Brazilian discussion. Then, with reference to the South African theologian Dirk Smit, it shows the diversity of origins and uses of the concept in different parts of the world. Finally, it seeks to show the pertinence and the potential of a public theology in Brazil – both with boldness and humility. 

South African Foreign Policy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fritz Nganje ◽  
Odilile Ayodele
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
The World ◽  
Role Conception ◽  
The Government

In its foreign policy posture and ambitions, post-apartheid South Africa is like no other country on the continent, having earned the reputation of punching above its weight. Upon rejoining the international community in the mid-1990s based on a new democratic and African identity, it laid out and invested considerable material and intellectual resources in pursuing a vision of the world that was consistent with the ideals and aspirations of the indigenous anti-apartheid movement. This translated into a commitment to foreground the ideals of human rights, democratic governance, and socioeconomic justice in its foreign relations, which had been reoriented away from their Western focus during the apartheid period, to give expression to post-apartheid South Africa’s new role conception as a champion of the marginalized interests for Africa and rest of the Global South. Since the start of the 21st century, this new foreign policy orientation and its underlying principles have passed through various gradations, reflecting not only the personal idiosyncrasies of successive presidents but also changes in the domestic environment as well as lessons learned by the new crop of leaders in Pretoria, as they sought to navigate a complex and fluid continental and global environment. From a rather naive attempt to domesticate international politics by projecting its constitutional values onto the world stage during the presidency of Nelson Mandela, South Africa would be socialized into, and embrace gradually, the logic of realpolitik, even as it continued to espouse an ethical foreign policy, much to the chagrin of the detractors of the government of the African National Congress within and outside the country. With the fading away of the global liberal democratic consensus into which post-apartheid South Africa was born, coupled with a crumbling of the material and moral base that had at some point inspired a sense of South African exceptionalism, Pretoria’s irreversible march into an unashamedly pragmatic and interest-driven foreign policy posture is near complete.

From Pigmentocracy to Representocracy

2018 ◽  
pp. 203-260
Author(s):  
Vineet Thakur
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
Institutional Structures

This chapter traces the post-apartheid transformation of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in South Africa. It argues that in the first decade of transition, the Department remained preoccupied with the process of internal restructuring, which was successfully achieved. This caused structural pains as many of the old white diplomats left the service, robbing the Department of crucial expertise. In these years, the political leadership played a stronger role in the South African foreign policymaking. While Mandela’s foreign policy formulation was ad-hocist, Mbeki relied on institutional structures. However, rather than emphasizing on strengthening the DFA, he created new institutional structures under his integrated governance scheme which, ironically, further centralised foreign policymaking. Consequently, the DFA was further marginalized.

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