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.

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 The application of supers theory in the military: culture and gender in the life roles of young professional officers

2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Kotze
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
Military Academy ◽  
South African Population ◽  
Young Professional ◽  
Societal Changes ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Military ◽  
Life Roles ◽  
National Defence

Political and societal changes in South Africa have resulted in the fundamental transformation of amongst others the personnel composition of the National Defence Force in order to be more representative of the South African population as a whole. As a corollary to this process, the South African Military Academy is making a determined effort to increase the number of black and female students within its student population. Opsomming Politieke en samelewingsveranderinge in Suid-Afrika het aanleiding gegee tot die fundamentele transformasie van ondermeer die personeelsamestelling van die Nasionale Weermag om sodoende verteenwoordigend te wees van die Suid-Afrikaanse bevolking as geheel. Bykomend tot hierdie proses wend die Suid-Afrikaanse Militere Akademie ook n daadwerklike poging aan om die aantal swart en vroulike studente in die studentepopulasie te verhoog.

Ethnic Factors in the Evolution of the South African Military

1975 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 21-28
Author(s):  
Cynthia H. Enloe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Institution ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
Scant Attention ◽  
Ethnic Factors ◽  
The Military

Virtually all of the literature concerning the politics of South Africa analyzes the dynamics of that system within the frameworks of racism, authoritarianism, and repression. Yet, strangely, the political institution which is necessarily the bulwark of such a system—the military—has attracted scant attention except in terms of strategy and armaments.

The National Defence College

2021 ◽  
pp. 162-198
Author(s):  
Vipul Dutta
Keyword(s):  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Military Officers ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Fresh Perspective ◽  
The Military ◽  
Jawaharlal Nehru ◽  
National Defence

The final chapter looks at the National Defence College (NDC) in Delhi that was inaugurated by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1960. It is the last of the military institutional creations designed to meet the training needs of senior ranking Indian officers. This chapter will contextualise the emergence of the NDC in the changing perceptions, roles and responsibilities of the Indian Armed forces. It will dwell at length on the post-independence cohort of senior Indian military officers that represented the ‘constituency’ of the NDC, and re-look at their subsequent assignments which symbolised a paradigm shift in the mandate of the armed forces, thereby offering a fresh perspective on the post-independence phase of the military institutional ‘Indianisation’.

Are Women ‘Really’ Making a Unique Contribution to Peacekeeping?

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 227-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindy Heinecken
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Operational Effectiveness ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Performance Pressure ◽  
The Military

This article examines the factors that inhibit the ability of female peacekeepers to make a unique contribution to peacekeeping operations based on their gender. The debates are examined in relation to the claims made about their ability to enhance operational effectiveness and reach out to the local population as women, compared to the actual experiences of South African peacekeepers’ deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (drc) and in Darfur/Sudan. The argument is made that factors stemming from both the military and operational context affect the optimal utilization of women in various ways. As most national armed forces tend to draw their peacekeeping troops from the infantry, women come under tremendous performance pressure when deployed and are obliged to assimilate masculine values in order to be recognised as ‘good’ soldiers. It is argued that this, coupled with the hyper-masculine peacekeeping environment which is hostile to women, undermines their optimal utilization, as well as their ability to infuse a more gendered approach in peacekeeping.

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