1. At its Triennial National Conference in August 2001, the South African Council of Churches (SACC) adopted a resolution calling on the South African Government to minimise its commitments to the purchasing of sophisticated new weapons. The resolution was the latest in a series of SACC statements over the past five years raising objectives to new arms purchases in the light overwhelming social needs.

2. On 26 October 2001, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the SACC, together with other church leaders and senior support staff, met with government officials in Kempton Park to discuss the SACC's reservations about the arms acquisition programme. The government delegation was led by the Minister of Defence, the Hon MPG Lekota, and the Minister of Public Enterprises, the Hon JT Radebe, and included the Chair of Parliament's Joint Committee on Intelligence, the Hon NN Nqakula, the Secretary for Defence, Mr JB Masilela, and other senior military officers.

3. The President of the SACC, Bishop Mvume Dandala, opened the meeting by welcoming the Ministerial team and presenting them with a memorandum outlining the SACC's concerns. He indicated that most members of the SACC did not adopt a pacifist perspective, but accepted the need for a defence force as an important component of national security. Moreover SACC members came to the meeting as fellow South Africans with a shared concern with the government in the security and stability of the region and meeting the needs of all South Africans. He added that the SACC was not a front for any political party, but represented the genuine concerns and interests of its member churches who share a tradition that values peace. He reiterated the need for the churches and the government to work together to ensure that peace becomes one of South Africa's major export commodities.

4. Following introductions, the Minister of Defence told the participants that his primary objective was to explain the government's motivation for entering into the strategic defence procurement agreement. In particular, he wanted to address the question of whether the government had been acting responsibly in signing the arms contracts.

4.1 The Minister said that the last major weapons acquisition had been in 1966. Much of this equipment was obsolete by the early 1990's. The former government was planning to replace a number of weapons systems in 1993, at the time of the CODESA talks. When the ANC became aware of this, they insisted that it would be inappropriate to do so while the majority of South Africans remained excluded from government. Consequently, the deal was scrapped, but the equipment continued to age. Shortly after coming to power, the democratic government launched a Defence Review, inviting public submissions on the overhaul of the security forces.

4.2 The Defence Review concluded that South Africa faced no foreseeable external military threat. Therefore its military posture should be strictly defensive. Offensive weapons, such as nuclear weapons, should be dismantled. At the same time, where the country's defensive forces were deficient, these should be improved. However, the government has only been able to contemplate meeting a fraction of the need due to budgetary constraints.

4.3 In response to charges that spending on weapons was starving more vital social investment programmes of public funds, the Minister pointed out that overall defence spending had diminished from 9,9 % of the nation budget (or 2,9% GDP) in 1993 to 6,1% of the budget (or 1,6 of GDP) in the current year. This, he said was a sign of the government's commitment to diverting resources from military spending to service delivery.

4.4 Furthermore, the government is pushing the security forces to play a bigger role in social delivery. He cites as examples the military's role in rescuing flood in Mozambique, delivering books to schools, and reinforcing the police. A well-equipped military is also vital to supporting peace efforts in the region and to protecting the country's marine and other natural resources, he said.

4.5 With respect to the cost effectiveness of the current arms deal, the Minister reported that South Africa had negotiated extremely low purchase prices for the equipment. The attractiveness of the deal was enhanced by the industrial participation and countertrade agreements that the government secured. For example, the suites for the frigates will be built in South Africa by a firm that will continue to supply suited for other orders thereafter. The offsets have been a vehicle to link South African companies to international firms from whom we had long been isolated.

4.6 The Minister addressed concerns about allegations of corruption associated with the arms deal, indicating that controls within the procurement process made it impossible for collective or syndicated corruption. The controversy around the variation of the criteria for the selection of the leading fighter trainer contractor had been clearly explained: the "cheaper" alternative would have necessitated the purchase of additional equipment at higher cost in the long run. Any irregularities in the subcontracting agreements could not be attributed to the government, but only to the primary contractors. He noted that a few corrupt individuals does not imply a corrupt government.

5. Bishop Dandala thanked the Minister for his remarks, noting that he had touched on most of the topics raised in the SACC's memorandum which are the core of the churches concerns and covered the following issues:

• spending priorities
• budget offsets
• public accountability

He invited questions for the Minister. Among points to emerge from the discussion:

5.1 Land: The Minister acknowledged that the SANDF has substantial amounts of land. The Ministry is considering ways to make non-essential land available for distribution, provided it has not been contaminated by military use. However, redistribution land must be coupled with training, especially agricultural training. Communities that wish to make use of such land should submit a clear purpose and detailed proposals for alternative use to the Ministry of Defence.

5.2 Financing Costs: In response to concerns about the declining value of the rand and its impact on the cost of 12-year deal denominated primarily in foreign currency, the Minister pointed out that most of the counter-trade agreements were also in foreign currency, so these would tend to offset the unfavourable exchange rate movements. He added that the agreements were also government-to-government, so that European governments involved had a obligation to ensure that their own corporations lived up to their counter-trade and industrial participation commitments.

5.3 Priorities: Responding to questions about the size of the defence budget (6%) relative to departments such as housing (3%), Minister Radebe indicated that , if looked as a whole, the budget was well-balanced. The South African government spends relatively little on defence compared to other developing nations and has won international acclaim for its management of the economy. The enormous strides that have been made in the delivery of water and telephone services to previously unserviced communities are evidence of government's priorities. Minister Lekota added that this arms procurement programme represented a short-term increase in the defence budget. Once it was completed, the military would be equipped 'for a long time' and the budget would go down.

5.4 Regional Security: Minister Lekota agreed that the South Africa should work with other nations in the region to share the burden and the costs of security. The government has drafted a comprehensive Defence Act to facilitate this process. Also, the Interstate Defence Security Committee of the SADC is considering the matter.

5.5 Skills Development: The minister explained plans to use the SANDF to facilitate skills development among the youth, through the offering of basic military training and academic or technical training for those who qualify and have the aptitude. At the end of an initial training, participants in the programme would be free to re-enter civilian life having acquired invaluable skills and expertise or enlist as permanent members of the SANDF.

6. Way Forward

At the end of the meeting, the leaders of the two delegations held a joint press conference.

6.1 Bishop Dandala thanked the government for its willingness to meet with the church leaders and improve communications.

6.2 He further indicated that having heard the government's explanations, the SACC delegation would report back to the SACC structures and member churches for a determination of the way forward on these matters in the light of previously adopted positions and the churches' own positions.

6.3 Both parties committed themselves to continuing dialogue on these issues with the same levels of frankness.

Dr Molefe TSELE
General Secretary
South African Council of Churches
30 October 2001