COALITION FOR DEFENCE ALTERNATIVES

BRIEFING DOCUMENT ON DEFENCE ISSUES

This briefing document was prepared by the Coalition for Defence Alternatives for presentation to the South African Minister of Defence, Mr. Mosiuoa Lekota, and Deputy Minister of Defence, Ms. Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, shortly after their appointment to Cabinet. It contains the following sections:

The Coalition for Defence Alternatives (CDA) aims to provide a critical response to defence and military issues. Through public education, advocacy, and engagement with the defence community, CDA works toward the realisation of genuine human security enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa:

    "National security must reflect the resolve of South Africans, as individuals and as a nation, to live as equals, to live in peace and harmony, to be free from fear and want and to seek a better life" [Sec. 198(a)]

The Coalition includes a diverse group of organisations and individuals who share the common belief that the future of South Africa as a united and prosperous nation depends on its ability to feed, educate, employ, shelter and empower our people--not on the size of its military, the sophistication of its weapons or the strength of its arms industry.

CDA recognises that the greatest immediate threat to South Africa is not military attack but poverty. Accordingly, the Coalition maintains that socio-economic issues of human security--housing, education, job creation, and crime reduction--must take priority over the traditional emphasis on military security. CDA calls for withdrawal from the arms trade, the redevelopment of military bases for civilian use, deep reductions in defence spending, and the full public accountability of the defence forces and defence-related industries through effective Parliamentary oversight.

The South African Council of Churches is represented on the CDA Executive Committee by the Public Policy Liaison Office. Other members of the Executive Committee are: Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, Community Dispute Resolution Trust, Economists Allied for Arms Reduction (SA) and the Quaker Peace Centre.

3 August 1999

This information is distributed by the Public Policy Liaison Office of the South African Council of Churches. The Public Policy Liaison Office monitors and analyzes key public policy issues under consideration by parliament and government ministries, alerts government to the concerns of the SACC, and assists people of faith to be more familiar with and involved in public policy debates.

Public Policy Updates are available via e-mail. To be added to or dropped from the e-mail distribution list, please write to liaison@sacc.org.za.

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