More than half of South Africa's army 'may have HIV'

The South African Defence Minister has been asked to take urgent action in response to the disclosure by his department that more than half the country's 76,000 soldiers are medically unfit and that the national defence force is in "serious crisis".

The revelations, made at a two-day military briefing to a South African parliamentary committee, came as several independent reports indicated that up to 60 per cent of soldiers could be HIV-positive.

The committee's chairman, Thandi Modise, said that the Defence Minister, Mosioua Lekota, had been asked to take "immediate remedial action to stop further deterioration".

The army, navy and air force made presentations at the briefing, which was also attended by reservists. Mr Lekota was asked to draw up a plan of action within three months.

The briefing, given at Saldanha military base to the committee, which oversees the defence department, revealed the following:

* The South African National Defence Force could deploy only one operational brigade of 3,000, out of 76,000 soldiers.

* It was impossible to deploy 19 regular army companies and 23 reserve platoons because of a lack of funds.

* Training had virtually come to a halt.

* Almost all courses had stopped, leading to boredom and demoralisation.

* Army reservists had not been deployed on training exercises for nearly four years, so morale was "at rock bottom".

* Equipment was in a deplorable state, with only four out of 168 Olifant tanks and eight out of 242 Rooikat armoured cars operational.

* Lack of funds had caused a shortage of fuel. In the air force, funds had been allocated for 2,400 flying hours instead of the 7,200 requested, and pilots were resigning in their droves. A member of the portfolio committee said: "The air force usually runs out of aviation fuel every September."

* The reduction of the armed forces from 104,000 in 1994 to the present 76,000 had involved massive cash payouts. Hendrik Schmidt, another committee member, said this had turned the defence force into "an armed welfare department".

* The defence force was top-heavy, with a ratio of one general for every 293 men, compared with a general for every 2,000 men in the US army.

* More than 52 per cent of the defence force budget was spent on personnel costs and only 0.5 per cent on new equipment.

The national defence force is also blighted by Aids. The army has estimated that the incidence of HIV is between 17 and 23 per cent, but commentators say that there is no reliable figure because soldiers are tested only when operationally deployed.

The portfolio committee was told that seven out of every 10 deaths in the armed forces were Aids-related.

Philip van Schalkwyk, the opposition Democratic Alliance spokesman on intelligence and military veterans and a former brigadier general with the army, said: "The army is not giving us the real situation." He said that, from his experience, he would not be surprised if as many as 60 per cent of the armed forces were found to be HIV-positive.

A medical specialist at one of the country's military hospitals said six out of 10 soldiers tested HIV-positive after being admitted to hospital. The doctor, who declined to be named, said the allegation that 60 per cent of soldiers were HIV-positive was feasible.

The defence department did not say why so many soldiers were medically unfit and army officials declined to elaborate.

The only explanation offered to the portfolio committee was that many of the riflemen and infantrymen were between 32 and 36 years old, which was, by army standards, regarded as too old for deployment on active service.