ANC had a laudable vision in the 1990s for reforming the police, military and intelligence services
One of the important tasks that faced South Africa’s democratic government after 1994 was to reform the apartheid-era security apparatus.
The then South African Defence Force’s regular raids into neighbouring countries, in pursuit of liberation fighters, created instability in the region. The fragmented defence, police and intelligence structures of the apartheid system included those of the 10 nominally independent and self-governing ethnic “homelands”.The new representative parliament dominated by the ANC managed to push through important reforms.
Post-apartheid South Africa joined the Southern African Development Community in 1994. This paved the way for peaceful relations with its neighbours. It also laid the basis for formal inter-state defence and security cooperation. A White Paper on Defence reflected a vision of a new defence force. The policy framework carefully spelt out that the military would be subject to civilian oversight.
The country’s relatively strong economic position and its new moral authority enabled it to mediate conflicts on the continent. This, and a peacekeeping role, gave the defence force a prominent stature.Over time, the fortunes of South Africa’s security services, and how they were perceived by the public, have been shaped by several failures and shortcomings:
The structures that are supposed to provide executive and parliamentary oversight have been at times sluggish in ensuring good governance, proper management of resources, and effective implementation of security decisions. Hence, policy responses appear uncoordinated and misaligned. Important debates about the reform and future of the security sector are muted.
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