Brigadier General Abel Nelwamondo from Thohoyandou, in the Limpopo province, was one of the key figures involved in the disbandment and integration of the various armed formations into the new SANDF in 1994.
SA will celebrate Armed Forces Day on February 21 in Thohoyandou.
The integration of the SANDF, the armies of the independent homelands, and the non‑statutory forces marked a watershed moment, ushering in a new political and military dispensation in the country.
The homeland armies included the defence forces of Venda, Transkei, Ciskei and Bophuthatswana, while Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA) were the liberation armies.
A board comprising members from all these forces oversaw the integration process, supported by the British Military Advisory Training Team based in Wallmannsthal, near Pretoria.
Following demobilisation and assessment, more than 95 000 soldiers were integrated into the new SANDF.
Nelwamondo, who later became the national head of training for the new army, says soldiers were able to work together despite having once fought on opposing sides: “Soldiers fight, but fighting does not mean I hate the person I am fighting with. We don’t carry grudges; that is a political issue. We fought, but we, as soldiers, came together after the end of the war. So there was no problem working together.”
Members of non‑statutory forces had been trained primarily in guerrilla warfare, while those from the former statutory forces received conventional military training. Vocational skills and basic military training were offered as necessary during integration.
Nelwamondo adds: “The issue of skills was not a problem per se. The non‑statutory forces were mainly guerrilla forces, while the ranskei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei and the central government armies had conventional training. Those who were integrated underwent vigorous training to become part and parcel of the new SANDF.”
A journalist who covered the transition says that although the process was commendable, it was not without challenges.
Veteran Journalist Mathatha Tsedu explains: The integration process unfolded in the same way that the political system of the day unfolded. At a political level, the system remained the same; the African National Congress and black people were brought into what was essentially a white system of government.
Even within the forces, the SADF, which was the white army, remained the core of the new force, and people from the liberation armies, such as MK and APLA, came from the outside. The process of determining ranks was done by the SADF. People who were senior officials in the liberation armies had to be given ranks by people they used to fight against.”
Today, the SANDF is the third‑largest army in Africa, after Egypt and Algeria, with approximately 73 000 personnel.
–SABC/ChannelAfrica–
