MORAL REGENERATION IN THE SANDF: SOME PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS FOR DISCUSSION

INTRODUCTION

The SA Army Chaplains Service has been tasked with the development of a Moral Regeneration Program for the SA Army and hopefully for the SANDF. This article is shared as preliminary thought for discussion on the matter.

Since the dawn of our new democracy there have been calls for moral regeneration in our society. Indeed, the Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) was formally established in 1998 after a meeting between President Mandela, faith-based organisation leaders, Fr Smangaliso Mkhatshwa and the SABC. This was followed by a Moral Regeneration Summit (see www.mrm.org.za for full details).

A moral regeneration program in the SANDF is appropriate and necessary. Soldiers pledge their allegiance and commitment to the Code of Conduct. Soldiers are expected to behave in a moral, ethical and exemplary manner in and out of uniform. Their behaviour must be above reproach and instil trust and pride in the general public. Soldiers should be held in high esteem by the public and respected as men and women of high ethical and moral standing. In practical terms this means that soldiers should never go absent without leave, engage in promiscuous sex, or abuse alcohol or drugs, and not engage in any ill-disciplined or criminal activity. On deployment, soldiers must behave in a professional and ethical manner, especially when they are dealing with people who have become vulnerable as a result of war.

THE PRESENT SITUATION

Soldiers however, are members of society and are a product of that society. They join the SANDF with the values and norms instilled in them from their families and communities. Thus, if one is to engage in moral regeneration that is authentic, one must be aware of the current moral situation of society as a whole. There are troubling signs. Racist incidents are on the rise, which is amplified by social media and exploited by those with narrow self serving political agendas that cause even more division and racial hatred. Our society is still largely segregated along racial lines. Corruption is on the rise, in every sphere of our society. Crime and violent crime continue to be a problem. Rape of women and children is a blight on our social order. Murder rates are unacceptably high. More and more, disgruntled communities are resorting to violent protest to make their voices heard and are not willing to engage in negotiations, even if their grievances are legitimate. All of this is taking place in the context of a society where unemployment is amongst the highest in the world and economic inequality is extreme

Our education system is dysfunctional and there is a high dropout rate at school level. There is a large discrepancy in the quality of education between schools in well resourced areas and those in poorer communities. Many young people who do qualify for tertiary education are unable to fund their studies due to the high costs, which too has sparked violent protests across the country. Our universities are grappling with the vexing problem of providing a quality education that is relevant and authentic to the African context, and not a continuation of a European model steeped in a colonialist past. With the calls for decolonisation comes the further issue of finding an ethic and a moral system that is authentically African. Modern young Africans of all races are no longer satisfied with adopting a moral ethic that is wholly derived from a European context and simply applied here.

Soldiers are a product of our society and are exposed to the current issues and trends in our society. Soldiers form their own moral opinions and attitudes in the context of our societal moral milieu.

THE PAST

However, the present moral health of the nation must be linked to, and dictates that attention be paid to our pre-democracy past. The apartheid system had as its basis the immoral ideology of racial superiority, which was enforced violently with oppressive legislation, structures and action by the State that systematically dehumanised “non-whites.” Family units were torn apart by laws that created hostels of men mostly from rural areas to work as cheap labour in the mines and other industries. State facilities, structures and systems (especially the education system) were markedly and intentionally inferior to those provided for the white minority. The black majority was denied ownership of land, and black ghettos (locations) were created on the peripheries of all towns and cities. Those of the black majority who lived on land in whites-only areas were removed violently from that land and dispossessed without compensation (a phenomenon that had started with colonialism). Economic inequality was stark, with the vast majority of the wealth of the nation in the hands of a small white minority. State oppression and violence was met with resistance, defiance and violence. The apartheid state retaliated with even more violence: arrests, imprisonments, banning orders and executions were the order of the day. All of the above factors created a fertile ground for the breakdown of morality in society as a whole. 

During colonialism and apartheid, the black majority was denied ownership of land, denied meaningful participation in political decision making and denied freedom of movement. People were relegated to living in ghettos and were given an education that equipped them to become servants and labourers. The relationship of the majority to the State was defiant and adversarial. The law and the instruments of the law at the time could not be respected as they were immoral. It is no wonder then that today we have a problem of lawlessness and disrespect for authority. In the past protests against the state unleashed a violent response from the police, whether the demonstrations were peaceful or not. It is no wonder then that today protests inevitably turn violent, either by the police or the demonstrators. In the past, people felt that to burn a state building or not to pay for services was justified as those structures and services were instruments of an unjust regime and for which they had no ownership. It is no wonder then that today schools, clinics and libraries are burnt and utility accounts are not paid. In the past, the relationship of whites to blacks was one of master and servant, where whites regarded themselves as inherently superior to blacks on the basis of the colour of their skins. It is no wonder then that today racist attitudes and behaviours persist

Thus, any attempt at moral regeneration in the present must take the past into account. Ignoring the past will be tantamount to treating the symptoms and not the cause.

THE WAY FORWARD

The Chaplains Service is ideally placed to develop and to facilitate a moral regeneration program for the SANDF. The Chaplains Service has as one of its primary mandates to render ethical and moral support to members of the Department of Defence and their dependants. Chaplains are trained to reflect theologically on the ethical and moral state of affairs of the organisation and its members. Chaplains have the status and the credibility within the organisation to develop and to present a moral regeneration program that is authentic and which will make a positive contribution to the organisation and by extension to the country. Furthermore, chaplains are themselves products of churches that have been able to reflect upon and deal with (some churches more adequately then others) their own theological and ecclesiological colonial history

The following process is suggested as a starting point to create a Moral Regeneration Program for the SANDF.

The first step would be to develop a strategic partnership with the MRM, to share resources and to tap into the work that has already been done in the area. It makes no sense for us to duplicate the work that has already been done or to develop a program in isolation that does not take the work that has already been done into account. Ultimately, a Memorandum of Understanding or an equivalent document must be developed to formalise the co-operation between the SANDF represented by the Chaplains Service and the MRM. I am convinced that the MRM would welcome enquiries and overtures from the Chaplains Service on this matter.

Secondly, it is suggested that the Chaplains Service facilitates a process within the organisation similar to and akin to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) (see http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/ for more details). The SADF never played any meaningful role in the TRC and we have only heard of isolated cases, e.g. that of Dr. Wouter Basson, that were mentioned in the TRC. There has never been a process within the SANDF where former liberation forces soldiers, former TVBC soldiers and former SADF soldiers have told their stories in a way that would bring meaningful healing and reconciliation. Many soldiers in the SANDF, especially in the Reserve Force, have never had the opportunity for meaningful engagement with members who fought on the “other side.” Facilitating this is a natural role for chaplains to play as they are trained in and for reconciliation both between God and human beings and amongst human beings themselves. Chaplains could help to facilitate not only forgiveness and reconciliation but also the process of restitution where necessary. Restitution may not only be at the level of the individual person, but may also occur at an organisational level where the organisation itself may need to, for instance, engage with communities that were dispossessed of their land by the military. The TRC had a legal mandate to conduct its work, which the Chaplains Service will not have. It is suggested that we call the process something like, “Looking Back to take us Forward.” There would need to be significant buy-in from the command structures of the SANDF and there would definitely need to be ministerial approval. While healing and reconciliation would be the primary goal of this exercise, the ultimate goal would be to develop a new moral ethic for the SANDF that has significant participation and buy-in across all structures and rank groups.

Thirdly, linked to the above, it is important that younger soldiers be exposed to the process, as it is they who will lead our organisation in the future. There will need to be a program of education within the organisation that will expose and educate all soldiers in the full-time and part-time components on the history of our organisation and on the process that brought us to where we are today. Chaplains have the advantage of being able to speak from the perspective of churches that have engaged with and dealt with our political history in a manner that has grappled with colonialism and which recognised apartheid as evil (even though some churches have only done so recently). Linked to this is the necessity to educate soldiers on the Constitution and its institutions that are the product of our society engaging with the past and looking forward to the creation of a democratic and just society. This process however, cannot be the sole preserve of the Chaplains Service as it will have to be implemented in all training institutions as an integral part of all curricula.

Fourthly, chaplains would need to develop a moral regeneration program as a culmination of the three points above. This program must be developed after significant and meaningful participation from soldiers from the full-time and part-time components and across all rank groups. The Code of Conduct must be revisited and possibly revised to reflect the process that has unfurled during the development of the program. The program will need to be written and developed in much the same way that the CHATSEC program was written and developed, i.e. with a pilot program, a training manual, facilitation manual and a resource manual. The program will need to be developed so that it addresses soldiers at the various stages of their careers, from recruits right through to top management.

CONCLUSION

Now more than ever before in our young democracy, the need for a moral regeneration program is necessary and critical. The Chaplains Service must grasp the opportunity to develop such a program within the SANDF with both hands and embrace it as a Divine imperative. The Program must be developed as a result of a process of looking back to the past to find healing and then looking forward to the development of a moral ethic that is authentic, has credibility and which can shine as a beacon of hope to society. This is the Kairos moment for the Chaplains Service and the SANDF: may God give us the hope, courage and fortitude to bring it to fruition.

CHAPLAIN ANDREW TREU