LOUIS TRICHARDT – The role of the Territorial Reserve Army (or commandos as they are commonly known), as well as the challenges facing them were but a few of the issues touched upon during a special guest evening hosted by Soutpansberg Commando on October 18.

In his address, Brig-Gen B M Burmeister (Director of the South-African Territorial Reserve Army) pointed out that the role of the commandos is in fact no different to that of the South-African National Defence Force (SANDF) as a whole. He explained that as it is the SANDF's primary function to defend the country against an aggressor, the role of the commandos in such a scenario would be similar in regard to near area defence. In respect to the SANDF's secondary function, that of preserving essential services, assisting in maintaining law and order, rendering disaster relief and promoting government's foreign policy objectives, commandos also have an important role to play in rendering such services to their own communities. This is mainly due to their wide geographical location. At present there are 183 units spread across South Africa, allowing them to usually react quickly when required.

In referring to the challenges facing the commandos, Brig-Gen Burmeister said that the SANDF had to cope with massive changes since 1994. According to him the biggest impact was felt in regard to the defence budget, which in fact has shrunk by some 60% in real terms from the pre 1994 levels. This has resulted in the SANDF having limited funds to allocate to the commandos but despite this, commandos have been relatively successful in maintaining their capacity to operate. Brig-Gen Burmeister attributed their success to the fact that commandos are community-based organisations, which serve the community, chiefly in operations in support of the South African Police Service.

As far as politics are concerned, Brig-Gen Burmeister said that it is no secret that before 1994, there was a great deal of political discomfort regarding commandos and their retention as an element of the new SANDF. Many perceptions held by politicians of the time were however dispensed with, following the positive role commandos played in ensuring law and order during the '94 elections and the subsequent local elections. Huge efforts were also put into ensuring transformation within the commandos, but due to budgetary constraints this in many cases have only been partially achieved or achieved to a limited extent. However, many units were not deterred and set about recruiting black people and today almost 40% of the 46 000 active members are black, coloured or Asian. Brig-Gen Burmeister, however, added that they still have a long way to go until there is significant representation in the leadership group, while they must also do away with the perception that commandos only serve one sector of the community. He said that they must also dispel of uncertainties and fears about the loyalties of the commandos and added that he believes the commandos have huge potential to build bridges and to amongst others help with many national goals. To achieve this, he said, business and community leaders have a huge role to play in encouraging participation in the commandos.