EDUCATING FOR PROFESSIONALISM: A NEW MILITARY FOR A NEW SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

This article explores the role of education in professionalising the SouthAfrican National Defence Force (SANDF) since 1994. The central thesis is thatmilitary education, training and development played a major role in bringing the pre-1994 belligerent forces in South Africa together and blending them into a single,coherent, bureaucratised defence force. There is, however, reason for seriousconcern. The article first outlines the specific need for education in the SANDFsince 1994. The second part provides an overview of the educational institutions inthe SANDF, their programmes and the nature of education, training anddevelopment that are provided. The final section discusses the most salient factorsthat have influenced education in the SANDF over the last decade. Specificemphasis is placed on the lack of suitably qualified academic staff, the difficulty ofeducating soldiers in a second or third language, the lack of research and thepresence of an institutional climate of anti-intellectualism.