Promoting Good Governance in the Contemporary South African Military

The South African military was established after the amalgamation of seven (7) statutory and non-statutory forces as the country transitioned into a post-apartheid democratic dispensation. Given the political tensions that characterized the relations among the erstwhile adversaries, policies were developed almost as if it was an entirely new entity with a view to eradicating race-based policies and introducing new ones that were premised on equality, supremacy of the constitution and civil oversight. As a consequence, all defence-related policies were introduced including the Defence White Paper, Defence Act and the 2015 Defence Review.

This book uses South Africa’s 2015 Defence Review as a point of reference to analyze various aspects of the military’s governance framework. In this regard, chapters focus on crucial elements of governance, while highlighting challenges and proposing potential alternatives.

Since South Africa plays a key role internationally, many countries look to its defense governance approach as a model or guide.

The list of governance issues that are discussed in this book is not exhaustive, but it clearly shows many potential paths to addressing such challenges.