Flaws, cost of Lesotho foray under scrutiny

CAPE TOWN -- In a brutally frank post-mortem on its foray into Lesotho, the South African National Defence Force yesterday claimed the government lacked a clear national security policy, and revealed the defence force units involved had not been ready for combat.

It also disclosed that the incursion, codenamed Operation Boleas, had cost R24 million to date.

In a briefing to a joint sitting of Parliament's foreign affairs and defence portfolio committees in here, SANDF spokesmen also said the psychological and media war had been lost "at all levels", and accused the Department of Foreign Affairs of a "lack of operational co-ordination".

"The weakness of Operation Boleas included too little time for proper planning in the absence of a contingency plan, and too little time for deployment drills," the SANDF's joint operations chief, Lieutenant-General Deon Ferreira, told the committee.

The briefing came as the first South African troops to be withdrawn from Lesotho crossed into home territory, and as Lesotho's National Assembly debated the second reading of a bill to set up an interim political authority including government and opposition representatives.

SANDF chief General Siphiwe Nyanda told the committee that Operation Boleas, a Southern African Development Community (SADC) operation carried out with the Botswana Defence Force, had cost the army over R24 million from September 22 to date.

These costs included more than R6,2 million for personnel allowances, R1,3m for civilian transportation, and R2,7m for air support services. Gen Ferreira said the operation had depleted the army's already strained budget.

Too little time had been allowed for planning, preparation and rehearsals by the soldiers involved, and the right people were not informed in time.

"This resulted in insufficient support for the operation," he said.

Participating units were not combat ready and stock level planning for operational reserves was not done, resulting in a strain on supplies.

Gen Nyanda said the troops were also keen to know from SADC what to do with confiscated Lesotho Defence Force weapons and ammunition, and how they should disarm the country's civilian population.

Despite all the problems they had experienced, the SADC troops had done "exceedingly well" in restoring law and order in Lesotho.

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad, who is scheduled to address the National Assembly on Lesotho today, said the intervention had brought about a political agreement among Lesotho's rival political parties. -- Sapa