In its quest for a future vision the SA Army has reached a milestone with the documentation of SA Army Strategy 2020. The planning phase has also been partially completed. Before implementing these plans, the SA Army needed to conduct a reality check to ensure that SA Army Vision 2020 has addressed all future security challenges in the strategy – hence SA Army Seminar 21 was hosted on 1 and 2 November 2006. The aim of the seminar was to confirm and add value to SA Army Vision 2020.
The guest speakers for SA Army Seminar 21 were from South Africa, other African countries, the United States of America, Australia and the United Kingdom. They were mainly academics, with the exception of those from Australia and the USA, who were military practitioners. The speakers focused their presentations on the theme of the seminar, ‘Security challenges shaping the future SA Army: A reality check for SA Army Vision 2020’. Where the presentations triggered aspects that had not been addressed in SA Army Strategy 2020 and the strategic plans, the necessary amendments are currently being made.
A variety of topics on internal, continental and global security challenges and the role that technology will play in future military operations were covered. The focus was on land operations in an integrated, joint, multinational, inter-agency and interdepartmental context and reference was also made to case studies and emerging world trends. These presentations confirmed the SA Army Vision 2020 future requirements, specifically in the fields of personnel, organisation, training, education, doctrine, facilities, information and technology, as well as materiel requirements for force support and employment.
The delegates who were invited to SA Army Seminar 21 were members of the SA Army and the SANDF. In future the SA Army intends to make this seminar a biennial event for invitees from other government departments, members of the defence-related industries, SADC, regional security organisations in Africa and academic institutions. In so doing, it is hoped, collective security in southern Africa and Africa as a whole will be enhanced.
SA Army Seminar 21 was conducted with the excellent support of the Institute for Security Studies, which has taken upon itself the task of compiling this publication based on the SA Army Seminar 21 vi presentations. The book is therefore available for public use, while the documentation on the military interpretation of the seminar will be used only within the SANDF, specifically the army.
I would like to thank all the guest speakers for their preparation time and excellent presentations at the seminar. A word of thanks also goes to those who attended, whose questions and comments at the end of each presentation not only added value to the seminar but also provided a learning opportunity for officers and senior warrant officers of the SA Army.
Special appreciation goes to the Institute for Security Studies for its support of and active participation in this seminar, which have been an indication of the quality of the SA Army’s strategic partnership with the Institute. The financial support of the Royal Netherlands Embassy contributed to the success of the seminar and is much appreciated. The SA Army is looking forward to working closely with these two major role-players in the future. Finally, after a successful SA Army Seminar 21, I am satisfied that the theme has been explored adequately to provide sufficient insight for the military interpretation of future security challenges.
