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The article traces the unfolding of the human security agenda as the primary organising framework for constructing the security outlook of the South African military. Questions are raised about the utility of human security as a conceptual basis for thinking about and the construction of defence. Human security is historically contextualised within the security conceptualisations of the 1990s. Since then, however, various geo-strategic changes in the world necessitated a return to a more traditional outlook on security and strategy. This reality was also increasingly visible in South Africa's foreign policy approaches and, more specifically, the employment of its armed forces in Africa. The article concludes by arguing, firstly, that the South African armed forces did not at any time critically question how a military should be organised, trained, and equipped for human security operations and, secondly, that the South African National Defence Force never questioned its own operational deployments through the human security perspective.

The article traces the intricacies of the South African threat agenda since 1994. Historically, the South African threat agenda at various times had to contend with the influence of European powers in Africa, the possibility of a landward invasion from Africa, and the risk of an internal uprising. Since democratisation in 1994, the ruling elite's threat perception has been shaped by the idea of human security. The harsh realities of the African security environment together with various bureaucratic challenges made operationalization of human security a daunting task. The article concludes by arguing that South Africa finds it increasingly difficult to balance the need for nuanced relationships with its traditional economic partners in the West, with. - constructive engagement and political ambition in Africa and the global south, and the historical partnerships of the governing African National Congress as a political party. (S+F/Pll)

This article aims at providing an exposition of the most important factors that have shaped and are still shaping the institutional culture of the South African (SA) military. The view is broad and holistic and places the timeframe from 1961 to the present under review. It makes sense to divide the article into a discussion of the military cultures of the pre-1994 South African Defence Force (SADF) and the post-1994 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) respectively. However, it is not necessarily a comparison of the two timeframes. There are obvious links between the two eras and two organisations, and a comparison is almost inevitable. This is, however, not done on purpose and not to reflect either positively or negatively on any of the two periods or institutions. Instead, the article highlights the fact that both the SADF and the SANDF are products of their time and the societies they have served or are serving. The military cultures of both the SADF and SANDF were influenced by identity politics, the political structures within which they had to function, the underlying political outlooks of the reigning political elite and the prevailing views on military professionalism. From an organisational perspective, the military ethos was shaped by factors such as the personnel system (conscript vis-à-vis all-volunteer), the size of the military budget and the operational responsibility and missions of the military.