The Chief of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) Reserve, Major General Roy Andersen, has hosted the Deputy Commander of the British Field Army, Major General William (Bill) O’Leary.
Andersen, Reserve Force Council Major General (Ret) Keith Mokoape, directors Reserve Force from services and divisions and the British delegation convened at the Bastion Conference room at SA Army College in Thaba Tshwane this week to benchmark and discuss the strategic direction of the reserves of both countries.
The sole purpose of the SANDF Reserves and United Kingdom Reserve and its Reserve Force Councils presentations was to look at the updated SANDF Reserve Force Service system that was approved by Deputy President David Mabuza and the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, during the 1st Reserve Force Indaba held in Gauteng.
Andersen said the SANDF has been spending more than R850 million on military messes, and all military messes will be commercialized by 2021 as the SANDF will start buying local products from emerging farmers and SMMEs in all provinces under Project Koba-Tlala.
The SANDF is pushing further education, training and development of the Reserves funded by SASSETA. Reserves will be trained as security officers and as community development liaison practitioners.
It also emerged during the visit that the Mzansi Home Guard will provide for Reserve Force members to be embedded in communities and to create and administer a database and service system that enables the utilization of a pool of accessible Reserve specialists in a diverse range of disciplines.
