Everyone wearing a military uniform has sworn allegiance to the constitution, not a political party.
An image still seared in my memory, 40 years later – of a Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) Eland armoured car next to the burning hulk of a Soviet BDRM armoured personnel carrier it had just “shot out” – is an eloquent statement of impartial soldiering.
That Eland and other units had been called out to quell fighting in the Entumbane area of Bulawayo as guerillas loyal to Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo refused to integrated into a new military and, instead, were determined to wipe each other from the face of the earth.
The BDRM had rushed to the city in support of Nkomo’s Zipra fighters and, given its warlike posture and attitude, it was taken out by the 90mm gun of the Eland.
The crew in the Eland were former members of the Rhodesian Army, but had sworn allegiance to the new government of the day.
And when that government – of their erstwhile foe, Mugabe – called to stop an obvious insurrection, they responded.
Other troops – overwhelming black – from the former Rhodesian African Rifles took on both factions in street fighting in Entumbane.
A fully-armed Hunter jet of the newly formed Air Force of Zimbabwe – with an ex-Rhodesian Air Force pilot at the controls – made a low determined pass over a Zipra armoured convoy heading towards Bulawayo, causing it to stop in its tanks’ track and then turn around.
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There are probably those among the “old guard” soldiers and airmen – if they are still alive – who regret having saved Mugabe’s bacon, given what happened to Zim after that…
Professional soldiers are loyal to the government of the day, not to any specific political party, because their oath is to defend the country.
Former SA Defence Force soldiers and its generals were like that in 1994, when the new black government, led by the ANC, took over.
Some ministers in the new government were terrified that “the Boers” would launch a military coup to overthrow them and derail the march to democracy.
Despite what many people might believe, that was never on the cards.
The new government could never be considered a threat to the Republic of South Africa.
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Although the National Party infiltrated Broederbonders into the ranks of the military as soon as it took power in 1948, the defence force was never really the armed wing of the Nats…. despite being used in actions inside the country in defence of the political status quo.
On the contrary, it was the military thinkers and planners who were among the first to realise that race-based separate development was unsustainable and they later often butted heads with the political hierarchy on that.
Watching Donald Trump and his “secretary for war” Pete Hegseth strutting around this week like they own the US military – and giving political lectures to generals who have actually done real fighting – was ominous, at least for me.
The US president and his skinny trousered lapdog were no better than the dictators in the “sh*thole” countries they despise, in trying to turn their soldiers on their own citizens – or at least those citizens Trump decides are a threat to state security.
These senior men and women – and indeed everyone wearing a US military uniform – has sworn allegiance to the constitution, not a political party.
They may be soldiers, but they are also citizens and it will be interesting to see whether their commitment to serving the government of the day has its limits.
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