ASSESSING SMALL ARMS CONTROL INITIATIVES IN EAST AFRICA

The creation of a new defence force was an essential step in South Africa's negotiated settlement. The integration of previously antagonistic forces was made more difficult by the differences in training, resources and political affiliations. The planning for the changes ended in April 1994 when a common institutional culture and camaraderie within the organisation had been created and a manageable and goal-oriented planning framework agreed upon. A second, absorption phase, then commenced, which saw MK, APLA and the TBVC forces being absorbed into structures which, though new, were mainly those of the SADF. The real shift occurred in March 1998 when a report submitted by the Chief of the National Defence Force brought about his own resignation. Power then shifted away from the conservative axis to more constitutionally inclined officers who supported the democratic transition and the military restructuring.