Occasional Paper

Completing the Defence Transformation Process: The Transformation of the South African Reserve Force System

“The aim of this paper is essentially two-fold. First, it strives to examine the transformational challenges that are likely to confront the South African RFs in future. It strives to do this at two levels. At one level, it attempts to situate the transformation of the RF within the overall
transformational challenges being faced by the defence community in general. At another
level, it seeks to examine those internal institutional challenges, which confront the
transformation of the RF in particular.
Second, it seeks to explore the extent to which the creation of RFs within sub-Saharan Africa in general can contribute to the consolidation of stable civil-military relations and the institution of more cost-effective methods of defence expenditure. It maintains that the utility of RFs on the African continent remains vastly under-explored at present and advocates certain approaches where this utility can be more effectively harnessed in future.”