South African National Defence Force members stand between a US Air Force C-130J Hercules (left) and a C-17 Globemaster III during the Africa Aerospace and Defence Expo at South Africa’s Waterkloof Air Force base, Pretoria, on 20 September 2018. (Photo: Wikus de Wet / AFP) 
The Shared Accord military exercise between the US and SA has been cancelled just 10 days before it was due to start, reportedly because the SA Ministry of National Defence would not allow the US military to let armed soldiers off their aircraft to protect it.
The joint military drill would have been held between 11 and 22 August in the Free State. It has been held four times before, the last time in 2022.
However, last Friday, 1 August, the US embassy sent SA’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation a diplomatic note, informing it that the US Department of Defense (DoD) had cancelled the exercise.
It said this was because SA’s Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans “presented requirements inconsistent with the agreements between our governments that DoD could not support”.
The SA National Defence Force had not responded to a request for comment by the time of publication on Tuesday.
One of the agreements between the two countries is the 1999 Status of Forces Agreement, which governs military exercises like this one. It states, among other things, that US military personnel taking part in exercises in SA shall be allowed “to carry arms on duty if authorized to do so by their orders…”
The ProtectionWeb editor, Ricardo Teixeira, told Daily Maverick he had heard that the SANDF refused to permit a US security detail to leave a transport aircraft to protect it.
The SANDF reportedly told the US there was no need for the US military personnel to protect the aircraft as the SANDF could do that.
But the US Department of Defense insisted that its own soldiers must protect its aircraft, which they usually do in such circumstances, said Teixeira.
He noted that similar issues concerning the Status of Forces agreement arose twice last year, causing the US to cancel plans to send aircraft to participate in the African Aerospace and Defence Expo in Pretoria, and also to cancel plans to dock a US Navy ship in Cape Town, as the US had done several times before.
In all three cases, said Teixeira, it appeared the SANDF had rescinded the same kinds of permissions it had granted to the US before and which were authorised by the Status of Forces Agreement.
“So we’ve kind of shot ourselves in the foot,” he said, adding that he believed that after these three cancelled events, the US had grown frustrated “and this is probably going to be the end of any sort of military exercise or any bilateral relations between the SANDF and the US military for the foreseeable future”.
Opportunity lost
He told defenceWeb that the Shared Accord “would have been a crucial opportunity for the SANDF to exercise and learn from the US Army. Further, this could have been an opportunity to strengthen cooperation and bilateral relations. Instead, the SANDF have cut their noses to spite the US.”
He told Daily Maverick he believed that US Navy ships like the expeditionary sea base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams, which used to regularly dock in Cape Town, would probably now dock in Luanda instead on its voyages around the Cape of Good Hope, “so they don’t have to deal with the South Africans”.
The cancellation of Shared Accord comes at a time when general relations between the two countries are probably at their lowest point in years, with the Trump administration having slapped 30% tariffs on most SA imports on Friday.
It seems likely that the cancellation of Shared Accord will add another irritant to relations between the two countries.
As in the past two exercises, the emphasis would have been on training to jointly provide humanitarian assistance, with a focus on veterinary services this year, according to defenceWeb.
The US Army’s Southern European Task Force, Africa (Setaf-Af), the New York National Guard and the US Air Force were to take part. On the SA side, the SANDF and Free State Department of Agriculture would have participated.
The SANDF said earlier this year that the goals were to “enhance veterinary readiness, animal health and military cooperation”. The aim was to boost veterinary services in three areas of the Free State that have limited access to those services.
According to the US military, Shared Accord is a semi-annual joint training exercise led by Setaf-Af and designed to promote cooperation and interoperability and strengthen partnerships between the US and African countries.
Security threats
Ironically, the cancellation of Exercise Shared Accord occurred in the same week that the US Africa Command (Africom) highlighted the importance of coordination between the US and South African and other African security and law enforcement agencies to combat regional security threats.
Last week, Lieutenant General John W Brennan, the deputy commander of Africom, told an online media briefing that Africom was helping Angola and Namibia to counter threats from Isis and Mexican drug cartels emanating from South Africa and elsewhere.
He had just visited those two countries to beef up security cooperation.
“There are jihadist groups that operate all along the periphery of both Angola and Namibia. Isis has franchises in Mozambique, South Africa, as well as an emerging Mexican drug cartel issue that we think is … getting worse over time, that’s emanating from South Africa and from coastal West Africa.”
An Africom spokesperson later elaborated that drugs, including cocaine from South America and heroin and methamphetamine from Central Asia and elsewhere, were being trafficked across coastal Africa, often using maritime routes and exploiting porous borders.
“Furthermore, Mexican cartels are operating in South Africa and other southeastern African nations, to include the establishment of clandestine methamphetamine production labs. The majority of this activity is being facilitated by the cartels and significant transnational criminal organisations that work with local criminal gangs in southern and eastern African countries.
“Drugs are then moved north toward European markets, sometimes with onward movement to the United States, but it’s also important to note that methamphetamine and cocaine consumption are increasing on the continent. These flows are often enabled by political instability, corruption and limited interregional cooperation, posing significant challenges to regional security and public health.
“As we face the challenge of transnational drug trafficking, collaboration between US Africa Command, other US agencies and partner nations is crucial. For example, information sharing and collaboration between US and South African law enforcement continues to grow, and support from the military, including providing assistance for intelligence, logistics and operations, enhances the ability to disrupt drug networks, ultimately helping to protect both African and global security.”
The spokesperson said in the media briefing that Brennan “was highlighting the importance of deterrence and readiness to counter future potential threats. Of concern would be that instability in Mozambique, fuelled by Isis-affiliated groups, and the presence of Isis ‘franchises’ in South Africa could create pathways for extremist ideologies and potentially operatives to spread west toward Namibia and Angola in the future.
“These groups often exploit porous borders, existing social vulnerabilities, and online radicalisation to gain a foothold. It’s a complex regional challenge requiring coordinated security efforts to prevent further expansion.” DM