Mercenaries and Mischief: The Regulation of the Foreign Military Assistance Bill

This research paper by the Institute for Security Studies examines the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Bill [B54-97], approved by the South African Cabinet on 30 April 1997. While the authors support the goal of preventing South African citizens and companies from providing unauthorized military services abroad, they argue the Bill's scope is overly broad and grants excessive discretionary power to the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, thereby undermining parliamentary oversight.

• The South African Cabinet approved the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Bill [B54-97] on 30 April 1997 to stop South African citizens and companies from providing military or military-related services in other countries without government permission, specifically targeting modern mercenary activities like those of Executive Outcomes.
• The authors critique the Bill for two primary reasons: it covers a range of activities that are not conventionally 'military' in nature, and it grants the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Professor Kader Asmal, broad discretionary powers that reduce parliamentary oversight.

APA

Malan, M., & Cilliers, J. (n.d.). Mercenaries and Mischief: The Regulation of the Foreign Military Assistance Bill. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/research/papers/mercenaries-and-mischief-the-regulation-of-the-foreign-military-assistance-bill

Chicago

Malan, Mark, and Jakkie Cilliers. Mercenaries and Mischief: The Regulation of the Foreign Military Assistance Bill. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.org/research/papers/mercenaries-and-mischief-the-regulation-of-the-foreign-military-assistance-bill.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Malan |first1=Mark |last2=Cilliers |first2=Jakkie |title=Mercenaries and Mischief: The Regulation of the Foreign Military Assistance Bill |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.org/research/papers/mercenaries-and-mischief-the-regulation-of-the-foreign-military-assistance-bill |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{malanndmercenaries, author = {Malan, Mark and Cilliers, Jakkie}, title = {{Mercenaries and Mischief: The Regulation of the Foreign Military Assistance Bill}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/research/papers/mercenaries-and-mischief-the-regulation-of-the-foreign-military-assistance-bill}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }