This report focuses on the ways in which ex-combatants have remained militarised at both an individual and a collective level in post-apartheid South Africa. It argues that ex-combatants' military identities and skills can be both beneficial and detrimental to their families, communities and the state. For this reason, as long as DDRR programmes remain short-term processes aimed chiefly at disarming ex-combatants without addressing their ongoing needs in highly unequal and violent societies, the demilitarisation of ex-combatants' minds and everyday lives will be an unattainable goal.
g_maringira_with_j_brankovic_the_persistence_of_military_identities_among_ex_combatants_in_south_africa