S. Africa Army Drops 2,200 Ex-Guerrillas

PRETORIA, South Africa — Defense Minister Joe Modise said Monday that more than 2,200 former guerrillas had been dismissed from South Africa’s post-apartheid forces for failing to meet a midnight deadline to report for duty.

“The people who were not back by midnight last night are out. They’re no longer part of the process,” a Modise spokeswoman said.

Modise said there would be no last-minute reprieve for those who quit the Walmansthal base near Pretoria last week in protest against conditions, pay and the pace of integration into the South African National Defense Force.

He said any attempt to set up an underground movement of former soldiers of the African National Congress would be countered, adding: “We will mobilize the nation to ensure they don’t cause trouble.”