It is not an image of top guns defending African skies that is likely to deter would-be foreign invaders.

An officer in the South African air force went out shopping in her military uniform and some footwear that provoked not awe but laughter – a pair of lurid pink slippers.

Lieutenant Colonel Ruth Ndayi has been officially reprimanded for the fashion crime, it emerged this week, a response dismissed as too lenient by politicians who said she should be fired.