This was revealed by the Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans in a written answer on a question in parliament. The ministry says several cases involving members of the defence force and civilians – including the one in Ikageng, in North West were registered. The case involved an alleged altercation between two SANDF members. The case is being investigated by the police.

The Ministery says although this case does not seem to include civillians, it is awaiting the outcome of the investigation to make a final decision. “We will allow SAPS to carry on with its own investigation on the matter. This will also help determine if there are other people involved or not,” it concluded.

Other cases involve the alleged assault case of Collins Khosa (44) from Alexandra, who died on April 10  following an altercation in his yard with security forces. They allegedly accused him of drinking alcohol in public – a contravention of the lockdown regulations. The soldiers who were allegedly involved in the incident were placed on special leave to allow the SAPS investigation to run smoothly. The department also confirmed that a parallel investigation by the Military Ombud would be done as directed by the minister.

In a case under investigation, soldiers were captured in footage shared on social media, where they were assaulting a young man in Sebokeng. An assault case is still under investigation, but no internal investigation was convened since the matter was handled through the Officer Commanding office orders process.

Police in KwaZulu Natal is also investigating a common law case. The details of the case is not known and the SANDF indicated that no internal investigation was launched since no official complaints was received.

OFM News