The number of complaints that have reached the South African Military Ombudsman has increased by 10 in two weeks. The Ombudsman is now investigating 38 complaints against members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) during the lockdown.
The complaints relate to allegations of excessive force and physical abuse against citizens. This as police are also investigating the death of a man from Alexandra, north of Johannesburg, after he was allegedly beaten by defence force members, earlier this month.
Of the 38 complaints, 23 have been received from members of the public and the rest from former members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
The Office of the Military Ombud serves as an alternative dispute resolution platform, outside of the Department of Defence, to deal with complaints from members of the public.
One of the complainants, Democratic Alliance (DA) Member of Parliament Kobus Marais, says while a disregard of lockdown regulations is unacceptable, physical abuse levelled against the public during enforcement should not be tolerated.
“We have picked up quite a few incidents where members of the public were manhandled by members of the defence force. In Langa, a member was saying this is the instruction of the president, if you don’t adhere to that and then he kicked. That was unacceptable. People were made to roll on the ground, and made to do push-ups. This was a kind of punishment because they were walking on the street. We are not saying, it’s okay for civilians to ignore lockdown regulations, but what is the instruction and mandate of the defence force,” says Marais.
One of the more serious complaints relates to the death of a man from Alexandra allegedly after being beaten by defence force members.
A murder case has since been opened at the Alexandra police station. This as other videos of abuse by SANDF have since surfaced on social media.
Military ombud, Lieutenant-General Vusumuzi Masondo, says these complaints against members of the SANDF are being taken in a very serious light.
“They are actually complaining about the violation to their human rights by members of the SANDF. One of the complaints relates to the death of one person in Alexander. We are there to monitor that the soldiers in the course of doing their work, they work within the confines of the law. Even though members of the public maybe violating regulations, they still deserve to be treated within the confines of the law. This is a concern, especially the use of unwarranted excessive force,” says Masondo.
Meanwhile, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, Dr Johan Burger, says while the enforcement of lockdown regulations are necessary, members of the South African National Defence Force needed training before being deployed into communities.
“The government is intent on maintaining the state of disaster. In order for this to happen, you need to have the enforcement capability. The problem is with the enforcement agencies. Section 20 of the Defence act states very clearly, when the military is deployed in such a role, they need to be trained on such a deployment and appropriately equipped. To enforce a law, you must understand a law and that is a problem you have if you not trained. There will always be those individual soldiers who act unlawfully in a deliberate way,” says Burger.
Dr Burger adds that the current deployment by the SANDF into communities and the complaints that have followed have caused the public to lose faith in them.
“Because of their specific role, they are relatively isolated from the public. Now given this situation, suddenly they work within communities. Communities tended to have a higher respect for the military. Now given their deployment in the same way as police, they quickly lost credibility and respect. Long after the pandemic is gone, the damage that this causes the military in terms of their legitimacy with the public will linger on for much much longer,” adds Burger.
Kobus Marais has told SABC News that since his complaints to the Military Ombud, the number of videos and incidents fingering the SANDF have reduced. The president recently confirmed the deployment of over 73 thousand more members of the defence force across the country until June.
Members of the public can lay a complaint by filling a form on the ombud’s website.
Below is a graphic of how to report security forces:
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Police brutality reports:
Allegations of abuse of power by law enforcement officers will come under the spotlight in a virtual meeting of the Joint Committee of Parliament that was scheduled to get under way a short while ago.
The Portfolio Committee on Police and the Select Committee on Security and Justice will receive a briefing from the Police Ministry, senior SAPS management and police watchdog, IPID.
The joint committee says it will receive a progress report on the enforcement of the lockdown regulations by the police. But it says the main issue to be considered today relates to reports of abuse of power by some members of the police in the enforcement of the lockdown regulations.
Joint Committee Co-Chairpersons Shahidabibi Shaik and Tina Joemat Petterson say reports of abuse of power by police are of great concern to both committees. They say it is for this reason that the meeting needs to get to the bottom of the issues, to get an update from IPID on how investigations are unfolding and to ensure that all transgressions are investigated.
