PRETORIA – The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) says it has taken note of the Carte Blanche exposé which was broadcast on Sunday, where some soldiers deployed to the South African border with Zimbabwe, were found to have allegedly accepted bribes during their deployment to man the port of entry.
“The SANDF strongly condemns criminal activities and acts of corruption where our military force is executing its constitutionally mandated duties. Members of the SANDF are expected to conduct themselves with the necessary decorum and discipline at all times,” the SANDF said.
“The chief of the SANDF, General Rudzani Maphwanya and members of the Military Command Council reiterate and remind all members of the SANDF that no act of ill-discipline or criminality will be tolerated or go unpunished in the military regardless of rank or position.”
The Carte Blanche show revealed that the controversial R37 million fence erected by the South African government during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, is being stolen in parts.
Thousands of people, called carriers, smuggle anything from clothes, electrical appliances, food to contraband through the wide and growing gaps developing in the vanishing fence.
Smuggling, according to the investigative TV show, is taking place under the nose of SANDF members deployed to the border. Footage showed goods, in boxes, being carried in the presence of uniformed soldiers.
Corruption was fingered in the TV exposé, with uniformed soldiers recorded receiving bribes, and walking away from a crowd of smugglers.
Reacting to the broadcast, the DA said it will write to Defence minister Thandi Modise to request that an independent investigation is launched into allegations of corruption and bribery at the Beitbridge border post involving members of the SANDF.
“This brazen corruption by the very people tasked with maintaining law and order at our borders is indicative of a much larger problem of a lack of executive oversight and the general rot that has seeped into the Department of Defence and the SANDF.
“The situation also further fuels the public’s mistrust in the army and animosity between South Africans and immigrants who enter the country legally,” said DA MP Kobus Marais.
“It is imperative that minister Modise launches an independent investigation that will guarantee that the officers implicated are held accountable for their unlawful behaviour as well as for abandoning and disobeying their constitutional roles, obligations and mandate.
“The investigation should also seek to find solutions that will ensure that this type of illegal activity is not repeated.”
The department was expected to appear before the parliamentary portfolio committee on defence today and the DA said it would use this opportunity to get answers over the alleged rot at Beitbridge.- IOL
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