COVID-19 and military justice (South Africa)

Prof. Pierre De Vos

Professor Pierre De Vos (Cape Town) writes here for the Daily Maverick about issues of lockdown brutality posed by the Khosa case in North Gauteng High Court. A judgment is expected today, perhaps to be followed by an appeal. Excerpt from Prof. De Vos's piece:

The president deployed SANDF soldiers in terms of section 18 of the Defence Act. He did so, according to his letter, “for a service in cooperation with the South African Police Service in order to maintain law and order, support other State Departments and to control our border line to combat the spread of Covid-19”. But Section 19 – not Section 18 – permits the deployment of SANDF soldiers inside South Africa in cooperation with the SAPS, but only in accordance with “a code of conduct and operational procedures approved by the minister”.

The requirements contained in Section 19 apply to situations where SANDF soldiers actually patrol streets and take part in other law enforcement activities – like the policing of the Covid-19 regulations – and are aimed at protecting the public from abuses by SANDF soldiers who are not trained to police the streets.

When soldiers are deployed to rescue civilians from flood water, or to provide food or other services for hurricane survivors, it is not necessary to promulgate a code of conduct as they will not be fulfilling a quasi-policing function. But where they are deployed – as they have been under lockdown – at least partly to assist the SAPS to enforce lockdown regulations, it is imperative that they are bound by a code of conduct – as the death of Khosa illustrates in such a stark manner.