Durban — The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said these members were charged after a lengthy investigation by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), which resulted in the SIU report finding that at least 15 Department of Defence (DOD) officials are alleged to have committed misconduct with regard to the procurement of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE’s).
Although the SIU report refers to the conduct of these officials as misconduct, the report also alleges that some criminal activities like fraud by some officials warranted criminal action.
Spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini said that based on the SIU forensic report, Military Police opened up a criminal docket and conducted a prosecution-guided investigation.
“As a result of this investigation, on September 23, 2022, four of 15 members of the SANDF were charged and appeared before the Court of a Senior Military Judge in Thaba Tshwane for arraignment. Their case has been postponed to 06 October 2022.”
He said when the new week started some of the other members would also appear in court.
Chief of the SANDF, General Rudzani Maphwanya, has strongly condemned this kind of behaviour from members of the SANDF.
“The behaviour of these and other members will not be tolerated in the ranks of the defence force and (we) will make sure that we root out such elements in our ranks so that the people we serve continue to have confidence in the SANDF. We are expected to lead by example in the public eye and anyone found to be in conflict with the code of conduct of the SANDF and the laws of this country will be dealt with harshly within the confines of the law.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa in July, 2020 mandated the SIU to investigate, among other things, the procurement of, or contracting for goods, works and services during or in respect of the National State of Disaster, which was declared on March 15, 2020.
One of the matters the SIU investigated was the procurement of PPEs within the DOD and payments made in respect thereof in a manner that was contrary to applicable prescripts regulating public procurement.
Daily News