The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Thandi Modise, concurs with the FF Plus that the South African soldiers implicated in a sex scandal in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) should pay any costs related to the investigation if they are found guilty.
It includes the investigation team’s travelling costs as well as the soldiers’ own repatriation costs.
It came to light last month that eight South African soldiers were arrested in the DRC for alleged sexual misconduct after they had reportedly also clashed with law-enforcement authorities.
The FF Plus asked the Minister in a parliamentary question whether she would see to it that the matter is brought before a military court, if need be, and that the action taken against these soldiers goes beyond mere disciplinary steps.
If the soldiers are found guilty, all the costs related to the investigation should be recovered from their pensions as well.
It would be unfair to expect the country’s taxpayers to cover the costs if offences were indeed committed.
The Minister said she concurs that decisive action should be taken to protect South Africa’s image in international eyes.
The accused may even face ordinary criminal prosecution seeing as the military system is often “slow” to act in cases of sexual offences, according to the Minister.
She added that there is already an “infinite backlog” of military cases relating to sexual offences that have not been settled, which means that justice is not done.
There will certainly be civil prosecution if it appears that the military courts are dragging their feet, and the FF Plus’s suggestion to recover the expenses from the accused themselves will also be implemented.
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