DEMOCRATIC Alliance member of parliament Kobus Marais will write to Defence Minister Thandi Modise requesting that a probe be launched into allegations of corruption and bribery at the Beitbridge border post, involving officers of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
According to Marais, this comes after an exposé on a current affairs programme on Sunday night revealed that SANDF soldiers had allegedly accepted bribes on the border with Zimbabwe from those seeking to enter the country illegally.
In a Twitter post, the Carte Blanche programme revealed that the investigation kicked off two months before filming.
“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,” Marais said.
“It is therefore 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.”
With the department of defence expected to appear before the parliamentary portfolio committee on defence on Wednesday, the DA would use the opportunity to get answers on the issue, he added.
Political Bureau