SANDF probing Port Elizabeth furniture dumping incident
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has launched an urgent investigation into Friday’s incident in which military trucks and a group of armed soldiers arrived and dumped furniture outside the Port Elizabeth city hall.
SANDF spokesman Brig-Gen Xolani Mabanga said in a statement the SANDF confirmed that on Friday about 15 members of the Army Support Base (ASB) in Nelson Mandela Bay carried out evictions of individuals identified to be occupying military houses against the rules governing the allocation of a military house. Three houses were identified for evictions.
“The incidents that followed the evictions of the three identified houses have been brought to the attention of the senior authorities. An urgent internal investigation has been launched and will run concurrently with the SAPS [South African Police Service] investigation to determine the sequence of events and the role(s) of all parties involved.
“The SANDF regrets the unfortunate events that unfolded this afternoon [Friday] and will co-operate fully with the SAPS investigations into the matter,” Mabanga said.
Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was reportedly concerned about the incident.
“That is not the kind of behaviour she would like the SA National Defence Force to be associated with,” her spokeswoman Joy Peters was reported as having said.
According to media reports, a SANDF truck also rammed a municipal vehicle during the incident.
- ANA