Johannesburg — A total of 93 charges of misconduct have been brought against members of South Africa's peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the defence department said on Wednesday.
"There are 93 cases involving members of the SANDF serving under the MONUSCO [United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo] mission in the eastern DRC."
It said in a statement that Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula had submitted a report to Parliament on misconduct among members of the SA National Defence Force.
"The report, listing each of the 93 cases, also details the nature of the alleged offence, the outcome of an investigation, the sanction meted out by the military justice system, and the status of the member of the SANDF against whom charges of infraction have been brought.
"To date, those whose cases have been finalised and a conviction secured in incidences of sexual misconduct, all four have been dismissed from the SANDF."
In other cases where the offences were not of a sexual nature, but required disciplinary action, the harshest possible sanction was handed down.
Conduct unbecoming would be dealt with in the strictest compliance with the law, and there was "simply no room for criminality and ill-discipline in a highly professional force like the SANDF".
According to reports, South Africa has deployed over 1200 defence force members with MONUSCO in the DRC.
According to the statement, no members of the South African contingent within the UNAMID (the African Union/United Nations Hybrid operation in Darfur) in Sudan were being investigated or charged for misconduct.
Comments Post a comment