Hundreds of South African soldiers have been accused of killing, torturing and assaulting the very people they are supposed to protect - and taxpayers might have to fork out almost a billion rands in civil claims.
South African National Defence Force members are the accused in 287 serious criminal cases, recorded incidents of murder, shooting, assault and torture.
An investigation by The Star has also revealed that the most recent list of recorded criminal cases against army members includes 26 charges of murder, 22 of attempted murder, 15 of assault with grievous bodily harm, 25 of common assault, and 31 of reckless and negligent driving.
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And the army's own legal services division has admitted in correspondence leaked to The Star that its failure to finalise civil claims made against South African peacekeepers in Burundi has become an embarrassment.
'We take these issues very seriously' While 37 of the criminal cases against SANDF members are recorded as withdrawn or ending in acquittal, army documents suggest that the SANDF has lost track of what happened to a staggering 125 cases recorded by the army's legal services department. At best, the last recorded court date for these cases is noted four years ago.
Some 13 cases - including three of murder and one of culpable homicide - are listed as "dormant", while in 58 of the cases, the exact nature of the charges is not listed.
One of the claims, made by Burundian state witness Dobeye Jean Damacene, is for an air ticket that Damacene paid for in order to testify in the trial of Sergeant Flippie Venter, who is accused of the rape and murder of a teenage Burundian sex worker.
According to the Defence Department's 2006 financial statements, the army is facing civil claims of R978-million, with motor accident claims amounting to an additional R3,7-million.
'We will deal with them'
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