No harm in granting lockdown rights order – Khosa judge

The judge in the Collins Khosa case yesterday said one of the orders sought by the applicants; that during the lockdown everyone in SA was entitled to a number of rights that cannot be suspended, even during states of emergency, would go some way in re-establishing the trust between the people and the government. Judge Hans Fabricius was responding to Ngwako Maenetje, the lawyer for the Defence Minister, secretary for defence and chief of the SANDF, who said it was up to the court's discretion to rule on the specific order sought, reports TimesLIVE. The judge said the order cannot harm any of the state respondents. When the matter resumed today, Maenetje, opposed all but one of the orders sought by the family. Maenetje said the family wanted investigations into complaints about the conduct of the SANDF done promptly and impartially. They have a suitable alternative remedy in this regard. They must lodge the complaints they have with the relevant institutions tasked with the constitutional and statutory mandate to investigate their complaints, he said. He said investigations regarding the death of Khosa were under way and had not yet been finalised, adding that if the family remained aggrieved by the conduct of such investigations, they could approach the court for a remedy. Mike Bofilatos, the lawyer for the Police Minister and national police commissioner, also opposed the orders sought by the family.

Soldiers deployed to enforce Covid-19 regulations received no education or training on the level of force they could use, nor were they trained on the constitutional rights of citizens.  Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, representing the family of Collins Khosa, who was killed in Alexandra allegedly by SANDF and Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department members on Good Friday, yesterday told the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) that two operational documents used to deploy SANDF members to enforce the lockdown failed to unpack what amount of force ought to be used when dealing with a civilian population. City Press notes that Ngcukaitobi argued that this limited and or non-existent education led to the death of Khosa and other crimes committed by SANDF and police officers. Referring to section 199 subsection five of the Constitution which states that it is the direct constitutional obligation of Ministers in the security cluster 'to teach and require their members to act in accordance with the Constitution and the law', he argued that the state and Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula in an operational document dated 30 March, as well as another one page document, 'failed to comply with the dictates'. The court heard that some of the directives given to the SANDF officials included being told to 'engage in battle without drinking and smoking', while also being urged to channel non-complying members through allowing 'harsh measures of the law to apply'. More shocking were the words 'find and fix and neutralise non compliance', as well as being warned in advance that residents in Alexandra were 'supporting illicit activities'. 'The language that is used in the very same document that the Minister of Defence is saying aligns with the Constitution virtually accuses every person they see in Alex as a non complier.' Ngcukaitobi added: 'What's clear is that the operational document that they put up is entirely consistent with the attitude adopted by the Minister that we will skop, skiet en donder when the circumstances determine.'

Full City Press report

– TimesLIVE