7 SANDF Soldiers Took Bribes From Arms Smugglers at Zimbabwe Border, Investigation Will Reveal More Details
- Seven South African National Defence Force soldiers have been accused of accepting bribes from people trying to smuggle weapons to Zimbabwe
- The soldiers were caught on video accepting bribes and allowing smuggling to occur right in front of them
- The Beitbridge border's fence has been defaced as people carry one part away at a time to facilitate smuggling various items
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PRETORIA - Siphiwe Sangweni, the Major-General of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), has admitted that seven soldiers are accused of taking bribes from people who attempted to smuggle weapons across the border between Zimbabwe and South Africa in 2021.
“What happens is that we are trying to find these members before they do, or while they are doing these acts, and when it happens that they were found after disciplinary action are taken immediately.
You will recall that three or four months ago there was an outcome of those investigations with Hawks together with the military police where seven members were arrested,” Sangweni said.
Source: Getty Images
The state of the Zimbabwe-South Africa border is revealed
In an expose by Carte Blanche, it was revealed that the R37 million fence at the Beitbridge border is being carried away piece-by-piece as people make an opening through which to smuggle items from South Africa to Zimbabwe.
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The SANDF are aware of the smuggling and evidence, in the form of video footage, exists which proves this, IOL reports. This footage also shows bribes being accepted by the SANDF soldiers at the border.
The Democratic Alliance has condemned the alleged bribery and the SANDF soldier's actions. They want to ask for an independent probe to be launched into these allegations.
Commission says under-resourced soldiers unable to protect military bases
Previously Briefly News reported that South African National Defence Force (SANDF) personnel are not equipped to protect the national army's military bases.
This is the word from the Defence Force Service Commission (DFSC) that probed the length and breadth of the SANDF ahead of making the damning findings.
Further, on its list of findings, DFSC cited that there were no stringent access control measures in place at the military base.
Source: Briefly News
