ANCYL Condemns SANDF Deployment at Matatiele Protest

• The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) condemned the presence of members of the South African National Defence Force during a protest in Matatiele in the Eastern Cape
• The army was present when organisations held a peaceful march which culminated at the Bergview College in honour of three recent rape victims
• 'The league said the SANDF's heavily-armed presence intimidated marchers and disrupted the second leg of the protest

Tebogo Mokwena, a dedicated Briefly News current affairs journalist, contributed coverage of international and local social issues like health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests and immigration in South Africa during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

MATATIELE, EASTERN CAPE — The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) will lodge a formal complaint after the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was deployed outside the Bergview College in Matatiele, Eastern Cape on 8 April 2025.

Read also

ANC has not made a decision about the Government of National Unity

What happened during the Matatiele march?

According to IOL, the Hlokomela Women's Support Organisation and Lady Ocean SA foundation joined forces with the Youth League and organised the peaceful protest. The protest was meant to create awareness about victims of Gender-Based Violence. This included Cwecwe and two other minors who were victims of sexual abuse.

The ANCYL said the protest was legal and within the limits of the law, but it fumed at the presence of the SANDF. Members of the army were stationed outside the school premises, where they planned to hand the school a memorandum of demands. Private security was also present at the march.

When the march attendees wanted to stop at the Matatiele City Hall for the second leg of the protest, they felt intimidated. The League said it would lodge a complaint with the authorities.

What you need to know about the Cwecwe incident

Read also

“Children should not go to school tomorrow”: SA plans national shutdown amid Cwecwe's ongoing case

• The national commissioner of the South African Police Service, Fannie Masemola, intervened in the Cwecwe rape case and instructed the FCS unit head to investigate
• The MK Party called for justice and promised to take action if Cwecwe's rapist was not found
• Advocate Gerrie Nel, representing the Bergview principal, said the incident did not take place at the school
• Cwecwe's grandmother spoke out during a march in support of her granddaughter and asked for justice to be served
• Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Sindiswa Chikunga, said it's possible that Cwecwe was raped more than once

South Africans weigh in

Netizens commenting on IOL's Facebook page discussed the alleged deployment.

December Mokgabudi said:

"Indeed, there was no need to deploy the SANDF in that peaceful mach. The police were there already, so there was no need."

Read also

SAPS arrest Eastern Cape man for murdering his mother in cold blood

Balan Chetty said:

"Well done to the SANDF and the private security companies whose intimidating presence led to a peaceful march."

Amos Kgomo said:

"We need that SANDF and private security to clean up the streets and flats of Hillbrow and Sunnyside."

Aphelele Comfort said:

"That was the mobilisation strategy."

Mpho Masitha said:

"There's a SANDF base in Matatiele. Maybe they were just bystanders."

SA worried about case after Senzo Mchunu allegedly lied

In a related article, Briefly News reported that South Africans reacted negatively to the news that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu allegedly lied about Jaco Pieterse undergoing a DNA test.

Mchunu said that the DNA did not match that found on Cwecwe's belongings. Many questioned why President Cyril Ramaphosa was silent during the crisis.

Source: Briefly News