Reasons for more than 400 soldiers at Sona is ‘not for public consumption’
The South African public will never know what level of threat required the deployment of 441 soldiers in Cape Town for Thursday’s state of the nation address (Sona). That is according to secretary for defence and military veterans Dr Sam Gulube‚ who said on Thursday that the intelligence was not for "public consumption". This Presidency’s announcement on Tuesday night that President Jacob Zuma had authorised the deployment of 441 South African National Defence Force SANDF members to Parliament until Friday prompted outrage from opposition parties and civil rights groups. The DA’s John Steenhuisen on Wednesday described it as the "securitisation of the parliamentary precinct" as "the deployment of SAPS [South African Police Service] members in Parliament during Sona events has increased nearly threefold over a decade‚ from 108 in 2004 to 296 in 2014"‚ while "SANDF members employed ... increased from 168 in 2013‚ to 188 in 2015‚ to 441 in 2017". Gulube was quizzed on why Parliament’s ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.