Soldier shooting: If SANDF members aren’t safe, what hope do we have?

Experts say violence in South Africa has become so rampant that even the best trained people can become victims of violent crime.

The circumstances around the killing of an off-duty soldier are still unknown following a shooting incident over the weekend.

The funeral arrangements for the soldier who died were not yet confirmed as the union concerned was still in the process of making arrangements with families, said South African National Defence (SANDF) spokesperson, Brigadier-General Andries Mokoena Mahapa.

Mahapa confirmed the shooting incident in Atteridgeville on Sunday resulted in the death of one soldier and the injury of two soldiers.

“The incident occurred when the soldiers were off duty.

“The South African Police Service (SAPS) is still investigating the incident and the deceased’s name will be confirmed once the next of kin has been notified,” he said.

Mahapa said the circumstances around the shooting were sensitive and could not be disclosed as it may compromise the police investigation.

Anyone can be a victim

Crime was the problem, not the training of soldiers, said Professor Jaco Barkhuizen, a criminologist at the University of Limpopo.

“A soldier in the army is trained to deal with a war situation and peacekeeping, usually in troop movements with a fellow soldier.

“What is disconcerting is even off-duty army members get killed. It shows the lack of policing and safety in our communities,” he said.

Barkhuizen said an army member was trained to kill while the police were trained to fight crime and catch criminals. He said during a war, it was a matter of killing or getting killed.

“South Africa’s violence has become so rampant that even the best-trained [people] can become a victim to violent crime,” he said.

Barkhuizen said crime was high due to a lack of proper policing and proper training and the lack of social cohesion in South Africa.

Military training

There was a difference between military and police training, police consultant Stefan Grobler, former brigadier, said.

Grobler said the military trained in warfare while the police trained in crime prevention and crime investigation.

“Sometimes the line is thin because crowd control and riot control are also the police’s duty,” said Grobler.

“Under certain circumstances, the armed forces can be called upon to support the police, but then they perform a subordinate role to the police.”

Action Society founder Ian Cameron said criminals have become arrogant and ignorant. “It’s a known fact that the training within the police and the defence force is not on the standard it should be,” he said.

Cameron said criminals faced no consequences when caught. “The conviction rates are at an all-time low. “The murder detection rate in the country is less than 16 %.

Over 80% of murders go by without any positive investigations completed,” he said.

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– marizkac@ citizen.co.za