EFF, ActionSA demand answers: Who ordered SANDF at #JusticeForCweCwe protest?

SANDF

Cape Town – The EFF and ActionSA have demanded clarification regarding the alleged deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) during the #JusticeForCweCwe protests in Matatiele.

The protests, which continued in Matatiele, Mthatha, and Cape Town, were in response to the rape of a seven-year-old girl, CweCwe, in October 2024.

Protesters gathered outside Bergview College, where the alleged assault took place, but became agitated by the presence of SANDF and private security monitoring the march.

Political parties like the EFF condemned the deployment of the SANDF, labelling it as state-sponsored intimidation.

They sent letters to Speaker Thoko Didiza and Defence Minister Angie Motshekga, demanding answers about who authorised the deployment, as only President Cyril Ramaphosa can do so in coordination with the police.

“These are not criminals nor terrorists. These are young people, some still in primary school, who have taken up the noble cause of defending the dignity and humanity of a seven-year-old child whose pain and trauma have been met with silence, confusion, and cover-up by the institutions meant to protect them,” the EFF said in a statement.

“Did the president formally communicate to Parliament his intention to deploy the SANDF to assist the Saps in providing security at the protests for justice for CweCwe?” EFF national chairperson and Parliamentary chief whip Nontando Nolutshungu asked in the letter.

“If so, may you urgently share the letter the president sent to Parliament in this regard?,” it added.

ActionSA raised concerns about the militarisation of public order policing and the violation of constitutional safeguards, as the SANDF’s presence at a civilian protest could suppress democratic dissent.

The SANDF clarified that its personnel were not deployed at the protest, but were simply passing by and stopped temporarily near the gathering, as confirmed by the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron.

“SANDF members were travelling along R56 near a garage where Saps had stopped the crowd passing. The SANDF members had to stop there too and stood off at the gathering until the road was cleared for them to then continue travelling,” Cameron said in a post on X.

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