EFF MP Carl Niehaus argues that while the SANDF deployment may help restore order, the repeated use of soldiers to manage domestic crises risks normalising the militarisation of South Africa’s democracy.
The Economic Freedom Fighters supports the deployment of SANDF soldiers to help restore stability amid the protests and violence linked to the actions of March and March. We do so because public order must be protected.
But we support this deployment with a heavy heart, because what we are witnessing is the steady normalisation of using the military to manage domestic crises that should be handled by civilian institutions.
On 9 July, the Joint Standing Committee on Defence was presented with a presidential letter dated 30 June and a Department of Defence briefing that only reached members the night before the meeting. Once again, Parliament is being asked to engage with a military deployment long after it has already begun.
This pattern of late notifications is unacceptable. We have raised this concern before when similar letters arrived after deployments had commenced, yet the practice continues without explanation or correction. It weakens parliamentary oversight at a time when the domestic use of the defence force demands the highest level of scrutiny and accountability.
