Twenty-seven South African National Defence Force members face charges of fraud and corruption and have been placed on leave.
|||Cape Town - Twenty-seven South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members face charges of fraud and corruption and have been placed on leave.
On Thursday night SANDF spokesperson Xolani Mabanga said 19 of the members were soldiers and eight were civilians.
They were placed on leave on instruction from SANDF chief Solly Shoke.
Mabanga said they were placed on leave to allow for uninterrupted investigations. All the members were based at the Army Support Base in Limpopo.
“The SANDF will continue with its endeavours to fight fraud and corruption.We are happy and proud with the help from the military police and the assistance we are receiving from the Hawks.”
The enforced leave comes hot on the heels of the arrest of two other officers.
On August 8, the head of the reservists Scottish Regiment Army at Kensington in Gauteng, with 35 years' experience, was arrested.
At the time, Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi said the 59-year-old allegedly demanded money from the three reservists, saying it would be used to repair army vehicles.
“He did this over a period of three months while threatening to fire them if they didn’t pay him the money. The money was paid to him through the money market.”
Earlier this month Brigadier-General Leon Eggers appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria and was granted R10 000 bail.
Eggers is the general officer commanding the SA Army's Signal Formation.
“Following a lengthy joint investigation between Military Police and Defence Intelligence Divisions of the SANDF into alleged fraud and corrupt activities, Brigadier-General Leon Eggers was arrested,” said Simphiwe Dlamini, the SANDF’s head of communication.
He revealed that the lengthy investigation had spanned a period of years.
Cape Times