On 12 March 2026, we issued a press statement highlighting the fact that the Minister of Defence has failed to issue a notice in the Government Gazette, within 24 hours of Presidential authorisation of deployment of the SANDF in co-operation with the police. The issuing of such notice is a requirement under section 19(2) of the Defence Act.
Section 19(2) is an important safeguard incorporated into the Act to ensure civilian oversight over the Defence Force not only by the role players within government, but by the public in general. It is meant to inform the public, through publication in the Government Gazette, that there will be deployment in co-operation with the SAPS, to avoid a situation where deployments of this nature were abused during Apartheid under a veil of secrecy.
If we trace the history of section 19(2) it is worth noting that it was a provision incorporated into the Defence Act of 1957 in 1992, as part of the process of dismantling the Apartheid regime and building towards a defence force that falls under civilian oversight.
On 19 March 2026, HSF wrote to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence requesting it to use its oversight powers to establish why a notice was not published and to enquire whether there has been compliance with the section of the Defence Act requiring the Minister to approve a Code of Conduct. We appealed for the publication of said Code of Conduct, as was done during Covid, following the North Gauteng High Court’s ruling in the Khosa-matter.
We welcome the action taken by Joint Standing Committee on Defence in raising these concerns directly with the Minister and SANDF during a joint briefing with police, on 27 March 2026. We are delighted to hear the undertaking given by the SANDF during this meeting to publish the Code of Conduct and look forward to its publication.
We further welcome the issuing by the Minister of Defence of the Government Gazette Notice, as is required under section 19(2) of the Defence Act, on 30 March 2026. We however point out that this was only done after HSF took the actions set out above to call for legislative compliance. Also, it must be noted that the publication did not take place within the legislated time frame of 24 hours. The Government Gazette Notice was further only done in terms of the deployment authorised by the President on 11 March 2026 (President’s Minute 88 of 2026).
At the joint meeting in Parliament, on 27 March 2026, the SANDF explained that the President issued two deployment authorisations in cooperation with the police. The notice issued by the Minister of Defence relates to the second deployment only. To date there is no Government Gazette Notice issued by the Minister of Defence for the first deployment within Gauteng, with a starting date of 31 January 2026 (Presidential Minute 72/2026). HSF notes that according to the Presidential Minute, this deployment was authorised by the President on 5 March 2026. If only the President can authorise deployment of the SANDF in cooperation with the police under section 201 of the Constitution, then the validity of this Minute is in question if there is such a discrepancy between the date of authorisation (5 March) and the starting date of the deployment (31 January).
HSF calls on all role players to ensure compliance with the Constitution when it comes to deployments of this nature. There should not be confusion around the date of deployment and the date of authorisation. HSF further calls on the Minister of Defence to issue the necessary notice for the first deployment, which was intended to inform the public within 24 hours of Presidential authorisation of any deployment in support of the police.
