Nompendulo Mkhatshwa: Security Cluster Must Be Redefined To End Brutality

Ahmed Kathrada Foundation board member Nompendulo Mkhatshwa on Sunday said the mandate of the security cluster, which included the South African Police Service and members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), must be redefined to stop police brutality.

The foundation held a picket at the Hector Peterson Memorial in Soweto on Sunday to highlight ongoing global racism and police brutality.

Protesters have taken to the streets in the United States over the killing of African American George Floyd by police while here at home, there are growing calls for justice for the family of Collins Khosa who died after being allegedly beaten by SANDF members during lockdown operations in April.

An internal army inquiry has cleared the soldiers involved in Khosa’s death, but President Cyril Ramaphosa said the case was still being investigated.

Mkhatshwa said the time for talking was over: “While I think that there must be a strong call for a debate to happen in Parliament on how we can get the security cluster to redefine its role within a democratic South Africa, what does it look like for the police to intervene in a protest action in a democratic South Africa? What does it mean for police to enforce regulations during COVID-19 in a democratic South Africa?”

EWN