The Mail & Guardian Newspaper reports that a serial r_apist is suspected to have been operating from the Saldhana Base since 2017 and incidents have been met with inaction by senior officers all the way up to the Minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa Nqakula’s office.

The newspaper reports that a female soldier, who has since died, reported that on March 27 2019, she found herself in an unfamiliar room after she had drinks with other students.

She had told medial officers that when she woke up she was in a pool of vomit, in an unfamiliar room and had a severe headache.

The victim had cuts and bruises on her body showing that she had been abused.

However, a power struggle between the Chaplain, Nicolene Herbst and the Commandant at the base, General Gerald Pharo has paralyzed investigations into the incident.

The newspaper said s_exual of offences by SANDF officers were so rampant that the United Nations threatened to expel SANDF personnel from the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo.

41 incidents of s_exual assault were reported in the SANDF in a report produced in 2019.

Please read the full story in the mail and guardian – 18 Sep 2020