Civilians hit back at army

The Marievale civilian community has accused Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and the army of ignoring people’s rights and court orders with impunity.

The community, who formerly occupied the houses at the Marievale training base near Nigel, yesterday applied for the High Court in Pretoria to jail the minister, the chief of the army and the commander of the base for contempt of court, unless a court order in their favour was complied with.

The 355 civilians have been waging a lengthy legal war against the defence force after being violently and unceremoniously kicked out of the houses they occupied at the once-abandoned military base late last year.

They obtained a court order in May, forcing the defence force to allow them to return or to provide them with proper alternative housing, and interdicting military staff from harassing them.

Most presently live in squalor in a makeshift shanty town they cynically refer to as “Happiness Village”, without sanitation, electricity or running water.

The homes at the base were apparently allocated to members of the SANDF shortly after the judgment and the SANDF then offered to house them in two open bungalows with no cooking facilities and limited ablution facilities.

Counsel for the community, Annamarie de Vos, yesterday argued that the Defence Force treated them and the court order with contempt.

The Minister and Defence Force opposed the application, arguing the civilians posed a security risk at a military base

Judge Norman Davis reserved judgment.