Khosa’s death report ‘a sham’

The family is taking an internal report exonerating soldiers implicated in his murder on review

THE internal SANDF report exonerating soldiers implicated in the death of Collins Khosa, the man from Alexandra who died shortly after he was assaulted by soldiers, is “a sham” and is going to be taken on review by the family.

The family lawyer, Wikus Steyl, from Ian Levitt Attorneys, said: “This report is a sham and ridiculous, we don’t accept it. We are taking it on review. Khosa’s family members weren’t even interviewed for this report.”

Steyl confirmed they are going to appoint an independent pathologist to analyse Khosa’s postmortem.

Steyl said they were waiting for a second report from the SANDF before they can take it on.

Khosa died on April 10 after an altercation with soldiers and members of Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD). Witnesses said they were at home with him and two others when the soldiers arrived, accusing them of violating the lockdown regulations.

Khosa was allegedly taken outside the yard, where soldiers poured beer over his head, slammed him against a cement wall, kicked, slapped and punched him. He died a few hours later.

Despite witnesses being present, an SANDF board of inquiry’s report released this week absolved the soldiers implicated and raised more questions than answers. The report attached an affidavit by SANDF legal adviser, Elvis Hobyana, who was reporting back to Pretoria High Court Judge Hans Fabricius’s orders.

According to the report, a lack of respect towards female soldiers and provocation led to the altercation that resulted in the death of Khosa. It found that the soldiers and members of the JMPD could not be held liable for his death.

“The cause of the incident was gender inequality and provocation, specifically a lack of respect towards female soldiers by two men,” the report said.

The military board of inquiry started on April 14 after the Khosa family had opened a case.

The family took Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-nqakula and Police Minister Bheki Cele to court arguing that his death was a result of the brutal assault on him by the soldiers and members of the JMPD.

The family, in their court papers, stated that Khosa was choked, slammed against a wall as well as a steel gate and also hit with the butt of a machine gun. Khosa died a few hours later in the arms of his partner, Nomsa Montsha, after vomiting and losing his speech.

The board panel concluded that Khosa’s death “was not caused by the SANDF members nor JMPD”.

It further found that Khosa was conscious and healthy when security forces left but acknowledged that there were injuries.

“The deceased had a small cut above the left eye, a scratch on the left leg underneath the knee and no other injuries were identified by the pathologist. The injuries on the body of Mr Khosa cannot be linked with the cause of death,” it said.

The report also added that Khosa and his brother-in-law, Thabiso Muvhango, might have provoked the two female soldiers, who first came to his house where they found a camp chair and a glass half-full of alcohol in his yard.

The report also added that Khosa and Muvhango repeatedly ignored instructions from the soldiers, but instead argued with them. The female soldiers then called for back-up.

“The force used was pushing and clapping in order for the men to comply with the instruction. Eventually, the men complied and walked to the house.”

Steyl said the panel said it did not even interview Muvhango or Montsha. He has now written to the state attorney’s office questioning the defence minister’s affidavit and submissions. Steyl said the report that was submitted in court was the final version as the minister had submitted under oath that she had complied.

“It is instructive to note that the board’s report was dated 15 May 2020. The affidavit annexing the board’s report is dated 26 May. Thus, the minister has no fewer than 11 days to consider the board’s report, and if she was of the opinion that it was not final, or was going to be sent back to the board, she could and surely would have said so to the court. Instead, she presented to the court reports attached to the affidavit as the final report. In the view of the above, the minister’s statements to Parliament simply cannot be reconciled with her statements to the court,” he said.

The DA shared the same sentiments with Steyl and has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to discipline or replace the minister “for her and her department’s shambolic handling of the inquiry into the death of Khosa”.

The party’s Kobus Marais said Mapisa-nqakula backtracked on comments she made before Parliament’s joint standing committee on defence that the army’s investigation into Khosa’s death was a preliminary report and “has been referred back by the chief of the SANDF and might be reopened for further investigation”.

He said the investigation was solely an exercise to exonerate the soldiers who were implicated in the death.

“This was never about justice for the Khosa family,” he said.