Army claims troops not responsible for Alex man’s death

THE soldiers who were alleged to have been involved in the death of Alexandra resident Collins Khosa last month cannot be held responsible for his death.

He was “pushed” and “klapped” but “conscious and healthy when the security forces left”.

This is according to an affidavit handed to the high court in Pretoria by the SANDF.

It said a board of inquiry concluded its investigation into the incident on April 10 and found that neither the SANDF nor the Joburg metro police officers were at fault.

This in spite of a post-mortem report stating that Khosa had died of blunt force trauma to the head. According to the SANDF report, there was no link between the injuries he sustained and the actions of the soldiers.

The affidavit, to which the board of inquiry’s findings were attached, was handed to court following a judgment by Judge Hans Fabricius earlier in which he ordered that the internal investigations into the death of Khosa had to be concluded and that a report of the findings be submitted to the court.

His judgment followed an application by Khosa’s family in which they called for a proper investigation into his death and that proper guidelines be issued to the armed forces on how to deal with the public in terms of the Covid-19 lockdown regulations.

SANDF legal adviser Elvis Hobyana said their members, who were implicated in the death of Khosa but whose names were now cleared by the board of inquiry, would remain suspended on full pay.

He said they would not report for work pending the outcome of criminal investigations by the SAPS.

Judge Fabricius had ordered that the officers must be placed on special leave pending the outcome of all investigations.

The board said in its report that it did interview police witnesses who were in and around Khosa’s home on the day of the incident, the JMPD officers on the scene and a pathologist and neurologist.

It said that interviews with the Khosa family were not conducted as the board accepted their statements which formed part of the police docket.

The officer in command on the day of the incident said that police were deployed to patrol Alexandra. Two female officers noticed a civilian in Moeketsi Street “in contravention of the lockdown regulations.”

The one officer said she saw Khosa’s brother-in-law, Thabiso Muvhango, standing outside the gate and she instructed him to go back inside the yard. She said she saw a glass with alcohol inside the yard and asked whose it was.

Khosa then came out of the house and a row ensued. The officer said she called the rest of the members and the two men were “forced to comply.”

In this regard it was said the force used was “pushing” and “klapping” before the men complied and walked to the house.

According to her she and her colleagues then left. They were only told later that night that there was a dead body, Khosa’s, at the house.

The findings of the board included that Khosa and Muvhango undermined the two female soldiers and said the attitude of the two was “provocative”.

Also, when back-up was called, the force used was simply to achieve the aim of getting the men back into the house.

The board said most of the statements in the docket said Khosa walked into the house himself when the soldiers left and none of the witnesses mentioned that he had vomited, as claimed by the Khosa family.

Based on the contradictions, the board concluded Khosa was conscious and healthy when security forces left.

Regarding the post-mortem findings that Khosa died of blunt-force trauma, the board said it was done by a junior registrar who was not supervised. They concluded there were “some shortcomings”.

The findings read Khosa’s “injuries cannot be linked to the cause of death. Consequently, the board concluded that the death was not caused by SANDF members, nor the JMPD”.