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The 40-year-old family, Collins Khosa, who was allegedly beaten to death by members of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) earlier this month, will have to approach the higher courts, after the Court Constitutional dismissed his request for direct access. .
The Khosa family’s lawyer, Wikus Steyl, confirmed to News24 that the request for direct access to the Constitutional Court was dismissed on insufficient grounds.
He added that the court did not address the merits of his request, but only addressed the issue of direct access.
READ | Joburg’s family approaches ConCourt to hold government accountable for murder of blockade army
The Khosa family will now approach the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria urgently in an attempt to compel the government to intervene and rule in the alleged application of the law. firm hand during the closure.
“This case deals with civilians killed, tortured and subjected to other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment during the national closure,” reads court documents.
Assault
According to the documents, Khosa’s wife (who has no name) explained that on the day her husband died, SANDF members approached her while dining with her family in Alexandra, Johannesburg.
The soldiers asked about half a glass of alcohol on the table. Khosa responded by telling the soldiers that he was allowed to drink at his home.
Khosa and her brother were allegedly forced to go outside with alcohol.
More soldiers and armed police officers arrived on the scene and allegedly assaulted Khosa holding his hands behind his back as he was strangled, beaten, hit against the wall, and struck with the butt of a machine gun.
It is further alleged that Khosa’s family, including his wife, was also assaulted.
After the incident, Khosa’s wife said that he laid him on his bed and took his hand, but not long afterward he noticed that he had stopped moving.
When the ambulance arrived, he was already dead.
Disarmament
The Khosa family made the decision to approach the courts to request the disarmament of law enforcement officers present during the Khosa assault, News24 reported.
They also want law enforcement to adhere to the prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment, and to be warned about attempts to cover up or not report such inhumane acts.
Steyl said there were fundamental gaps in codes of conduct and accountability mechanisms. He added that it was unclear what SANDF and police officers could do, and how they were allowed to enforce the closing regulations.
“We are forcing the government’s hand to establish those rules, so that if those rules are enacted today, starting tomorrow our security forces will know how to behave and what they are allowed to do to enforce a blockade,” Steyl said. .
“We want to hold the government accountable since the deployment of the SANDF and the police have been carried out without a code of conduct. There are no clear rules: their commanders tell them it is ‘skop, skiet en donner, do what you want’,” Steyl added.
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