- Alexandra residents have rejected a recent SANDF report which absolved its soldiers of wrongdoing in the death of Collins Khosa.
- Community leaders say residents are losing faith in law enforcement agencies in the township.
- They have asked if the soldiers weren’t responsible for Khosa’s death, then who killed the Alexandra resident?
Alexandra residents have rejected a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) report which found no wrongdoing by its soldiers in the death of Collins Khosa.
Khosa, 40, died at his home during the Easter weekend, allegedly at the hands of SANDF soldiers who were enforcing Covid-19 lockdown regulations.
Khosa died from blunt force trauma to the head. According to court papers, he was allegedly kicked, punched, choked and slammed against a wall.
Collins Khosa was allegedly beaten to death by soldiers in Alexandra during the Covid-19 lockdown.
An investigation by an SANDF board of inquiry absolved the soldiers of any wrongdoing in Khosa’s death, stating there was no link between the injuries he sustained and his death.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), which is investigating the matter, has requested that disciplinary action be taken against police and Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officers who were also present when Khosa was killed.
Losing faith
Sandile Mavundla, a community leader and member of the Alexandra Total Shutdown movement, said they are losing faith in and respect for law enforcement agencies.
“The community of Alexandra and South Africa remains in awe at how the SANDF, through their said investigation and outcomes, absolved their members from the killing of an unarmed innocent man.
“Soldiers implicated in his death have been exonerated by an internal SANDF investigation, which found that the altercation was not what caused his death – when taking into account the post-mortem report.
“We then ask, as the people of Alexandra, what and who killed Khosa?” Mavundla asked.
READ | Collins Khosa: New details of alleged SANDF assault on witnesses, family come to light in IPID report
Mavundla said the continuous killing of civilians allegedly by law enforcement officers demonstrated an utter disregard for black people, especially in Alexandra.
“It cannot be then that those who are meant to protect and serve the community are the ones who bare the notoriety of brutally taking lives without facing the consequences of their actions.
“We are tired of appealing to a government that is not listening to its people. We are now telling government to solve the issues of Alexandra. SAPS drags its feet in removing guns in Alexandra, fired every night without fail, even under this current lockdown,” Mavundla said.
He claimed people were firing guns daily despite the army being deployed in the township.
