Not true that SANDF troops deployed to monitor Matatiele anti-GBV march - Police committee chair Cameron

JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office says he did not sign for the deployment of soldiers to monitor gender-based violence (GBV) demonstrations in the Eastern Cape.

Concerns were raised after South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members were seen in Matatiele on Tuesday, where people were peacefully marching in support of a seven-year-old child who was raped in the area.

The demonstration in Matatiele on Tuesday was part of other marches that have been taking place in the country calling for justice for rape victims.

This after it recently emerged that two children were also raped in the same community.

On Tuesday, police in the area closed off some roads to monitor the protests.

Eyewitness News understands that the soldiers were standing at the side of the road to allow police to clear the path for SANDF members who were en route to a border post nearby.

Parliament's police portfolio committee chairperson, Ian Cameron, said it was not true that soldiers who were seen on videos circulating on social media were deployed to the protest.

"That specific road had been closed by the South African Police Service (SAPS) to prevent the march from moving into a direction where the police couldn't control the matter in the way that they needed to anymore. The SANDF members then stood off at that specific point, and I don't think it was great for optics, obviously and I think it has the potential of escalating a situation like that, but it is not factually correct to say that they were specifically deployed for the march."

Meanwhile, organisers said they’d continue marching until justice was served.