Lack of loo paper, sanitiser hit soldiers in KZN
Soap, toilet paper and sanitiser are said to be in very short supply at some of the temporary and military bases in KwaZulu-Natal.
Soldiers were recently deployed to the province following last month’s wave of violence and looting.
The South African National Defence Union says they have received complaints from some SANDF members who were sent to the province during last month's unrest.
National secretary Pikkie Greeff says it's worrying because many soldiers haven't yet received Covid-19 vaccines.
He says authorities are sometimes not necessarily aware of the problems on the ground as it might take time to reach them.
He says they have written to new defence minister Thandi Modise asking her to intervene and believes the problem will be resolved.
“These soldiers are all over the province, either at temporary bases or military bases itself. One must also understand in the ordinary course of business a particular military base must have a standing requirement because it’s only staffed by a certain amount of people. Now they have more there because of the deployment.
“So they have to cater for these addition requirement on the ground, which they were not ready for and which is not their responsibility. It is the responsibility of the higher chain of command who is in charge of the deployments.”
The South African National Defence Force says it had “minor glitches” at the start of the deployment.
It says the soldiers’ requirements are being addressed.
