Last Friday’s sickening incident at the Dunnottar military base, which saw Gauteng trainee traffic wardens injured, brought to the fore the use of SA Army facilities as training bases for non-soldiers.
The trainee traffic wardens were apparently doing drill on the parade ground at the SA Army East Rand base housing, among others, the Engineer Formation’s 1 Construction Regiment, when an alleged out-of-control vehicle crashed into them.
Department of Defence (DoD) Head of Communication (HoC) Siphiwe Dlamini, said 14 injured members were discharged from hospital with minor injuries, and nine members remained in hospital for further medical attention. No fatalities were reported and the crash is, according to reports, being investigated by the SA Police Service (SAPS).
While Army bases, including Dunnottar, 3 SA Infantry (SAI) Battalion in Kimberley, 10 Anti-aircraft Regiment (also in Kimberley) and 4 Artillery Regiment in Potchefstroom hosted trainee law enforcement personnel recruited by Gauteng for Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s crime prevention warden (CPW) “corps” this year, trainee traffic wardens appear to be a new addition.
A July 10 statement issued by Lesufi’s office gives some insight into the trainee traffic wardens.
It reads, in part: “The province further introduced and employed thousands of Gauteng traffic wardens. The wardens have received extensive basic training. Some were trained by the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) at its military base. The wardens are deployed on a 24/7 shift basis in different wards and crime hotspots under the supervision of SAPS, Gauteng Traffic and Metro Police departments”.
“Through targeted deployments, the wardens enhance and complement the work of law enforcement officials across the province and this accelerates our fight against crime, corruption, lawlessness and vandalism. Some of the Gauteng traffic wardens have been trained on firearm competence, crowd control, while others are part of the anti-land invasion and infrastructure vandalism and others as drone pilots.”
This is part of the fight against crime, the Gauteng supremo maintains, will be the “centre of the seventh administration” and has seen him “migrate” the provincial department of community safety to the Office of the Premier. The statement makes no mention of the CPWs.
SA Army communicator, Private Nkululeko Chonga, reported that 1 Construction Regiment Officer Commanding, Colonel Kaoagile Tlhaole, “has thrown her weight behind the Amapanyaza [the colloquial name given to the wardens] traffic warden’s campaign to fight crime in distressed communities affected by the escalating crime rate in South Africa”.
This was part of her welcome to the trainee traffic wardens at the East Rand base earlier this month (July). Tlhaole is further reported as assuring the provincial community safety department the “traffic wardens would be converted into quality crime-fighting officers by her highly qualified team of training instructors”.
Included in the curriculum of CPWs who previously spent eight weeks under military supervision and training were crowd control, radio procedures, first aid, search and rescue as well as discipline by way of drill and physical training.
