Tshwane metro police slam SANDF for causing congestion at event ’without seeking permission’

Pretoria – The Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) has accused the SANDF of causing massive traffic congestion in the Thaba Tshwane area by hosting an event without seeking permission.

President Cyril Ramaphosa officiated at the event in which SANDF conducted a change of command parade for its retiring chief, General Solly Shoke, and his newly appointed successor, Lieutenant General Rudzani Maphwanya, at the Pretoria Military Sports Club.

The TMPD was later notified about the resultant traffic jam that occurred on Friday morning on the R55 road, the police department’s spokesman, Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba, said in a statement.

’’The TMPD would like to state that no application or notice was received from the SANDF to host this event. The TMPD will be engaging with the SANDF to avoid this kind of traffic congestion in future,” he said.

“The TMPD apologises to the residents of Laudium and the Thaba Tshwane areas about the traffic congestion they had to endure this morning.”

General Solly Shoke is the longest serving Chief of the South African National Defence Force and will hand over command to Lieutenant-General Rudzani Maphwanya who was recently appointed by President @CyrilRamaphosa. pic.twitter.com/OWXghuTf6f

— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) May 28, 2021

SANDF national spokesman Brigadier General Mafi Mgobozi said the event was held in a military area and there was therefore no need to seek permission from the metro police.

“First of all, yesterday we issued an alert informing the people who use the road which passes through our military area. Some metro police (officers) even called me to say they had seen the alert,” Mgobozi said.

“Thaba Tshwane is a military area. The defence force, if they are going to anything (there), do not need to seek permission from anyone because the area is a military area.

“As the defence force we will not, and we will never ask for permission from them (TMPD)… As the defence force, our military area is not controlled by them,” he stressed.

The SANDF said while the public was generally allowed to pass through the Thaba Tshwane military base, the area remained controlled by the defence force.

In Thursday’s notice to the public, the SANDF warned Pretoria residents about noise and road closures due to the change of command parade and other military festivities.

It said the Pierre van Ryneveld and Hendrik Potgieter roads stretching between R55 and R101 through the military area would be closed between 8 am and 1 pm on Friday and urged residents to exercise patience and use alternative routes where possible.

Ramaphosa, in his capacity as commander in chief of the defence forces, in April announced the appointment of Maphwanya as chief of SANDF with effect from June 1.

Maphwanya’s military career began in 1978 with Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC, and he has held numerous positions within the SANDF since 1994.

Ramaphosa described him as a highly decorated officer with vast operational experience, having served as general officer commanding the South African special forces in 2006 and as general officer commanding the South African infantry formation in 2016 before his appointment in 2019 as chief of joint operations.

Ramaphosa said Maphwanya would be promoted from lieutenant-general to general and would serve in his new position for five years.

African News Agency (ANA)