The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has to give access to the record containing details of the Battle of Bangui to author and journalist Warren Thompson, excluding the details of the soldiers’ medical records, post-mortems and photographs of the injured and deceased persons, which amount to personal information.
Thompson earlier turned to the Western Cape High Court to have access to the records regarding the bloody battle as the SANDF had refused to issue him with the records.
He more specifically wanted deployment reports, following an inquiry after the battle.
Judge Nobahle Mangcu-Lockwood said it is not appropriate that the record should be withheld because it provides insightful information about how the battle ensued, including circumstances under which some lives and equipment were lost.
Thompson earlier wanted the information to be used in a book he co-wrote – “The Battle of Bangui”. But as the book had already been written, he persisted with the application because he felt that the department had never provided an official account of what transpired during the battle.
He turned to court to obtain this information in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). He also asked the court to review and set aside the Defence Force minister’s decision to dismiss his appeal against the earlier refusal to grant him this information.
The information that is at the centre of the PAIA request relates to the outcome of a board of inquiry conducted by the Department of Defence in the aftermath of the Battle of Bangui.
The battle took place in the Central African Republic (CAR) in March 2013. The battle involved SANDF troops, including a contingent of Special Forces and a grouping of CAR rebel forces who fought collectively under the name “Seleka”.
It resulted in a loss of 15 South African soldiers’ lives and injury of a further 25.
Thompson said there are still many unanswered questions regarding the battle and the families of the deceased did not ever get answers. This means that no one has been held accountable for the disaster, which is described as South Africa’s worst military defeat in the democratic era.
He said that the department had already announced the names and ranks of the 15 deceased soldiers and that the deceased soldiers were killed in armed conflict in the Battle of Bangui, resulting from engagement with the Seleka rebels.
He said these details were in the public interest.
The court earlier, as a first step, ordered the SANDF to deliver a redacted version of the requested record, which comprises three Board of Inquiry (BOI) investigations that were conducted in 2013 and 2014. This was so that the court could take a “judicial peek”.
The SANDF had complied with the order and delivered the redacted version to the judge.
Having examined the record, Judge Mangcu-Lockwood said Thompson challenged the respondents to explain their stance that the information relating to injured soldiers is private personal information, whilst the information relating to the deceased is not, stating that it is bereft of logic and substantiation.
There remains no explanation from the SANDF for this distinction. The applicant emphasises that he does not seek personal information relating to the soldiers’ medical records, post-mortems and photographs of the injured and deceased persons, which may be redacted if necessary.
He states that the names of the deceased and injured are not private matters or personal information that justify refusal. No case is made out by the respondents to establish why the names of the deceased or injured are exempt from disclosure, the judge said.
She added that it remains unexplained why any of the contents of the record are exempt from disclosure in the circumstances of this matter. The judge said it is of public importance that the documents be handed over, apart from the details she ordered, which should be retracted.
Pretoria News