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SANDF soldiers.
ActionSA and the Democratic Alliance are calling for an urgent investigation into reports that senior SANDF officials defied President Cyril Ramaphosa’s orders during naval drills in Simon’s Town.
The President had reportedly instructed that Iran be excluded from the exercises, but Iranian warships are said to have taken part.
Media Statement || Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans || Republic of South Africa, Friday, 16 January 2026 || Allegations regarding the instruction by the President on how to conduct Exercise WILL FOR PEACE 2026.#MODMV#SANDF#JointOperationsDivision pic.twitter.com/x3ClXeE0J1
— SA National Defence Force 🇿🇦 (@SANDF_ZA) January 16, 2026
ActionSA’s parliamentary chief whip, Lerato Ngobeni, says this is a serious breach of the constitutional chain of command.
Ngobeni has written to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence, demanding answers.
“The statement is trying to agitate for the South African National Defence Force to come forward with why they would defy their own commander in chief, who is the president. The directive was quite clear, and direct from the president and we believe that the South African National Defence Force has a lot to do, to be able to reclaim their prestige, under the current Minister Angie Motshekga. We really do not have confidence in her leadership of the defence force- and so we want them to come forward and let the nation know why it is that they would defy their commander in chief.”
