The insurgency in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province and the Southern African region’s military response to it have allegedly resulted in instances of human rights violations and war crimes.
A 20-second video clip shows what appears to be soldiers in uniform burning bodies on a pile of what appears to be household items.
The video recording was reportedly made on 29 November last year when Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) forces were ambushed by insurgents near Nkomga — also known as Cássimo — in the Nangade district.
A SAMIM soldier from Botswana and one from Tanzania, as well as 30 insurgents were killed during the ambush.
Namibian President Hage Geingob, who is the current chair of the SADC on politics, defence and security cooperation, expressed regret, saying the regional body did not condone the acts reflected in the video and would take appropriate measures, in line with international law on armed conflict.
“The SAMIM leadership has instituted investigations to establish the circumstances on the matter, a result of which will be shared once completed,” he said.
The investigation into the incident is being led by SAMIM force commander Major General Xolani Mankayi.
Geingob said the SADC would continue, through SAMIM, to combat terrorism and acts of violent extremism in Cabo Delgado and that there was a “tremendous improvement in the humanitarian and security situation” since SAMIM’s deployment in mid-July 2021.
The recent video may support claims by Amnesty International, which said in its 2021 report that war crimes were being committed by armed groups, government forces and private military contractors.
“Tragically it appears that incidents of violence against civilians, extrajudicial executions and other human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law are still occurring,” Tigere Chagutah, director for East and Southern Africa at Amnesty International, said on Thursday.
Calling for an independent investigation into the matter, Chagutah noted that “security in Cabo Delgado must not come at the cost of human rights violations”.
Weighing in, risk analyst Jasmine Opperman said there was “a need to see a de-escalation in violence and brutality and not war crimes that will actually escalate such behaviour”.
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is the largest contributor to SAMIM with more than 1 000 soldiers, said Andries Mahapa, spokesperson for the defence department.
The South African flag can be seen on the shoulder of one of the soldiers recording the incident on a separate device.
In a statement dated Tuesday, the SANDF it had been made aware of a social media video “depicting the South African National Defence Force and other unknown defence force members engaged in activities against the law of armed conflict”.
It said South Africa had committed forces as part of SAMIM and that “once the forces are committed, they form part of a combined force and fall under the command and control of SAMIM. South Africa only supports their mission logistically.”
Opperman, the video poses an international reputational risk for South Africa and other forces forming part of SAMIM.
Since SAMIM’s deployment to Mozambique, little is known about operations by military forces in conflicting regions.
Investigative journalist and researcher De Wet Potgieter said that limited information about South Africa’s soldiers in Mozambique was being communicated to citizens.
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