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The South African National Defence Force had denied allegations of the existence of a so-called death responsible for incidents of kidnapping, torture and murder.
Spokesperson, Siphiwe Dlamini, said they view the allegations in a serious light as it has the potential to damage the image and reputation of the defence force.
He said they would have expected those who have this information as well as their sources to have reported it to law enforcement authorities.
“There are a number of avenues where crimes can be reported such as any law enforcement agency, the Public Protector, the Military Ombudsman and any other such agency,” Dlamini said.
At the end of last month, the NGO, Open Secrets published a report allegedly exposing a military squad for being behind acts of torture and murder.
The report said that "the evidence implicates at least four units of the SANDF in crimes dating back to 2019".
Open Secrets said these were the elite Special Forces Brigade, the Military Police, Defence Intelligence and Defence Legal Services.
The lead Special Forces operative allegedly involved was also the subject of a criminal investigation by Hawks investigator Frans Mathipa shortly before Mathipa’s assassination by a sharpshooter.
"All this raises concerns of a large-scale criminal conspiracy within the SANDF," it said in its report into several matters, including the Lady R incident in Simonstown and the theft of weapons from a base in Pretoria among others.
At a briefing on Thursday, Dlamini said that the defence force operates in a constitutional and democratic state where all government institutions operate and adhere to the democratic principles of the state.
“Therefore, like any other government department, the defence force can be scrutinised for anything that might seem to be going against the constitution and the Bill of Rights and that must be done within the framework of openness and transparency.
