WEDNESDAY, 3.00PM
SOME 1 200 soldiers were on standby during the 1994 Zulu march on Johannesburg, but police chose not to use them because soldiers are trained to fight, not to control crowds.
Police Senior-Superintendent Kobus Peche told the Shell House inquest in Johannesburg on Wednesday, “Soldiers use live ammunition and not rubber bullets and teargas. They are trained to fight and not for crowd control.”
Peche said police did not call for back-up or deploy extra personnel, despite being aware of marchers armed with AK47 rifles, and despite the tension between the IFP and the ANC.
Peche said the police “paid more attention to protecting the Independent Electoral Commission building,” because they believed the march was “about anti-elections”. He admitted the police knew the situation was getting violent but did nothing to increase police presence along the march route.