Paul Kirk
Camouflage is illegal. The only people who may be in possession of the trendy material are the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the elite special task force of the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Terry Lyons, the owner of a Durban company called Cammo Joe, has been prosecuted and convicted for dealing in camouflage uniforms. Despite the fact that Lyons argued that the camouflage was intended purely for playing paint ball games and not for the purpose of committing a crime, he was still fined R10 000.
The nephew of Pretoria police representative Superintendent Faizal Kader was arrested last week by Durban police for wearing a pair of old camouflage pants belonging to his uncle.
Said Kader: “When I got the call I was shocked. I had no idea it was against the law to be in possession of camouflage. The kid must have got hold of a pair of my old uniform trousers and decided they were fashionable. The kid got off with a warning, but it was a real lesson to me. The only people who can wear cammo are the army and the police task force. Normal police may not even wear it. Even I can’t.”
Welma Nortje, a police representative, said the SAPS had decided that, although all camouflage is illegal, it would only prosecute those who held the material with the intention of committing a crime with it.
Said Nortje: “If the material closely resembles the uniform of the SAPS or the SANDF, then we will take action. If the wearer looks like a soldier or a policeman we will take action. But we are not after people who maybe just wear a cammo cap or T-shirt. If you look at the law it is not terribly well written and if the police went around arresting anyone who was breaking the letter of that law we would have lots of problems.”
Indeed, when the law is read it is clear most carpets, curtains and women’s floral dresses would have to be confiscated. Section 26 A (1) of the Police Act 7 of 1958 describes camouflage as material “on which two or more of the colours khaki, green, brown or a shade of any colour that resembles such colours, in any combination, shade, composition, pattern or shape, appear and which substantially or reasonably resemble any of the reproductions in schedule 2”.
Schedule 2 shows three full-colour photographs of camouflage uniforms – none of which are very different from most curtain fabrics.