Police were called in after a senior army officer apparently told troops in Durban to shoot a group of soldiers if they left a building, The Witness reported on Friday.
Its website said this happened on Thursday when a delegation from Group 10, an army unit in Durban, arrived at the army service corps headquarters to remove furniture and equipment.
They came with an order from the army’s head office to take away the goods that included memorabilia from two disbanded commandos. It is understood that the memorabilia included flags, glasses and books given to the Durban North and Umgeni commandos.
The headquarters of two the commandos, disbanded in December, were in the same building.
Bystanders said soldiers from Group 10 arrived with their acting commander, Colonel Chris Botes.
A senior officer of the service corps was apparently unhappy because he had not been informed of the removal of the goods. He apparently ordered his guards to keep Botes and the soldiers in the building. His was said to have told his troops to shoot if the visitors dared to leave the building.
Around noon, police were called in to defuse the situation as the Group 10 members were still being ”detained”.
Some bystanders said several of those present were under the influence of liquor and acted very aggressively.
The military police were summoned later.
Senior army spokesperson Colonel Petrus Motlhabane confirmed an ”incident surrounding the removal of equipment from the service corps headquarters in Durban” took place.
He said members of the service corps and of Group 10 were involved.
A meeting was held later and commanders of the support base, the group and the service corps ”settled the situation amicably”, Motlhabane said. – Sapa