Thirty-six South African soldiers who went AWOL while studying military medicine in Cuba, have been given their marching orders for a second time.
Judge Wendy Hughes – with Judge President Dunstan Mlambo and Judge Ellem Jacob Francis concurring – overturned Basson’s ruling and found the soldiers’ dismissal could, in fact, not be reviewed. She said by the time the soldiers returned to South Africa, they had already “absented themselves from their classes for more than 30 days, without permission”.
Hughes pointed out that the soldiers were given opportunities to make submissions as to why they should not be discharged, “but were dogmatic and dug in their heels”.
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