Does the mercenary law apply to conscripts?

By Raphael Ahren

(source: Haaretz)

According to South Africa’s 1998 Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act, citizens are not allowed to "engage in mercenary activity" or "render any foreign military assistance to any state" unless special authorization was granted. Yet several local community members interviewed for this article said South Africans who served in the IDF need not worry because this law does not apply to them.

"The law applies specifically to mercenaries but not to people who were inducted into the Israeli army according to Israeli law," presumed a prominent member of the community, who asked to remain unnamed. "It’s my understanding that this law contains a paragraph saying that it doesn’t apply if you’re a citizen of that [foreign] country," a 24-year-old former IDF combat soldier from Port Elizabeth said.

Attorney Mervyn Smith, the former president of the South African Jewish Board, told Anglo File he has "never heard of that exception." However, a close reading of the legislation by Anglo File revealed the following clause: "Any court of law in the Republic may try a person for [contravening the law] notwithstanding the fact that the act… was committed outside the Republic, except in the instance where a foreign citizen [contravenes the law] wholly outside the borders of the Republic."

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The aspiration of the Media Review Network is to dispel the myths and stereotypes about Islam and Muslims and to foster bridges of understanding among the diverse people of our country. The Media Review Network believes that Muslim perspectives on issues impacting on South Africans are a prerequisite to a better appreciation of Islam.