MEDIA STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
13 February 2026
On the 12th of February 2026, Soil of Africa, in collaboration with Ambassador Henry McCarter formally and lawfully served a Notice of Demand to General Rudzani Maphwanya, the Chief of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), acting not in hostility but in firm constitutional conviction, asserting that the leadership of the defence force is bound without ambiguity or discretion by the supreme authority of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, which mandates the protection and defence of the Republic and its people against any threat that undermines their security, dignity, and socio-economic stability.
This intervention was not symbolic, nor was it theatrical; it was deliberate, calculated within the confines of the law, and grounded in both domestic constitutional obligations and international principles that recognize the duty of state institutions to safeguard populations from systemic harm, especially where economic systems begin to erode social stability and compromise the future of a nation’s youth.
We did not approach this matter quietly or timidly, nor did we act recklessly; we moved with the full authority of civic responsibility, conscious that history judges moments where leadership is tested, and conscious that silence in the face of structural injustice becomes complicity, while action grounded in law becomes patriotism.
South Africa is not merely facing economic strain; it is enduring what many communities experience as structured economic suffocation, where commercial banks announce staggering profit margins while township businesses are denied capital, where families are trapped in escalating debt cycles compounded by high interest and service fees, where young innovators with viable business models are rejected without meaningful engagement, and where informal traders who sustain entire neighborhoods are marginalized by systems that fail to recognize their indispensable contribution to grassroots economic survival.
This pattern is not random, nor is it accidental; it reflects an entrenched financial architecture that too often prioritizes shareholder returns above human dignity, concentrates economic leverage within narrow corridors of power, and creates barriers that systematically exclude emerging entrepreneurs, thereby generating frustration, instability, and disillusionment among the very citizens the state is constitutionally obligated to protect.
When communities are starved of economic oxygen, when small enterprises collapse due to inaccessible financing, when generational wealth remains structurally insulated, and when youth unemployment festers without meaningful intervention, the consequences transcend economics and enter the realm of national security, because social instability born of economic exclusion inevitably places strain on the democratic fabric of the Republic.
Section 200(2) of the Constitution is clear: the defence force must protect and defend the Republic and its people in accordance with the Constitution and the law; this clause does not limit protection to physical invasion alone, but establishes a broader duty to uphold constitutional order, safeguard the integrity of the nation, and ensure that threats whether external aggression or systemic destabilization are addressed within lawful and constitutional frameworks.
The Bill of Rights enshrines dignity, equality, and access to socio-economic participation as foundational pillars of our democracy, and where institutional conduct whether by public or private actors undermines these rights at scale, the matter rises beyond isolated dispute and becomes one of national consequence demanding engagement at the highest level of state accountability.
Evidence compiled by the Peace Commission of Southern Africa indicates patterns of economic marginalisation and systemic exclusion that warrant urgent dialogue and transparent engagement, and it is for this reason that Soil of Africa, together with Ambassador Henry McCarter, demand an immediate meeting with General Rudzani Maphwanya, not to provoke instability, but to insist upon constitutional clarity and institutional responsibility.
Let it be unequivocally stated: we are not calling for chaos, insurrection, or disorder; we are calling for constitutional enforcement, lawful accountability, and responsible leadership; we are not calling for confrontation, but for engagement; we are not calling for division, but for the protection of every South African black, white, brown, rural, urban, employed, and unemployed whose dignity and future depend upon systems that function justly.
We call upon every South African who believes in justice, equality, constitutional supremacy, and economic fairness to rise peacefully, lawfully, and decisively by sharing this message, mobilizing within communities, engaging civic structures, and demanding transparency and accountability through lawful democratic participation, because the strength of a Republic lies not only in its institutions but in the vigilance of its citizens.
The future of our nation, our children, and our economic sovereignty hangs in the balance, and in moments such as these history does not ask who remained comfortable it asks who stood firm.
The Constitution is not a suggestion.
Military law is not optional.
International obligations are not negotiable.
The eyes of the nation and indeed the world are watching.
Soil of Africa stands united across all communities against corruption, economic exclusion, and institutional capture, and our supporters will continue to insist on accountability within the framework of the law; we will not be intimidated, we will not be silenced, and we will not retreat from lawful constitutional engagement until justice, fairness, and equal opportunity are restored.
General Rudzani Maphwanya, uphold your Oath of Office and meet with us without delay as history will record decisions made in this defining hour.3
Issued by:
King Bongani Ramontja
Chairman: Soil of Africa
076 223 3981