defenceWeb Written by defenceWeb - Kobus Marais. A question Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s Heberon task team has to ask is how many COVID-19 infections and deaths are there in the SA National Defence Force (SANDF)? This, Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentarian Kobus Marais believes, will be a valuable pointer as to whether the national defence force needed to acquire the Cuban drug to boost soldiers’ immune systems for additional protection while on Operation Notlela duty. He told defenceWeb questions on the number of infections and deaths were not responded to. “Working through the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) brought the same outcome,” he said. defenceWeb experienced a similar response with questions to the SANDF Directorate: Corporate Communications going unanswered. A reliable source in the military indicated it was “quite possible” information on COVID-19 deaths and infections are treated as “battlefield intelligence” not for public consumption.