The reputation of the SA Navy in Durban has been tarnished by the recent court martial and subsequent guilty verdict imposed on a senior strike craft commander implicated in a sex scandal, unit commander of the SAS Scorpion base at Salisbury Island, Captain Leon Reeders said yesterday.

Speaking at a function at the naval base, he warned the personnel under his command that it could take "five seconds or five minutes to cock-up ... we need to control our actions ... every action has a reaction."

In a case that has set tongues wagging around the country, Commander Brian Power was last week found guilty of conduct unbecoming after he was accused of contravening the military disciplinary code and strict naval protocol by spending the night with the wife of one of his crew members.

His sentence was considered the most brutal of all punishments in military law.

Traditionally, cashiering (the stripping of all rank) involves the guilty party being marched around the parade ground. He then stands alone on the parade ground where his commanding officer cuts his rank insignia off his shoulders. Following this the guilty party is marched off the parade ground and out of the gate of his military base.

However, Captain Reeders said Commander Powers would face a gentler fate and, in keeping with modern times, he would -- depending on his appeal -- be ushered into a civilian career with dignity and sympathy.

While Commander Powers' sentence has provoked outrage, several Durban lawyers yesterday said they doubted whether a higher court, including the Constitutional Court, would find that the court martial or the sentence were unconstitutional. All agreed that Commander Powers had been given a fair trial as well as fair access to legal representation.

--DDC

With acknowledgement to DDC and Dispatch Online.