| (1) | Any person (excluding a person who has committed himself voluntarily to any service in the South African Defence Force or any auxiliary or nursing service established under this Act or a person who, in consequence of the withdrawal or amendment of a decision, or because a decision is deemed to have been withdrawn, as contemplated in section 72F(3), is liable to service in the South African Defence Force and may be called up to render such service, or a person whose classification has lapsed in terms of section 74E(4B)) called up under the provisions of this Act to render service in the South African Defence Force, may before or after having commenced with such service, apply to a board referred to in section 72A to be classified in terms of section 72D as a conscientious objector. |
| (2) | Any application in terms of subsection (1)— |
| (a) | shall be made in writing and shall, subject to the provisions of paragraphs (d) and (e), be drawn up by the applicant himself or by a person according to his instructions, contain a statement by him that it has been so drawn up, be signed by him and be addressed by himself to the board; |
| (b) | shall state the category of conscientious objectors referred to in section 72D(1)(a) in which the applicant wishes to be classified; |
| (c) | shall contain an affidavit by the applicant which concisely sets out the reasons or grounds for his conscientious objection, as well as the other facts and grounds upon which his application is based; |
| (d) | shall state, if the reasons or grounds for the conscientious objection of the applicant— |
| (i) | are of a moral or ethical nature, any writings (if any) on which the moral or ethical convictions of the applicant are based; or |
| (ii) | are of a religious nature, the books of revelation and the articles of faith (if any) upon which the religious convictions of the applicant are based, as well as the religious denomination (if any) of which he is a member; |
| (e) | shall include affidavits of all witnesses whom the applicant intends to call in support of his application; |
| (f) | shall contain such other information as may be prescribed by the Minister of Manpower by regulation, |
and the applicant shall, if the board so requests, provide the board at his own expense with copies of the writings referred to in paragraph (d) or with such parts thereof as the board may specify.
| (3) | The board may in its discretion hear any application which does not comply in any material respect with the provisions of subsection (2), but may cause such application, together with any remark or request which the board may deem necessary, to be returned to the applicant. |
(4)
| (a) | Any application in terms of subsection (1) which is made by a person before commencing service or undergoing training, shall be heard by the board only if it is served upon the board by post, or if it is delivered to the board against acknowledgement of receipt, within 30 days from the date upon which the call-up to render service or undergo training was delivered to the applicant concerned: Provided that the board may for reasons advanced by the applicant and which are regarded as well-founded by the board, condone any failure to make the application within such |
| (b) | Subject to the proviso to section 72C(2), the board shall consider and decide upon such an application as soon as possible after receipt thereof. |
(5)
| (a) | Any application in terms of subsection (1) by a person who has commenced to render service or to undergo training shall be handed by the applicant to the officer commanding of the unit in which he is rendering service or undergoing training. |
| (b) | An applicant who makes an application referred to in paragraph (a) remains liable to render the service or to undergo the training which he has been called up to render or undergo, as the case may be, until the board has decided on his application, unless an exemption board contemplated in section 68 has, after consultation with the officer commanding of the unit referred to in paragraph (a), authorized him in writing to discontinue it pending the decision of the board. |
| (c) | Subject to the proviso to section 72C(2), the board shall consider and decide upon the application as soon as possible after receipt thereof. |
| (6) | The board shall not consider an application made under subsection (1) if such application in the opinion of the board is founded on facts and grounds substantially the same as an earlier application under that subsection by the same applicant which was rejected by the board, irrespective of whether the last-mentioned application was made before or after the commencement of the Defence Amendment Act, 1992. |
[Section 72B substituted by section 15 of Act No. 132 of 1992]
