Chapter 2
Jurisdiction of South African Courts and Institution od Prosecutions in South African Courts in Respect of Crimes (ss 4-5)
4 Jurisdiction of South African courts in respect of crimes
(2) Despite any other law to the contrary, including customary and conventional international law, the fact that a person
(a) is or was a head of State or government, a member of a government or parliament, an elected representative or a government official; or
(b) being a member of a security service or armed force, was under a legal obligation to obey a manifestly unlawful order of a government or superior,
is neither-
(i) a defence to a crime; nor
(ii) a ground for any possible reduction of sentence once a person has been convicted of a crime.
1. The fact that a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court has been committed by a person pursuant to an order of a Government or of a superior, whether military or civilian, shall not relieve that person of criminal responsibility unless:
(c) The order was not manifestly unlawful.
2. For the purposes of this article, orders to commit genocide or crimes against humanity are manifestly unlawful.