Johannesburg - The deaths of 11 members of the SANDF - mostly women - in a road accident in the Free State on Friday has once more put a spotlight on the shocking number of casualties on South African roads and prompted President Jacob Zuma to issue a statement lamenting the tragic event.
The army bus they were in veered off the road and rolled.
Zuma said: “The nation is saddened by this horrific loss of so many members of our defence force who lost their lives on duty.
“They had dedicated their lives to the defence of our country and its people. It is really tragic for them to lose their lives in this manner. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families at this difficult and painful time. We wish the injured a speedy recovery.”
Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has asked the nation to mourn the death of the soldiers who died while on duty.
“We are saddened by the loss of lives and our deepest sympathies go to the families of the members. We wish the injured a speedy recovery,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.
Cosatu in the Free State also expressed its condolences to the families of the deceased and the injured.
Cosatu provincial secretary Monyatso oa Mahlatsi said as the trade union “we dip our flags in honour of our patriots that are protecting our country. We wish their families and friends well during these trying times.
“It is really a sad day, when workers lose their lives in the line of duty. Cosatu believes that workers should never lose their lives in the process of providing for their families. We send our solidarity to all families that have lost their breadwinners. We expect the department of defence to ensure that they give the necessary support to the affected families and that their children do not go to bed hungry,” Mahlatsi said.
The carnage happened when the soldiers who were travelling in a marked army bus which veered off the road and rolled on an embankment. Nine of the soldiers died on the scene while the other two were certified dead at a nearby hospital.
The soldiers, most of whom are women, are reported to have been on their way to a Women's Day event at the Basotho Cultural Village in Clarens.
SANDF spokesman Brigadier-General Xolani Mabanga said 31 other members suffered various injuries and three were in critical condition in hospital.
Two road accident reconstruction experts - tasked by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) - have completed their initial investigation into the death of the members of SANDF.
RTMC spokesman Simon Zwane said the two experts were part of the police investigation team who were investigating the cause of the accident on the R172 in Clarens in the Free State.
All members were from the Department of Defence’s Mobilisation Centre in De Brug, Bloemfontein.
Yesterday, Zwane said the experts had already completed their investigation at the scene of the crime and would now focus on doing a “forensic investigation” into the condition of the bus.
“It's going to be a tedious investigation. They will have to look into the condition of the bus before the accident. They have already conducted an investigation into the weather conditions. Now the focus would be to conduct a data analysis of the bus to determine whether there was a human error before making a conclusive finding,” Zwane said.
He said the experts were the same team of investigators who were dispatched to an accident scene on the N1 in the Free State which claimed the lives of 11 ANC members in Ekurhuleni. The ANC members were returning from the ANC national elections manifesto launch in Port Elizabeth on April 17 this year when they were killed the next day.
Sunday Independent