The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will repatriate and officially give over the bodies of Captain Simon Mkhulu Bobe and Lance Corporal Irven Thabang Semono to their families.
Bobe and Semono were slain and three of their colleagues injured in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday last week after a mortar bomb landed inside one of South Africa’s contingency military facilities.
The soldiers were members of the Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SAMIDRC), which was dispatched to help the government of Africa’s second-largest country restore peace, security, and stability.
The SANDF said the remains will be officially handed over today during a military ceremonial ceremony at Waterkloof Air Force Base.
Thandi Modise, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, is likely to be among the officials attending the handover event.
Modise, the Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Thabang Makwetla, the Acting Secretary for Defence, Dr Thobekile Gamede, and the Chief of the SANDF, General Rudzani Maphwanya, have all extended their profound sympathies to the families of the fallen soldiers.