SANDF announces funeral arrangements for soldiers killed in DRC
The bodies of Captain Simon Bobe and Lance Corporal Irven Semono were repatriated and handed over during a military procession at the Waterkloof Airforce base where Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Thandi Modise led proceedings.
Defence Minister Thandi Modise at a media briefing on 25 October 2021. Picture: GCIS.
JOHANNESBURG - The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has announced the funeral arrangements for two South African soldiers who were killed during a peace mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) earlier this month.
Captain Simon Bobe and Lance Corporal Irven Semono died after a mortar bomb was dropped on a SA military camp in the eastern parts of the war-torn country while on the frontlines of the SADC (Southern African Development Community) mission.
Last week the bodies of Bobe and Semono were repatriated and handed over during a military procession at the Waterkloof Airforce base where Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Thandi Modise led proceedings.
The families of the slain soldiers stood stoic as their loved ones’ coffins were carried from a military jet to two hearses lined up at the end of a red carpet runway.
This weekend they will say their final goodbyes.
Both soldiers will be accorded funerals with military honours on Saturday in Kimberley and Pretoria respectively.
Among the mourners are members of the Army Command Council Major Generals Thituwi Mulaudzi and Dilebogo Mashego who will also administer the funerals.