Soldiers' traumatic experience

DRC CONFLICT: RACE TO EXAMINE EXTENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE TO WOUNDED MEN

- Jarryd Westerdale

» About 130 troops home, one an amputee, one with shrapnel in eye.

Soldiers arriving home from the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will need to be evaluated as a matter of urgency. Their physical condition may not have been fully confirmed yet, but there is a race to examine the extent of the psychological damage caused.

The ceremony to bid farewell to their deceased colleagues has gone, with the time and urgency it took to get the injured home drawing the ire of some.

The critically wounded arrived yesterday morning at Air Force Base Waterkloof in Centurion. They were sent for urgent medical attention.

The SA National Defence Force (SANDF) said an unconfirmed number of wounded and hurt soldiers were set to follow this week.

For those arriving home, SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini said ""every medical support possible, including such as spiritual and psychological, is available"

Chris Hattingh, DA spokesperson on defence and military veterans, said roughly 130 soldiers returned home, one an amputee and another with shrapnel lodged in his eye.

Hattingh questioned why the injured took a month to get back, saying it showed a lack of care and compassion of the leaders.