Troops' bodies head for home

PARLIAMENT: MINISTER, ARMY CHIEF GRILLED

- Masoka Dube

The bodies of the 14 fallen South African soldiers, who were killed in battle with M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) recently, will be repatriated today.

This was revealed by SA National Defence Force (SANDF) chief General Rudzani Maphwanya when answering questions in parliament yesterday.

"The bodies will be repatriated [on Wednesday] as we have been working hard to prepare for that process," he said.

The general and Minister of Defence Angie Motshekga were briefing the portfolio committee on defence and military veterans and joint standing committee on defence on the security situation in the eastern DRC, where the conflict that killed the 14 occurred, and the status of the remaining deployed soldiers.

Explaining how the soldiers died, Maphwanya said the incident was not intentional.

He said Rwandan soldiers were counteracting a rocket that flew over the SANDF base, fired by the DRC army at them.