Cape man’s 800 km journey to demand justice for his late wife

THE widower of Lieutenant Commander Gillian Hector, who was among three people who died in the submarine tragedy in Kommetjie in 2023, has completed an 800-kilometre journey from Cape Town to Graaff-Reinet in a bid to create awareness about the incident in which his wife died.

- GENEVIEVE SERRA

Romero Hector wants the SA Navy’s internal report on the incident to be made public in order to give him and other families closure.

Hector announced last week that he was going to embark on a cycling campaign titled #justicedsubmarine3, in which he vowed to complete the journey in four days.

Gillian Hector, Warrant Officer William Malesela Mathipa and Warrant Officer Mokwapa Lucas Mojela were killed during a storm when high waves impacted a vertical transfer exercise involving the South African Air Force Maritime Lynx helicopter and the SA Navy’s submarine SAS Manthatisi in Kommetjie on September 20, 2023.

The submarine was en route to Cape Town when seven crew mem-bers were swept out to sea during the incident, of whom four survived.