Call for release of submarine tragedy report

A CALL has been made for the declassification and public release of the South African Navy’s internal investigation into the Kommetjie submarine tragedy, which claimed the lives of three officers.

- GENEVIEVE SERRA

The call by the DA has been welcomed by Romero Hector, widower of Lieutenant Commander Gillian Hector, who was among three people who died in the submarine tragedy in Kommetjie in 2023.

This comes as the SANDF said that a re-opened Board of Inquiry (BOI) has been completed and the report is being processed by the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) legal team.

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 members were swept out to sea during the incident; four survived.