23 December, let us pause to remember these young men and women from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
23 Dec 1971: 70249701 Private Hendrik Roos from the Air Force Gymnasium was killed in a private motorcycle accident at Honeydew in Johannesburg. He was 17.
23 Dec 1974: Four members of the South African Police serving in Rhodesia were Killed in Action and one member of the British South Africa Police Special Unit was reported Missing in the Rushinga area during the Rhodesian cease-fire when a ZANLA commander, Herbert Shungu together with eight insurgents stopped two South African Police vehicles that were carrying 6 members of the SAP and 1 BSAP constable. They were all relieved of their firearms, bundled into one of the trucks and driven down to the bridge over the Mazoe River. They were then told to remove their shirts and hats. Sensing the real danger, the policemen tried to escape, some by jumping into the river when one of the insurgents opened fire with his Soviet RPD light machine gun. Four SAP members were killed but Constable Grobbelaar who was shot and wounded in the river together with Constable Eloff both survived. Sadly the body of Constable Mutasa Mandaza of the BSAP was never located. The casualties in this incident were:
W23924W Warrant Officer Jan Paulus Dippenaar. He was 46.
W57512N Constable William Alexander Du Plessis. He was 22.
W61774B Constable Louis Wessel Gerhardus Franken. He was 18.
W61812P Constable Lourens Daniël Erasmus. He was 18.
21666 Constable Mutasa Mandaza of the BSAP Special Unit has no known grave and remains unaccounted for. He was 24.
23 Dec 1975: Two members from 14 Field Regiment attached to Battle Group Orange during Ops Savannah were Killed in Action when their artillery gun position received a direct hit from a salvo of 122mm Soviet BM-21 Katyusha rockets. The casualties were:
73292054BA Gunner Glen Martin Felix Muller. He was 18.
72481856BA Gunner Matthys Jacobus Theunissen. He was 19.
23 Dec 1975: 69475861PE Sergeant (Flight Engineer) Pieter van Rensburg from 17 Squadron SAAF was killed while serving with the Rhodesian Air Force when his Alouette III Helicopter, Serial R5697 that was ferrying Senior Rhodesian Staff Officers on a Staff Visit to troops in the field at Christmas, crashed on the Shinda Orchards Farm between Cashel and Umtali. The helicopter was flying at low altitude in accordance with procedures in force and flew into a rusty, long forgotten hawser cable near Cashel just South of Umtali. The cable was used to pass logs down a steep slope and for some reason, remained unmarked on any on any military or civil aerial maps. The helicopter broke up in flight, spun out of control and crashed, killing all on board with the exception of the Pilot Lieutenant J.J. van Rensburg, who was seriously injured, losing one of his legs. Sergeant Pieter van Rensburg was 22.
The four Rhodesian Officer passengers killed in the crash were:
780075 Major General John Ryan Shaw DCD, Rhodesian Army Headquarters. He was 48.
780297 Colonel David Gladwell Parker, 3rd Brigade Headquarters. He was 38.
780848 Captain Ian Andrew Brampton Robertson, 5th (Indep) Company, Rhodesia Regiment. He was 29.
780798 Captain John Bourchier Lamb, 3rd Brigade Headquarters. He was 27.
23 Dec 1976: 69482172BT Lieutenant Christian John Swart from 32 Battalion was Killed in Action after breaking his neck when his Unimog overturned after detonating a landmine near Ondangwa. He was 23.
23 Dec 1977: 68606540PE Sergeant Johannes Lodewicus Brits from the North West Command Workshop died in the East Rand Hospital after suffering a heart attack. He was 34.
23 Dec 1983: 78255403BT Rifleman Simon Petrus Jurgens Du Toit from the Kimberley Regiment was killed in a private motor vehicle Accident at Warrenton. He was 21.
23 Dec 1985: Five civilians including three small children who were killed and forty more injured on 23 December 1983 when a Soviet SPM Limpet Mine planted by 19-year-old Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) operative Andrew Sibusiso Zondo exploded in a rubbish bin outside the Sanlam shopping centre in Amanzimtoti on the Natal South Coast that later became known as the Toti bombing.
This bomb attack was apparently in response to an SADF cross-border attack on the ANC’s forward operating base in Maseru in which nine MK members were killed. Zondo was arrested in February 1986 and at his trial, he testified that his intended target had been the South African Airways offices in the centre. Zondo was found guilty of murder and received five death sentences from Judge Ramon Leon. He was executed in Pretoria on 09 September 1986. Two of his accomplices, Phumezo Nxiweni and Stanley Sipho Bhila, were acquitted while a third accomplice, Thembinkosi Mofokeng turned state witness.
The Toti bombing was one of the MK’s first operations against civilian targets and came in response to a series of deadly SADF cross-border raids in Swaziland, Moçambique and Lesotho from 1981 onwards in which increasing numbers of MK members were killed. Zondo’s brother, Mdu, was severely assaulted by members of the Security Police at Andrew Zondo’s memorial service at the family home that he later developed epilepsy from which he died. Stanley Sipho Bhila was later shot dead by Security Police and buried in a shallow grave while Phumezo Nxiweni was thrown off a cliff. Their killers, all ranking Security Branch Officers were later granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
The casualties killed in the blast were:
Mrs Irma Elfreda Bencini. She was 48.
Mrs Anna Petronella Shearer. She was 43.
Miss Isabella Margretha van Wyk. She was 5.
Master Willem Arie van Wyk. He was 2.
Master Johan Cornelius Francois Smit. He was 8.
23 Dec 1986: Two members from the Technical Service Corps and one member from 4 Artillery Regiment were killed in a private motor vehicle accident just outside Winburg. The casualties were:
Private Justin Richard Job from the Technical Service Corps was critically injured and suffered severe brain and chest injuries coupled with internal bleeding. He was admitted to the Universitas Hospital in Bloemfontein but died not long after admission. He was 20.
Private Brent Allan Pinnock from the Technical Service Corps suffered severe brain injuries and died instantly in the crash. He was 20.
Gunner Guy Andrew Nimmo from 4 Artillery Regiment suffered severe brain injuries and died instantly in the crash. He was 20.
23 Dec 1986: 84808807SCD Rifleman Peter James from 202 Battalion SWATF was Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN Insurgents. He was 19.
23 Dec 1989: 85597110BT Lance Corporal Samuel Athol Ellis from Regiment Bloemspruit was accidentally killed after being struck by a bullet during a shooting incident at Nkongo Base. He was 20.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten.