A South African soldier has died while on duty in Mozambique where he was part of a regional intervention force in neighbouring Mozambique, a senior army official announced on Monday.
South African National Defence Force (SANDF) spokesperson Andries Mahapa said Johan Andries van Rooyen, who was part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM), died in a hospital in Mozambique’s coastal city of Pemba on July 9.
“Van Rooyen presented at Mihluri base with a severe headache and chest complications,” Mahapa said in a statement.
The remains of the soldier, who was a staff sergeant from 2 Field Engineer Regiment in Kroonstad, are expected to be repatriated to South Africa “where the SANDF and his family will finalise the funeral arrangements,” the official said.
SAMIM was deployed by SADC in July 2021 at the invitation of the Mozambican government which has been battling an Islamic State-linked insurgency since October 2017.
South Africa has contributed about 1,500 troops to the 3,000-member regional force. Other contributing SADC countries are Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia.
JN/APA