letters to the editor - Department of Defence

S A S O L D I E Rstories from 2001Group 27 scores success in KwaZulu-NatalBy Dennis Hlubi (published inSA Soldier: June 2001, page 34)Photo: Sgt Shelton LawrenceGroup 27 HQ is situated in thenorthern part of KwaZulu-Natal,with its HQ at Eshowe - the traditionalcapital of Zululand. The OfficerCommanding, Col Norman Ludick,and his Second in Command, Lt ColDeon Kruger, have a clear mission: toensure the safety of the people, andto guard territorial sovereignty andinternational borders.It is easy to notice that this Groupis one of those that has a very bigworkload. On a daily basis the Groupperforms area defence and borderprotection operations. The areas thatare covered include the Mozambicanborder, stretching approximately 100km, and the Swaziland border, whichis approximately 120 km long. It isnoteworthy that Group 27 HQ, withlimited manpower and resources,manages to score success after successin these widespread, ruggedmountains of KwaZulu-Natal.Of the three million Zulus residentin the Group 27 area of responsibility,about 60 per cent live in rural areas.These communities engage in subsistencefarming. In some areas familymembers eke out a living by sellingtheir labour in Gauteng due to a lack ofadequate infrastructure. These peopleare frequently affected by violentcrime, faction fighting, and sometimespolitical strife. The urbanised townshipsalso experience a high incidenceof crime. Recently, floods and the outbreakof the cholera epidemic posed aserious problem.On the night of 5 February 2001 ajoint operation was carried out by theBorder Police and the SANDF contingentto search for illegal weapons. Fourhomesteads were targeted. The firstwas at Nxamalala Kwa-Khanyile, enroute to Nkandla.Inside the first homestead, a homemadeshotgun and a small quantity ofdagga were found. At the secondhomestead no weapons were found.Medics treated cholera in KwaZulu-NatalBy Mr Ian Crowther, Vice-Chancellor,Order of St John South Africa(published in SA Soldier: August2001, page 34)Some Order of St John representativeshad been invited to meet LtGen Rinus Jansen van Rensburg,the Surgeon General, to visitKwaZulu-Natal to observe progressin the fight against cholera.The delegation flew fromWaterkloof Air Force Base to Durban.There they were introduced to membersof the Department of Health inKwaZulu-Natal and other membersof the SA Military Health Service(SAMHS) and St John. They thenboarded an Oryx helicopter of 15Squadron for Eshowe.There they were met by ColNorman Ludick, Officer CommandingGroup 27, and Maj Freddie de Witt ofthe SAMHS. The guard turned out forthe General and performed an excellentsalute. The delegation attended aninformative briefing on the work beingdone to eradicate the cholera epidemic.The slides, handouts and lectures wereprofessional. It was obvious that agreat deal of time and energy had beenput into the whole serious business offighting the dreaded Vibrio cholerabacterium.The SAMHS (who provide muchneededtrained personnel, ambulancesand other vital equipment) were workingin partnership with theDepartment of Health (which alonecould not cope with the numbersinvolved) and the Department ofWater Affairs (responsible for theDundee/Glencoe CommandoHQ members prepare todestroy a dagga crop.At the third one, two pistols and onehome-made shotgun were seized andhome-grown dagga was uprootedfrom a garden. At the last house, oneBaby Browning handgun was found.The operation ended at 02:35, afterwhich the forces returned to theirrespective bases at Richards Bay andEshowe.urgent preventative measures underthe amazingly wide title of "healtheducation").No fewer than 98 000 cases havebeen dealt with in the 9 months sincethe epidemic broke in August 2000.At the peak of the disease, 1 000 caseswere treated a day, though by theend of May 2001 the cases were downto 200 a day. At peak there were 70dehydration clinics in operation; nowonly twenty.Because cholera is an internationallynotifiable disease, the UnitedNations World Health Organisation ismonitoring the situation in SouthAfrica. They have communicatedtheir amazement and congratulationsthat only 207 deaths have occurred(0.2%), as the international averageis six per cent.12• M A Y 2 0 1 1