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S A S O L D I E RRemember thefallen of warBy Col A.M. Eagar (Ret),Chairperson Pretoria MemorialService (published in SA Soldier:December 2001, page 31)The annual remembrance service tocommemorate all the soldiers whodied and were disabled in the ser-Flying into historystories from 2001Sign Language CourseBy Capt Fundile Siyongwana(published in SA Soldier:September 2001, page 20)The Equal Opportunities ChiefDirector, in conjunction with theUniversity of the Witswatersrand,made history recently by presenting asign language course - a first for theDepartment of Defence (DOD).The six-week sign languagecourse, presented in July 2001 andattended by some eleven studentsfrom within the DOD, is unique inthe sense that certain deaf signs hadto be developed especially to complywith defence terms and concepts, egdeaf signs for military insignia.vice of their country was held at theWar Memorial at the UnionBuildings in Pretoria on Sunday, 11The course forms part of theDirectorate's commitment to promotingand protecting the rights of peoplewith disabilities. According toMr M.J. Swart, SO1 Disability, thecourse is divided into two learningphases, namely an experiential andan actualisation phase.The University ofWitswatersrand trains and employsunemployed deaf people to teach thestudents sign language. Mr Swartsaid that the DOD employed some430 people with disabilities. Theskills gained will therefore assist theDOD to understand the needs ofpeople with disabilities within theDepartment.November, and in various other citiesin our country and all over the world.At this Memorial Service variouscommunities and military veterans'associations also remembered thefamilies of those who never returnedand, of course, those men andwomen who were disabled duringtheir service.This day in November is one ofthe major memorial services throughoutthe world. The remembrance serviceis held annually on the Sundaynearest to 11 November (ArmisticeDay) and this is then known asRemembrance Sunday. This year thedate happened to fall on a Sunday.Capt Musa Mbhokota (26) of 2 Squadron made history on 18 July2001 by becoming the first South African black pilot to fly solo in asupersonic Cheetah fighter jet. (Photo: Sgt Albi le Roux; publishedin SA Soldier: September 2001, page 33)16• M A Y 2 0 1 1
stories from 2002S A S O L D I E ROur deployed ambassadors"Well, the whole visitwas the culminationof an action whichstarted about sevenmonths ago,"WO1 J.J. Jacobs said.how well such parcels are received.The parcels were received with great delight.By Lt Col Dup Martens (publishedin SA Soldier: April 2002, page 12)Photo: WO1 J.J. JacobsThe lazy hum of flies in thesweltering heat adds to the pictureof dejection and squalor inthe city. Half-built dilapidatedbuildings, with their grime andcracks belie the colonial dreams of aonce thriving and vigorous society.These are the first (and lasting) imagesof Kinshasa - the present headquartersof the SA National Defence Force'sUnited Nations peacekeeping contingentin the Democratic Republic of theCongo (DRC).WO1 J.J. Jacobs, Warrant Officer of theSANDF, recently paid a visit to ourtroops in the DRC and Burundi. SASoldier wanted to know from himwhat the purpose of his visit was andhow our troops had been acclimatisedto the foreign surroundings."Well, the whole visit was the culminationof an action which startedabout seven months ago," he said. "Imade a suggestion to the PlenaryDefence Staff Council (PDSC) thatwe should do something to show ourappreciation for the sterling workour troops were doing there. Youknow, in our military history weonce had a 'dankie sê tannie', whoregularly organised parcels to be sentto our troops on the border.Remembering those days, I know"I asked the Military Councilwhether we could not do likewise,and that I and a few officers wouldthen hand over these parcels to ourtroops in the DRC and Burundi.They said 'yes', and I immediatelystarted a fund-raising campaign. Ourtarget was R30 000. With the goodwillof various sponsors I managedto collect about R27 000. The SAForces Institute (SAFI) sponsored theshortfall and they also made up thepackages containing biltong, sweets,dried fruit and chocolates. Theseparcels we handed over to Gen S.Nyanda, Chief of the Defence Force."Three senior staff members, namelyLt Gen R. van Rensburg, the SurgeonGeneral of the SANDF, Maj Gen L.Pitso, Chief Director Counter-intelligence,Maj Gen (Rev) F.S. Gqiba,Chaplain General, and myself, withour wives and Ms L. Momberg, representingthe Citizen newspaper, lefton 27 December 2001 to hand overthe parcels. We made a stopover inBurundi to offload some personneland left a short while later forKinshasa in the DRC."M A Y 2 0 1 1 • s 17
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