letters to the editor - Department of Defence

stories from 2007S A S O L D I E RSANDF reached out toMozambique flood victimsArticle and photo by F Sgt DavidNomtshongwana (published in SASoldier: May 2007, page 14)Floodwater from heavy rainfallin Mozambique flowed intoCahora Bassa Dam andcaused it to overflow. To easethe pressure on the dam, thesluice gates had to be opened.The decision to open thesluices resulted in floods in southernMozambique. People in areas such asCaia village were stranded.Most of the people affected by thefloods were those who had built theirhouses on the banks of the ZambeziRiver. The Mozambican Governmentrequested the South AfricanDepartment of Foreign Affairs, andProvincial and Local Government toassist in humanitarian aid provision tothe affected people of Mozambique.The South African aid was neededafter tropical cyclone Favio floodedsome parts of southern Mozambiquein late February 2007.The mission was to speed up the process of deliveringfood, as well as to assess the situation and provideclean water to people in the flooded areas.The resettlement camp of the people on higher ground. Behind it isthe subsiding Zambezi River.It was the second rescue operationsince the big floods in 2000 followedby those of 2004 and 2007, which wasmonitored by the Institute of NationalGovernment for Disaster Management(INGC). The SANDF Joint Task Force,under the command of Col RonnieJonsson, was deployed to assist theaffected people. Its mission was tospeed up the process of deliveringfood, as well as to assess the situationand provide clean water to people inthe flooded areas.Two Oryx helicopters, an Augusta 109helicopter and a Casa 212 transportaircraft from the SA Air Force, andtwo Water Buffel water purificationplants from the SA Army engineersand SANDF personnel were providedto support the mission. Although theWorld Food Programme and theINGC agencies were already busy providingfood, shelter and water to theaffected people, the arrival of the JointTask Force came at the right time whenfood and water were most needed forthe people affected by the floods.The SA Air Force distributed 523,5metric tons of food to the various identifiedresettlement centres by air transportand the engineers provided 2 411000 litres of purified water during theperiod 6 March to 10 April 2007. TheWorld Food Programme had distributedmore than 1 000 metric tons of foodto 120 000 displaced people as of 13February 2007.Col Jonsson told SA Soldier that thetime frame for the mission was tooshort for proper logistical preparation.People previously deployed, such asWO1 Johan Botha, assisted a greatdeal on this mission. As a logisticexpert WO1 Botha made sure that allthe important equipment was loaded.Because of the experience he hadgained from the previous deploymentsbetween Beira and Caia in 2004he knew exactly what to expect.Col Jonsson concluded by saying thatwith supporting personnel and equipmentOperation LITCHI II was successful.Talking to members of the media theRegional Director of INGC, Mr JoseDambira, said that the situationwould be monitored and the datakept for future reference. The informationgathered would be useful whenand if disaster struck again, whichwould improve the handling of suchsituations.M A Y 2 0 1 1 • s 35