ZELDA VENTER

SANDF chief Rudzani Maphwanya on Thursday came out guns blazing against cuts to the defence budget and critics of the South African deployment to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) at the memorial service of the 14 soldiers who died in combat about two weeks ago.

Speaking during the memorial service to hand over the remains of the SANDF members, Maphwanya hailed the “fallen heroes”, adding that a nation in grief should not throw accusations at the status of the deployment.

“There is a need to build our budget to build a capacity in the defence force. This drastic injection is urgent. We are fighting to establish a defence force of the future. Buying weapons is not like buying bread - it takes long.”

He added that it is no use at this time of national mourning to politicise the issues surrounding South Africa’s involvement in the DRC. He urged the country not to play a blaming game, and not to “brush salt in gaping wounds”.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, as Commander-in-Chief of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), on Thursday evening officially handed over the remains of the 14 SANDF members who lost their lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the families who had lost their loved ones.

He paid his respects to the families of the departed soldiers alongside Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Angie Motshekga and Chief of the SANDF General Maphwanya at the Air Force Base Swartkops in Pretoria.

It was an emotional moment as the coffins were carried out from hangar no 4 - adjacent to where the families had earlier gathered, amidst light rain.

The coffins, draped in the national flag, were carried by soldiers acting as coffin bearers and loaded into waiting hearses. The families will now be able to take their loved ones to their places of burial.

They had identified the remains of their loved ones a few hours prior to the start of the ceremony.

President Ramaphosa had issued a directive earlier that the national flag to hang at half mast as the country mourns the tragic and devastating loss of the South African soldiers who were part of a mission to bring peace to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Candles were lit for each of the fallen soldiers, alongside picture frames carrying the faces on the backdrop of the national flag, of each of the soldiers