This report on people in the Makhanda region dying as a result of ‘stealing’ unexplode ordinance in the 6 SAI Training Ground refers.
SEE: https://myza.co.za/unfenced-army-base-outside-makhanda-claims-another-life/
Many of us have memories of the 6 SAI Training Ground – a vast area behind the base where we went for shooting practise, kakked off doing JL’s (and other stupid forced marches), got our first taste of guard duty in a ‘wild’ environment, collected prickly pear fruit (followed by mass constipation) and shot off many mortars and grenades.
Whilst not quite the same terrain as that of Namibia or Angola we were still put through our paces.
What I found strange was that we had to account for every single empty ‘doppie’ shot on the rifle range but, when it came to grenades and mortars there wasn’t the same enthusiasm displayed to find and neutralise unexploded ordinance.
I would imagine that around 1% of our mortars were unexploded. On a typical training exercise that would mean around 1 a day per team.
That 1 a day incrementally added up over the years and in our rush to democracy we failed to plan for rehabilitation of the training ground leading to this mess we have now where people wander onto the training ground as there are no fences up anymore, no training taking place, no patrols and no care for the local population who are hungry and desperate.
To call people ‘trespassers’ when there are no fences up is just plain silly.
Most damaging of all is that people like myself who were responsible for many of those unexploded mortars now have to live with the renewed concern that through their actions more innocent people are dying and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.
What a cock up!
