These were the words of the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, speaking at the memorial service of the eleven SANDF members and employees who died in a bus accident in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park on Friday. Several others were injured when their military bus that transported them to the Basotho Cultural Village, overturned. 

The service held at the Christian Revival Church in Bloemfontein was attended by family members of the deceased, delegates from the SANDF and SAPS, and the Free State MEC for Police, Roads and Transport, Butana Komphela. 

Mapisa-Nqakula said financial support will be given to the families of the deceased.

“We must pay a fitting tribute to them. We must also acknowledge that they leave behind their children and families. The South African National Defence Force Fund will be looked upon to ensure that there is support and also to enable their children to continue with their education and their lives in general,” said Mapisa-Nqakula.

The eleven will be laid to rest in two separate military funerals on August 27 and September 3 respectively.

OFM News