Africa-Press – South-Africa. A staff sergeant deployed as part of Operation Vikela, South Africa’s contribution to the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM), has died in a Pemba hospital.
In a statement, SA National Defence Force (SANDF) spokesperson, Brigadier-General Andries Mahapa, said Staff Sergeant Johan Andries van Rooyen, 51, died at Level 2 Hospital on Saturday.
“[He] reported at Mihluri base, where he presented with a severe headache and chest complication before being transferred to hospital,” Mahapa said.
His body would be repatriated to SA, where the defence force and his family would finalise his funeral arrangements, Mahapa added.
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Van Rooyen was from the 2 Field Engineer Regiment in Kroonstad.
A Southern African Development Community Extra-Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Governments, held in Maputo in June last year, approved a regional mission to assist Mozambique, called SAMIM.
The mission comprises forces from SA, Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia.
President Cyril Ramaphosa initially deployed 1 495 SANDF members in July last year. It has since been extended to April 2023, at a cost of R2.8 billion.
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