SANDF refutes DA claim that soldiers in Mozambique didn’t have enough aerial support

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has rubbished claims by the Democratic Alliance (DA) that soldiers in Mozambique did not have sufficient aerial cover resulting in the death of a soldier.

The body of Corporal Tebogo Radebe was officially handed over to his family on Thursday after he was killed in action during Operation Vikela in neighbouring Mozambique.

SADC has deployed soldiers to northern Mozambique which has been under attack by insurgents who’ve targeted towns and villages for the past four years.

The DA said that the attack that killed Radebe could have been avoided.

SANDF spokesperson Brigadier-General Andries Mahapa said that claims by the DA that soldiers on the ground in Mozambique did not have proper air-strike support while questioning the military’s intelligence were unfounded.

“It is only when you need aerial cover do you get on the radio to say you need aerial observation,” Mahapa said.

Mahapa said that they’d made a significant impact on the insurgency, which has claimed over 3,000 lives and left scores of others displaced.

“We are making good strides, however, it won’t be an overnight thing hence we are still there,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mahapa said that the SANDF was in pain after losing one of its own.

-EWN

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