City Press reports that the military has found itself in an embarrassing situation after making several errors on the newly unveiled memorial plaques for soldiers who died during foreign missions.

The memorial plaques incorrectly state that some troops died during a deployment to Mozambique, while, in fact, they were stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Angie Motshekga, the minister of defence, along with several top generals, unveiled the plaques last Friday at De Brug in Bloemfontein during the United Nations’ International Day of the Peacekeeper. The troops in the DRC were the first to notice the errors because, starved of news from SA, they closely follow the military’s press coverage. The military admitted when questioned that it was aware of the blunders and said it was an “honest mistake” by the “supplier”. The military is now scrambling to correct the mistakes and place the correct names on the appropriate plaques. At least three names of SA who died during Operation Thiba in the Congo were omitted from the nameplate for that operation. The name of Major Tolla Pieterse, who was killed as part of the United Nations (UN) intervention brigade in the DRC, appears incorrectly under the list of the fallen for Samidrc, the Southern African Development Community’s peace force in the DRC. Pieterse died nearly a year ago when a grenade exploded near his tent. The military has remained silent about the findings of the investigation into his death.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Erika Gibson at City Press (subscription / trial registration required)

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