Johannesburg — The incorrect use of bulletproof vests during the Battle of Bangui in the Central African Republic (CAR) in March was probably why 15 South African soldiers were killed, Beeld reported on Friday.
Colonel Renier "Doibi" Coetzee, a senior South African Special Forces officer, made this statement on behalf of his superiors at a press conference in Pretoria earlier this week.
Coetzee said soldiers who had worn their jackets correctly withstood several bullets and survived the ordeal.
He said that after the March 23 battle it had emerged that some of the South African troops had not worn their jackets in the prescribed way.
"Some took out the bulletproofing plates, while others just wore breast plates. This left their backs unprotected."
Coetzee said the army was currently evaluating both instructions for wearing the jackets, and the quality of items being issued to soldiers.
"It is true that our jackets are a bit old, and that the technology is a bit outdated... but there's nothing wrong with them."
Wearing the jackets was optional, and especially when it was hot, solders tended to remove the plates.
"American and British soldiers in Afghanistan eat and sleep with their jackets on, and they would not dare move from camp without them. This is one of the things that after the current evaluation will probably become mandatory for our soldiers," he said.
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Are we really degenerating into a nation of lies and deceit?
The insensitivity in which this claims are being made is so much hurting to the colleagues of the poor soldiers who died in CAR.
The colonel is not telling the truth. Instead, he should be explaining why soldiers spent the whole duration of the deployment on ration packs. Why the soldiers received only five euros per day, which could not even buy two 2L cokes (while other members of the mission were getting sixty-seven euros). Why, a Friday before the battle – tons of beers and soft drinks were offloaded (for the canteen) at the airport instead of ammunition. Why, after hearing about Seleka’s advance, didn’t he mobilise re-enforcement form South Africa. Couldn’t that have been a contributing factor towards the soldiers’ morale?
Our colleagues died because of poor planning and very bad intelligence. Our forces were not equipped to face an opposition force big and equiped like Seleka. Only less than hundred of our men fought the whole day of Saturday, while an aircraft was offloading thousands of ration packs which were abandoned after the battle.
On the bulletproof issue, who in his senses can take off the breast plates if you know that you are going to the front line? Everyone who went out on patrol in wore bulletproof vest, religiously if you can ask me. Let’s not hide behind the equipment. The battle of Bangui was the worst embarrassment, where the wrong tool was used for the task it was not intended to.