Manhunt initiated for SA soldier who fled arduous training with stolen rifle

Cape Town – A massive hunt is reportedly underway in South Africa for a soldier from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) who allegedly stole a R4 rifle from a military training facility.

According to News24, the soldier was part of a 10-week advanced physical and psychological training programme at the SA Army Infantry School but wanted to quit.

However, training instructors refused to allow more trainees to leave, which reportedly led to the soldier leaving during the night.

Army commanders noticed the soldier’s absence during a head count.

The report quoted sources as saying that trainees endured rigorous conditions, including sleep deprivation, spending nights in the cold and rain-covered bushes, navigating pitch-black forests barefoot armed with only a map booklet and direction compass, and completing underwater swimming exercises with timed breath-holding.

“The instructors raised concerns that the training would collapse if one more soldier was given permission to leave. This one [soldier] decided to leave in the middle of the night,” the report quoted a source as saying.

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The soldier’s home is under 24-hour police surveillance, and the SANDF is concerned that the stolen rifle might end up in the hands of criminals, sources said.

Both the police and the SANDF may charge the soldier.

The search for the missing soldier is ongoing, and authorities are being tight-lipped about the investigation’s details, said the report.

This comes as the Minister of Defence Thandi Modise acknowledged recently that the country’s defence force is becoming unsustainable due to severe budget cuts, leading to a weakened SA National Defence Force (SANDF).

Modise said this while responding to a written parliamentary question from EFF’s Washington Mafanya.

She said that reviving the SANDF required a comprehensive approach that encompassed various aspects, including leadership, funding, training, and strategic planning.

“The South African Defence Review 2015 is, and remains, the national policy on defence. The Defence Review 2015 remains largely valid and appropriate, even though it was predicated on a steady-stream improvement in defence allocation, agreed to by Cabinet at that time, but which did not materialise.

“The defence force is becoming progressively more unsustainable in terms of the declining defence baseline allocation and we have now reached the point where the Republic must decide on the kind of defence force it wants and what it can afford,” the report quoted Modise as saying.