Cape Town – The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has issued an order for all its troops to assist in tracing and arresting Isak Thompson, a soldier who fled from a training camp with an army rifle.
Thompson, aged 50 and a father of four, escaped with an R4 automatic rifle sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
According to News24, an internal message from the army’s top brass, reportedly circulated on WhatsApp groups.
The message carried a photo of Thompson’s face and instructed unit commanders to seek help from their teams in finding him.
The message stated that Thompson had been seen in Bongolethu, a densely populated township in Oudtshoorn, Western Cape, not far from the army infantry school he escaped from.
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“At about 05:00 [Wednesday], during a roll call it was discovered that Thompson was missing. Search was conducted at the base by SANDF members before reporting the incident. Immediately after the missing person was reported, a search was conducted with SAPS members, and the dog [unit] was also involved,” the message read.
Thompson had expressed dissatisfaction with the intensive training programme and had requested to quit, but his request was denied.
He attended the 10-week programme for only two days before fleeing.
The search for Thompson continues, and he remains at large.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
