Body of soldier killed in Sudan back home

23/03/2016 Family members looks on as the SA National Defence Force receive the mortal remains of Corporal Mxolisi Edward Mnyipika, at Air Force Base Waterkloof who died during an ambush in Northern Darfur, Sudan. Picture: Phill Magakoe

23/03/2016 Family members looks on as the SA National Defence Force receive the mortal remains of Corporal Mxolisi Edward Mnyipika, at Air Force Base Waterkloof who died during an ambush in Northern Darfur, Sudan. Picture: Phill Magakoe

Published Mar 24, 2016

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Pretoria - Soldiers are expected to die in war and they die with their boots on, but death was the last thing the family of Corporal Mxolisi Mnyipika expected when he went to serve the country on a peace mission in Sudan.

They were struggling to accept his death and could not accept the huge loss, they said. It would take time to come to terms with the fact that he won't be coming home.

“We knew he was a soldier and understood that soldiers die at war, but it never crossed our minds that Mxolisi would be a casualty of war. The family is in pain, we are struggling to accept this,” his brother Goodman Mnyipika said on Wednesday.

He spoke as the SANDF handed the mortal remains of the soldier to the family at Air Force Base Waterkloof on Wednesday morning.

His body was brought back home on Tuesday, and the ceremony on Wednesday marked two weeks since he was killed.

Mnyipika died during an ambush on South African soldiers in Northern Darfur, Sudan, on March 9, while he and 49 other troops were providing a security escort for humanitarian aid trucks in a military convoy.

The platoon was ambushed while on their way to an exchange point between the SANDF and Rwandan troops: “Corporal Mnyipika was killed during an exchange of gunfire, while Rifleman Cebo Excellent Gumede was shot in the left upper shoulder,” Brigadier-General Thabiso Makhosi said. Gumede was being treated in an El Fashir hospital and was in a stable condition, he said.

“We as the defence fraternity are deeply saddened by Mnyipika’s death despite soldiers being expected to prepare to go through this.”

When soldiers were attacked their best strategy was to go back to the basics and the doctrines of training.

“We must regroup and fight back, and we did, but in this case we were left with a casualty,” the director of peace support operations said.

Makhosi said the family had agreed to a semi-military funeral, which would allow them the freedom to bring friends and relatives to speak at the corporal’[s funeral.

Goodman said the funeral would be held on April 2 - a weekend they had expected their older brother back home. He was last home in January for the funeral of a senior member of the family.

“Mxolisi was a model senior member of the extended family; he stepped in wherever his wisdom was required, he cared for and assisted everyone,” Goodman said.

He leaves his wife Thumelo and two children aged 14 and 7.

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