Johannesburg - An SANDF unit could possibly have fired the mortar shell that crashed into a house in Brakpan, on the East Rand, an army spokesman said on Monday.
“We are still verifying pieces of information we have which suggest that one of the SA National Defence Force units was involved,” Brigadier-General Xolani Mabanga said on Monday.
Police said on Sunday that a 20-year-old woman was injured when the mortar shell crashed through the roof of her house on Saturday. The woman was in a critical but stable condition in a hospital in Benoni.
She was named in media reports on Monday as Felicia Klopper. She reportedly suffered a cracked skull and shoulder injuries when the mortar shell hit her head.
Captain Kabelo Marumo said on Monday that police were investigating.
“We will provide an update as soon as we get more information,” he said.
The woman's home was reportedly near the Apex Military Base in Dalview, Brakpan.
Mabanga said mortars were used by the military, and its operations were normally conducted by more than one person.
“During peace time it is something we use in training, or for the purposes of demonstration, but not within a residential area.”
He said the military used training areas or a shooting range to do demonstrations.
The maximum range of this type of mortar was 2.5km, he said.
Sapa