Staff-sergeant Sipho Berrington Cele and his wife Lerato Noxolo had struggled for more than a decade to start a family. They were best friends and had a love she described as one to rival a romantic movie.
In 2020, their dream of finally starting a family was realised when Lerato gave birth to a bouncing baby girl.
Little did the couple know that just two years later, she would be left to raise the little girl alone after her partner lost his life in a fire that ravaged three camps at the Lohatla military base in the Northern Cape last week.
Cele, 40, was among six soldiers who died in the blaze. The others were staff-sergeant Abraham Desember Morajane, corporal Sithembiso Wiseman Ndwalane, corporal Noxolo Faith Ngubane as well as lance-corporals Prince Michael Mthethwa and Londiwe Purity Zulu.
A seventh soldier died in the intervening week from natural causes, according to the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). Northern Cape police say he succumbed to his injuries.
A memorial service was held at Lohatla on Thursday in honour of soldiers. It was a sombre occasion as tearful family members and colleagues remembered their own. Many soldiers were seen quietly weeping as speakers took to the stage during the memorial.
They were joined by the army top brass, including SANDF chief Gen Rudzani Maphwanya, defence minister Thandi Modise and her deputy Thabang Makwetla.
A shattered Lerato opened up about the “rare love” she shared with Cele, who she had known since the age of 17.
“I’m so sad ... even now it’s like a dream. I’ve come a long way with my husband, since I was young. He was my first and my everything, I was 17 when I met him.
“He was a loving husband and our love was the kind of love you see in the movies. It was so rare ... we did everything together, whether it’s washing dishes or cooking. We had unity,” she recalled tearfully.
She said they were married for 16 years and had struggled to conceive until 2020, when their daughter came along. Now the two-year-old, who she described as his photocopy, is left asking for a father she’ll never know or speak to again.
While most families opened up about their pain and shock at losing their loved ones, the angry brother of Ndwalane, 54, used the memorial to launch a tirade at the army for its poor handling of the situation.
Damiani Ndwalane told mourners that the family was only informed four days after the tragedy of his younger brother’s passing and were subjected to poor treatment throughout the week.
“We have questions for the army, but we will reserve those for the correct people because there is a protocol,” the former soldier said.
“There are commanders who were there, they were the ones who were supposed to give us an explanation. What’s very painful is that this happened on Friday but we were only called on Tuesday. It was not even a proper briefing. When we arrived at the base [it seemed] they were not ready to brief us.”
He said the family was left in the dark for hours about what had transpired. They were not even offered something to eat.
We know that there was a second fire and we now know that ... in the community they have found whoever had started that fire. Whether that person, we can claim anything from them, that is a different story. In cases like this, we want to bury those that gave their lives in peace. We want to honour them and look at what we can do
— Defence minister Thandi Modise
Modise apologised to Ndwalane’s family for the way they were treated and gave assurances that every other family was well-treated.
Briefing the media with Maphwanya and Vukuhlome force commander Njabulo Dube, Modise said they were still investigating the matter and that “nothing conclusive” could be provided at the moment.
“It’s not true that we are going on a witch-hunt. We are holding a board of inquiry and we will get a report. If anybody is found to have been responsible or negligent, we will then take that forward,” she said.
“We know that there was a second fire and we now know that ... in the community they have found whoever had started that fire. Whether that person, we can claim anything from them, that is a different story. In cases like this, we want to bury those that gave their lives in peace. We want to honour them and look at what we can do.”
Modise said they would relook at the army’s structure and whether there are certain things they can augment, including the possibility of finding a way to store water better.
Maphwanya said: “When it comes to disaster management, we have fire brigades that look after our bases. There are fire breaks that had been made, but the ferocity of the fire was such that the fire jumped the fire breaks.
“We had five units of the brigade that were responsible for fighting the fire and they did everything they could, but unfortunately the direction of the fire kept on changing, hence we had this big loss.”
He confirmed that 19 members had been treated, adding that damaged equipment included combat equipment, “weapon systems”, beds and utensils.
One soldier remains in hospital but is on the mend, Dube said.
He said that the exercise the soldiers were busy with would continue, in honour of those who had died.
The SANDF has lost 14 members in the past few weeks. Four soldiers died in September when a Samil truck fell on top of them in a freak accident. They were travelling from Upington to Lohatla at the time. Just days before, three SA Navy mariners died during a training operation involving a submarine off Kommetjie in Cape Town. It is believed they were washed off the submarine during heavy seas.
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