SAAF members to be laid to rest

Friday, May 22, 2009

Pretoria - The three South African Air Force (SAAF) members who died in a helicopter crash in KwaZulu-Natal last week, are to be laid to rest this weekend.

Captain Bongani Wayne Mdluli will be buried in Johannesburg and Lieutenant Lehlogonolo Simon Baloyi will be buried in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, on Saturday.

The third member, Flight Sergeant Izak Morne Zuidmeer, will be buried in Pretoria on Friday.

All three will be given a semi-military funeral.

The men died last week when the Agusta A109 helicopter they were flying in, en route to Dragon's Peak Park during a training mission, crashed into the Woodstock Dam and sank.

Following the launch of a major search and rescue operation, their bodies were retrieved from the dam by divers.

Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and Chief of the South African National Defence Force General Godfrey Ngwenya have extended their condolences to the families of the deceased.

The department has convened a Board of Enquiry to investigate the cause of the accident.