Surgeon General nabbed at roadblock with illegal firearm

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South Africa’s top military medic was reportedly detained at a roadblock after being found to be in illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

According to Afrikaans digital news site Maroela Media, Lieutenant General Zola Dabula, the Surgeon General of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF), was stopped during a routine roadblock on the N1 highway north of Pretoria.

He reportedly spent the night in a police cell at Temba, appeared in court the next day and was released on bail, the amount of which is not specified by the website.

Maroela Media has it the three-star general was not on duty when stopped and did not also not have the necessary documentation to travel during lockdown. The SANDF Directorate: Corporate Communications did not comment saying the incident was “a personal one” between Dabula and police.

The firearm the SA Military Health Service (SAMHS) chief had with him is apparently registered as belonging to 89-year-old Seeby Nomtsheketshe Dabula of Mount Frere in Eastern Cape, who died last year.

The matter has been postponed to 7 August when Dabula will again appear in the Temba Magistrate’s Court, north of Pretoria.