The joint South Africa-Tanzania Tactical Intelligence Unit is gearing up for its next rotation to the Democratic Republic of Congo later this year, and ahead of the rotation received a visit by the Second in Command of 10 South African Infantry Battalion.
Major Z Buyana on 16 May welcomed the Tactical Intelligence Unit contingent under the command of Major EA Louw from School of Tactical Intelligence in Potchefstroom ahead of marry up drills and combat readiness verification ahead of rotation.
The Tactical Intelligence Unit comprises of members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and Tanzanian Peoples Defence Force (TPDF). It was established to gather intelligence on armed groupings in order to allow the Force Intervention Brigade to acquire, track, engage and defend against multiple threats in the area of operations while increasing the protection of civilians, reports the SANDF’s Lieutenant R R Letsoalo.
Its inception was in 2019 after there was a realisation for the need of actionable intelligence from MONUSCO forces. Its first deployment to the Democratic Republic of Congo was in 2020 as part of the SANDF’s Operation Mistral.
The Commander for the Tactical Intelligence Unit’s third rotation later this year is Lieutenant Colonel MJ Makona and the Second in Command is Major GG Siriwa of the Tanzanian Peoples Defence Force.
Sixteen members from the Tanzania People’s Defence Force reported to the School of Tactical Intelligence on 1 May 2022 for Tactical Intelligence Unit training for the next rotation.
