SANDF running out of flood relief bridges

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The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is running low on it stock of bridges used for relief operations in flood-affected communities, the SANDF says.

Lieutenant General Derrick M Mgwebi, Chief of Joint Operations, said the bridges used to assist communities are Bailey bridges, which the SANDF has less need for as they are an old design. “But we are going to run out of stock…in the future it will be difficult to maintain bridge building,” for relief operations, he said, during a media briefing in Pretoria last week.

The Bailey bridge is a portable, pre-fabricated truss bridge developed by the British in the Second World War. This type of bridge has several advantageous features, notably its light construction and ability to be erected without heavy equipment.

The SANDF has built a number of bridges for mostly rural communities over the last couple of years. In briefing the media on SANDF Joint Operations exercises and deployments, Mgwebi said that the SANDF has provided assistance to the Department of Public Works with regard to bridge building. In February 2010 the SANDF constructed pedestrian bridges in Nthafufu in the Port St Johns district, Engcobo in the Tsomo district and Daluhlanga in the Mount Frere district.

In February 2011 several Bailey bridges were built in Mthatha, Nquqhu and Hammanskraal. These bridges were donated and built by the SA Army Engineers to provide safe and easy access to the communities. These activities formed part of Operation Chariot, the SANDF’s disaster support and humanitarian assistance operation.

As part of Chariot, the SANDF between April and July 2011 assisted the Department of Agriculture in combating the spread of foot and mouth disease (a sub-unit was deployed to northern KwaZulu-Natal to control the movement of infected animals). In addition, the SANDF supported local government in supplying water to residents in the Free State town of Brandfort.

Under Operation Arabella, the SANDF provided humanitarian assistance to provincial and local disaster management centres managing flood stricken areas in January this year, including Hoedespruit and northern KwaZulu-Natal.

Operation Prosper, the SANDF’s internal safety and security operation, saw the defence force provide military support to the Global African Diaspora Summit in May 2012; the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Mgwebi said that a sub-unit of the SANDF was deployed to Marikana between 12 and 17 September this year following the violent strikes at the Lonmin mine.

A total of 39 SANDF members, supported by the SAS Umzimkhulu and an Oryx helicopter, were deployed to the Koeberg nuclear power station to prevent it being breached by the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior III.

According to the Department of Defence Annual Report 2011/2012 for the period April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012, the SANDF provided assistance with fire-fighting in the Western Cape, search-and-rescue at sea and on land in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. Support was provided during heavy snow storms on the N3 between Harrismith and Villiers in the KwaZulu-Natal Province by recovering vehicles and providing assistance to stranded drivers and passengers, as well as the provision of water in the Brandfort area, Free State, after the municipality could not provide water to the community.

Flood relief assistance was also provided during the floods in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The SANDF also provided medical care to crew members of a Chinese ship Laiching in the vicinity of Tristan Da Cunha Island.

Other internal operations include Operation Rhino, aimed at combating rhino poaching in the Kruger Park, border safeguarding under Opration Corona and African Cup of Nations safeguarding during Operation Phefo.

Externally, the SANDF is currently deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Operation Mistral, Sudan on Operation Cordite and the Mozambique Channel on Operation Copper. Mgwebi said that the 121 SAI BN is deployed in the DRC north of Kivu Province with the responsibility of protecting civilians against armed groupings that harass local population. The battalion with strength of 1244 members took over from 2 SAI BN that left the mission area on 07 November 2012.

Mgwebi explained that the battalion in Kivu also has an engineering component, which is constructing roads in the area. It also has Oryx helicopters and cargo handlers available. He mentioned Bukavu would be used for flying in supplies due to the volatile conditions at the Goma Airport.
10 SAI BN is deployed in Sudan and it will be relieved by 21 SAI BN that is undergoing mobilisation.

The role of the SANDF in these UN and African Union missions is to keep peace, secure property and protect the local population Mgwebi said they are also tasked to ensure the safety of peacekeeping personnel and are expected to support government forces.