Dube

Identity

Person No.

30179

Old ROH no.

402

Service No.

80024094PE

Last Name

Dube 25

First Name

Unknown

Initials

M

Date of Birth

Unknown

Est. Birth Year

1958 (±1 yr) 437

Age at Death

35

Death Record

Date of Death

18 August 1993 116

Cause code

ACC 1,585

Accident

Cause of Death

Died in Freak Accident 255

Died in Freak Accident, as a result of the failure of the deployment of the main canopy during a freefall parachute jump. As a result of his death an automatic activator was installed on all sport parachutes

Military Service

Branch

Army

Rank

Sergeant

Regiment

5 Reconnaissance Regiment 72

Later renamed 5 Special Forces Regiment (1995)

Corps

South African Infantry Corps 10,343

Unit

Unknown

Secondary Unit

Army

Defence Force

SADF 3,821

South African Defence Force

Location

Country

South Africa 23,859

Locality

Limpopo 190

Cemetery

5 SFR CEMETERY, BA.PHALABORWA 8

Grave Reference

G2 1

Unit History

Role at time of death

Special Forces (reconnaissance)

Status

Regular Force

Each numbered Reconnaissance unit was renamed over time: "X Reconnaissance Commando" -> "X Reconnaissance Regiment" (1981) -> briefly a Parachute Battalion designation (1992/93, under "45 Parachute Brigade", a Special-Forces-only designation distinct from the real 44 Parachute Brigade) -> "X Special Forces Regiment" (1995). The parent formation itself changed name several times before 1995 (Special Forces Headquarters, then Directorate Reconnaissance(Forces)) with disputed exact dates between sources -- 1995 is the one date sources agree on. Corps classified as SAIC (South African Infantry Corps) per this site's own records; no independent source found confirms that for Special Forces units specifically -- treat as owner-asserted pending a better citation.

Notes

No additional information known at this time

Research notes

Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 18 Aug 2026: 80024094PE Sergeant M. Dube, 5 Reconnaissance Regiment, accidentally killed when his parachute failed to deploy on a training freefall jump, age 35. ROH is Jabulani Thulanokwazi Dube (initials M) — first names left. DateDeath was 1993-01-01 (year placeholder) — set to 1993-08-18. Age 21 → 35 (1980-prefix PE). Unit was 121 SAI — corrected to 5 Recce. Freefall canopy-failure cause already matched.
SASFA In Memoriam (operators killed in training): confirmed operator; died in training (SASFA: Operators killed in Training). SASFA: Dube M 1993. https://www.recce.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/4.1.-Memoriam.pdf
5 Sep 2026, FirstName-contamination revisit (folding into the 31 Aug 2026 scan): Graham du Toit's own 18 Aug 2026 citation already names him "M. Dube" -- initial only, matching stored Initials "M" exactly; that citation left the first names "as ROH" pending confirmation, which this is. Cleared rather than guessed -- correct first name still unknown.
Mike Sandham's research log ("List 1"), imported 16 Sep 2026, credited to The South Africa War Graves Project unless his entry says otherwise: dates of death differ -- Mike 1993-01-01 this record 1993-08-18. A gap of a few days commonly separates wounding from death, or a burial date from a death date. Flagged, not changed.

Citations

Unknown

External References

Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 18 Aug 2026: 80024094PE Sergeant M. Dube from 5 Reconnaissance Regiment was accidentally killed when his parachute failed to deploy while carrying out a training freefall parachute jump. He was 35. ROH first names Jabulani Thulanokwazi left.
South African War Graves Project open source ↗
The War in Angola open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), pages 114-116 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Unit veterans association open source ↗
SASFA In Memoriam: Dube M 1993 — confirmed operator; died in training (SASFA: Operators killed in Training)

Stories

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Dedications

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Dube (M)