Marais, Stephanus

Identity

Person No.

31601

Old ROH no.

892

Service No.

70264544R

Last Name

Marais 87

First Name

Stephanus

Initials

S

Date of Birth

Unknown

Est. Birth Year

1955 (±1 yr) 397

Age at Death

19

Death Record

Date of Death

29 August 1974 100

Cause code

DROW 1,203

Drowned

Cause of Death

Drowned 1,085

Drowned in Mossel Bay

Military Service

Branch

Army

Rank

Lance Corporal

Regiment

1 Reconnaissance Commando 15

Later renamed 1 Reconnaissance Regiment (1996)

Corps

South African Infantry Corps 10,347

Unit

Unknown

Defence Force

SADF 3,832

South African Defence Force

Location

Country

South Africa 23,874

Locality

Gauteng 9,374

Cemetery

SPRINGS (GEDULD) CEMETERY 20

Grave Reference

Alternative Commemoration until grave found 11

Unit History

Role at time of death

Special Forces (Reconnaissance)

Status

Permanent Force (Regular), some sub-units Citizen Force

The first South African Special Forces unit, established at Oudtshoorn, Cape Province, 1 October 1972. Special Forces operate as their own branch within the SANDF (not part of the Army/Navy). Some Reconnaissance Commandos had Citizen Force (reserve) components alongside the standing Permanent Force structure -- needs further research to determine which applies to a specific record/era.

Notes

No additional information known at this time

Research notes

SASFA In Memoriam (operators killed in training): confirmed operator; died in training (SASFA: Operators killed in Training). SASFA: Marais Fanie 1974. https://www.recce.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/4.1.-Memoriam.pdf 26 Aug 2026: Unit was leftover "2 Squadron"; Regiment was "1 Reconnaissance Regiment". SAWGP Regiment 1 Reconnaissance Commando with no separate unit.
Col (rt) Graham du Toit, Last Post, 29 Aug 2026: L/Cpl S. Marais, 1 Reconnaissance Commando, drowned in a diving accident in Mossel Bay Harbour during a training exercise (body recovered next day), age 19. Matches ROH record.
25 Sep 2026, Unit2 service-branch sweep: the stored Secondary Unit "Navy" was CLEARED. It was not a sub-unit, it was a service-branch word, and it CONTRADICTED this record's own Branch, "Army". Across the roll 787 records carried such a contradiction; judged against Corps and Regiment -- independent of both columns -- the evidence backed Branch 744 times and Unit2 not once. Branch is therefore kept and the contradicting word removed. Nothing is guessed: this man's branch of service is already recorded, and his sub-unit, if any, is simply not known.

Citations

Unknown

External References

SADF.info Border Roll of Honour open source ↗
SADF.info Border RoH
South African War Graves Project open source ↗
The War in Angola open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), page 16 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Unit veterans association open source ↗
SASFA In Memoriam: Marais Fanie 1974 — confirmed operator; died in training (SASFA: Operators killed in Training)

Stories

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Dedications

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Marais , Stephanus (S)