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Matwa , Marthinus Jacobus (W L)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
31716
Service No.
Unknown
Last Name
Matwa 1
First Name
Marthinus Jacobus
Initials
W L
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1974 (±1 yr) 208
Age at Death
20
Death Record
Date of Death
17 April 1994 181
Cause code
Unknown
Cause of Death
Died in Ops Jumbo 1
Died in Ops Jumbo
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Lance Corporal
Regiment
61 Mechanised Battalion Group 23
Corps
South African Infantry Corps 10,347
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,830
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,873
Locality
Gauteng 9,374
Cemetery
SADF WALL OF REMEMBRANCE, VOORTREKKER MONUMENT, PRETORIA 1,926
Grave Reference
Alternative Commemoration until grave found 1,612
Memorial
Memorial
SADF Wall of Remembrance
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Voortrekker Monument, Eeufees Road, Groenkloof, Pretoria, 0181, South Africa
Coordinates
-25.77639, 28.17583 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
Not listed against a numbered panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Unit History
Attached To
32 Battalion
Role at time of death
Mechanised Infantry (combined-arms battalion group)
Status
Regular Force
Part of
South African Defence Force (1957–1994) — I South African Corps (1 SA Corps) — Battlegroups
Formed 1978 as Battle Group Juliet (SWAPO counter-insurgency, Ovamboland); formally named 61 Mechanised Battalion (Group) January 1979; disbanded 2005 at Lohatla. "Battalion Group" reflects its integral combined-arms structure: two Ratel-20-mounted infantry companies, an armoured car/tank squadron (Eland/Ratel-90, later Olifant), an integral G5 howitzer artillery battery, an 81mm mortar platoon, an anti-tank platoon, and an anti-aircraft troop -- not merely units attached for one operation. Fought at the Battle of the Lomba River, 1987. No evidence found that it was ever subordinated to or redesignated as a "61 Mechanised Brigade" -- see the note on that separate OrgEntity record.
Notes

No additional information known at this time

Research notes

SN CORRECTION 25 Aug 2026 (year-prefix method): ServiceNo 78976131HX cleared -- per the documented SA force-number convention (data/SA_SERVICE_NUMBER_NOTES.md), the prefix '78' implies registration circa 1978 (usually age 16), i.e. birth circa 1962. This record's own Age/DateDeath implies birth circa 1974, a mismatch; PersonNumber 31715 (Matunda, implied birth circa 1960) fits instead. Original value: "78976131HX".
Mike Sandham's research log ("List 1"), imported 16 Sep 2026, credited to The South Africa War Graves Project unless his entry says otherwise: gives Age 22 against this record's 20. This record has no date of birth, so there is nothing to adjudicate with. Flagged, not changed.

Citations
Unknown
External References
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