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Nidishishi , Paulus Shongela (P M)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
32268
Service No.
Unknown
Last Name
Nidishishi 1
First Name
Paulus Shongela
Initials
P M
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1986 (±1 yr) 31
Age at Death
27
Death Record
Date of Death
30 March 2013 135
Cause code
AA 1,737
Aircraft accident
Cause of Death
Died in a helicopter accident 5
Died in a helicopter accident. Augusta A109 crashed after takeoff in the Kruger Park during anti-poaching operations (Op Rhino)
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Sergeant
Regiment
5 Special Forces Regiment 20
Formerly 5 Reconnaissance Regiment (1995)
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
Army
Defence Force
SANDF 1,021
South African National Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,859
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
Role at time of death
Special Forces (Reconnaissance)
Status
Permanent Force (Regular)
Part of
Special Forces Brigade
5 Special Forces Regiment operates as one of the standing/permanent operational regiments of South African Special Forces, established from the same 1972 lineage as 1 Reconnaissance Commando. Special Forces are their own branch within the SANDF, not part of the Army.
Notes

No additional information known at this time

Research notes

SASFA In Memoriam (operators): confirmed Special Forces operator. SASFA: Ndishishi PSM DOI 2013. https://www.recce.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/4.1.-Memoriam.pdf SASFA Ndishishi PSM DOI 2013 — PSM read as initials (Paulus Shongela), not a medal. ROH LastName Nidishishi left. Same A109 crash as PN 30825. 26 Aug 2026: Unit was leftover "97 Ammunition Depot". SAWGP Regiment 5 Special Forces Regiment with no separate unit.
16 Sep 2026, ServiceNo contamination sweep: the stored ServiceNo '553363' was CLEARED. It was not a reading of this man's record. PersonNumbers 32267 to 32268 -- 2 consecutive records -- all carried the identical number, which belongs to the record at the head of that run (32267, Nicoll, Andrew Mark Vere (A M V)). A value repeated down an unbroken block of PersonNumbers is a forward-fill import artefact, not men who shared a service number; the pattern holds across 850 such runs on this roll and is independently confirmed by Mike Sandham's research log, which attaches such numbers to the head of the run 167 times against 6 contradictions (all examined). No replacement is guessed: this man's real service number is simply not known, and a blank field says so honestly where another man's number did not.

Citations
Unknown
External References
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