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Tchipango , Waite (W)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
33223
Old ROH no.
1400
Service No.
76928621SP
Last Name
Tchipango 1
First Name
Waite
Initials
W
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1960 (±1 yr) 418
Age at Death
27
Death Record
Date of Death
13 September 1987 120
Cause code
ACC 1,586
Accident
Cause of Death
Due to tactical circumstances 3
Due to tactical circumstances, the troop got stuck in the mud of a shona near the Lomba River during a tank fight, and the Ratel 90 was destroyed at point blank by a T55 tank. The commander, 2Lt Alves, his crew as well as 32 Bn members were killed instantly. The tank round penetrated the Ratel through the side door, detonated in the main ammunition storage container and resulted in an explosion causing the vehicle to catch fire. (Operation Modular)
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Lance Corporal
Regiment
32 (Buffalo) Battalion 275
Later renamed 32 Battalion
Corps
South African Infantry Corps 10,347
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,856
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Namibia 768
Locality
Caprivi 225
Cemetery
KIMBO CEMETERY, BUFFALO 177
Grave Reference
NEW SEC 161 1
Memorial
32 Battalion Tree of Honour roll, transcribed by Derek Walker Source: graves-at-eggsa.org (site now inactive), via Mike Sandham, 28 Aug 2026
Names on Tree of Honour
Memorial
32 Battalion Tree of Honour
Location
Within the Voortrekker Monument heritage precinct, Pretoria
Address
Voortrekker Monument, Eeufees Road, Groenkloof, Pretoria, 0181, South Africa
Coordinates
-25.77639, 28.17583 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
Tree of Honour
On the panel
No. 128
Memorial
Memorial
Battle of Cuito Cuanavale Virtual Memorial
Location
Cuito Cuanavale, Cuando Cubango province, Angola
Coordinates
-15.163, 19.173 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
Moduler
On the panel
Operation Moduler
Operation
Operation
Moduler
Dates
1987-08-01 to 1987-11-15
About
Operation launched to support UNITA against a major FAPLA offensive aimed at capturing UNITA's stronghold of Mavinga. Culminated in the Battle of the Lomba River (September-October 1987), where SADF mechanised and artillery forces, fighting alongside UNITA, halted and largely destroyed FAPLA's 47 Brigade attempting to cross the river — the action in which several ROH records on this site (Alves, De Klerk, Kuyler, McCallum, Mananza, Tchipango and others) were killed when their Ratel 90 was destroyed at point-blank range by a T-55 tank.
Awards
Pro Patria Medal
Pro Patria Medal
South Africa
Pro Patria Medal warrant, Government Gazette No. 5171 (25 Jun 1976), Rule 5, as amended by GG No. 5575 (3 Jun 1977); discontinued by GG No. 25213 (25 Jul 2003, Schedule corrected by GG No. 26778, 17 Sep 2004) for service on/after 27 Apr 2003. Gazette extracts: https://rohsa.co.za/award.php?id=24
Notes

ref "Die Buffel Struikel" by LJ Bothma

Research notes


Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 13 Sep 2026 / Bushwar Books Lest We Forget 13 September (https://www.warbooks.co.za/posts/lest-we-forget-13-september/ 76928621SP Lance Corporal Waite Tchipango, 32 Battalion, same Ratel 90 incident, age 27/31 — Graham gives age 31, Bushwar 27 (already stored 27). CONFLICT flagged, not changed: Graham age 31 vs stored/Bushwar Age 27.
25 Sep 2026, Unit2 service-branch sweep: the stored Secondary Unit "Army" was CLEARED as a duplicate. It was not a sub-unit, it was a service-branch word repeating what the Branch column already says. Secondary Unit is for sub-units -- a company, a squadron, a commando -- and this record's branch of service is unchanged at "Army".

Citations
Unknown
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