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Van Tonder , Johan (J)

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Identity
Person No.
33609
Old ROH no.
1511
Service No.
80540933BG
Last Name
First Name
Johan
Initials
J
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Cause code
MVA 2,633
Motor vehicle accident
Cause of Death
Died in Military Vehicle Accident, approx 35km from Grootfontein on the Tsumeb road. He was part of a convoy that collected ammunition in Grootfontein and when his armoured car broke down, he was busy with repairs when a civilian vehicle struck him. He died later in hospital from his injuries
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Private
Regiment
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,832
South African Defence Force
Notes

Son of Mr. and Mrs. C. J. van Tonder

Research notes


14 Sep 2026: Pro Patria Medal added -- database-wide sweep for SADF Border War operational-area deaths within the medal's gazetted window (25 Jun 1976 - 27 Apr 2003), per the warrant's died-before-qualifying-period provision. See PersonAward.Citation for the gazette references.
14 Sep 2026: Pro Patria Medal added earlier today REVERTED -- John obtained the actual Government Gazette (GG 5171/5575); the "died before completing the qualifying period" provision relied on does not exist in the primary text (it was a secondary-source claim). Actual Rule 5 requires (a) combat/enemy-caused incident, (b) a Ministerially-acknowledged operation (clasp), or (c) 55+ continuous/90+ non-continuous days in an operational area -- none of which this record's cause of death clearly demonstrates.
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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