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Mavango , Mxolisi (M)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
48613
Service No.
Unknown
Last Name
Mavango 3
First Name
Mxolisi
Initials
M
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1975 (±1 yr) 200
Age at Death
27
Death Record
Date of Death
21 August 2002 115
Cause code
ACC 1,586
Accident
Cause of Death
Died of burns 17
Died in hospital from smoke inhalation and burns sustained on 13 August 2002 during a veld fire at the Police Special Task Force Verdrag anti-terrorist training area. 5 Special Forces Regiment and the Special Task Force were conducting a joint final training exercise to deploy operationally for the World Summit on Sustainable Development
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Corporal
Regiment
5 Special Forces Regiment 20
Formerly 5 Reconnaissance Regiment (1995)
Corps
South African Infantry Corps 10,347
Unit
5 Reconnaissance Regiment 9
Later renamed 5 Special Forces Regiment (1995)
Defence Force
SANDF 1,029
South African National Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,872
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
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
Unknown
Research notes

Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 21 Aug 2026: Corporal M. Mavango, 5 Reconnaissance Regiment, died in hospital from smoke inhalation and burns sustained 13 August 2002 during a veld fire at the Police Special Task Force Verdrag anti-terrorist training area (joint 5 SFR / STF exercise for the World Summit on Sustainable Development), age 27. Initials M left; first name not invented. Graham gave no service number. Same Verdrag/Ellisras veld fire as Makumbane PN 31524, Nkwanyana PN 32296 (13 Aug), Mathebula PN 31681 (15 Aug), Vavarirai PN 33667 (22 Aug), Zulu PN 33950 (23 Aug). New ROH record (not on SAWGP at research time). Not the 32 Battalion Fernando Mavango PN 31723.
Mike Sandham 21 Aug 2026 omissions: Corporal M Mavango, 5 Reconnaissance Regiment, died of injuries (smoke inhalation and burns) from the 13 Aug 2002 Verdrag veld fire, age 27. ╠ Mavangu Mxolisi KIO 2002 ╣ SASFA In Memoriam PDF https://www.recce.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/4.1.-Memoriam.pdf (memoriam page itself was down for upgrade). SASFA lists Mavangu Mxolisi with Makumbane Nthatheni, Mathebula Benneth, Nkwanyana Bongani, Vavarirai EV, Zulu Shadrack — all KIO 2002; same incident cluster as Mike asked (Makumbane PN 31524 and Nkwanyana PN 32296 13 Aug, Mathebula PN 31681 15 Aug, Vavarirai PN 33667 22 Aug, Zulu PN 33950 23 Aug). FirstName set to Mxolisi from SASFA; LastName Mavango left (Graham/SAWGP). SAWGP details.php?id=31723 is this 5 Recce death (verified 2025-03-11); ROH PersonNumber 31723 is Rifleman Fernando Mavango, 32 Battalion — not merged, SAWGP id collision. SASFA recce.co.za/memoriam/ HTML was unavailable (site upgrade).
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
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