South Africa: Headquarters 43 South African Brigade has been commissioned by the Chief of the South African Army to conduct and facilitate Exercise MADULO in the form of Jungle Warfare orientation training over a period of 16 February 2023 to 21 March 2023 at Thohoyandou, Entabeni Training Area.
The “Don’t tell me to show me Brigade” in conjunction with Generals Officer Commanding various South African Army Formations such as the: South African Army Infantry, Support, Artillery, Air Defence Artillery, Engineers, Intelligence and Signals, just to mention a few, together with the involvement of other entities of Services and Divisions were mandated to Direct, Command and Control the Exercise in order to prepare 4 South African Infantry Battalion (Task Force Charlie) and Quick Reaction Force (QRF) respectively with the objective of realizing the lasting Peace and Stability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and our immediate neighbouring County such as Mozambique.
The main purpose of this training is to validate the Operational Concepts, Procedures and Combat Readiness of Task Force Charlie and the Quick Reaction Force.
The Second in Command of Headquarters 43 SA Brigade, Colonel V.C. Mlondobozi, who was appointed as the Exercise Director, welcomed all the forces on the ground and declared the Exercise opened on behalf of General Officer Commanding Headquarters 43 SA Brigade, Brigadier General M.A. Mantshiyane.
He further encouraged the members to cooperate with the instructors during the training as they will be taking the members to prepare them for the tough task that lay ahead and to impart the skills and knowledge in mastering the application of tactics, techniques and procedures for Integrated Jungle Warfare.
After the training, the forces will be handed over to the Chief of Joint Operations for Mission Readiness Training deployment. This Jungle Warfare Training orientation is used to cover the special techniques needed for the soldiers to survive and fight in the jungle terrain.
The Entabeni training area has a variety of positive attributes to the training, with its dense vegetation similar to that of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, providing ample advantages for camouflage and concealment and plenty of material which can be used to build fortifications.
The training includes inter alia protection of civilians, Civil-Military cooperation, Fighting in Build-Up Areas (FIBUA), River and Swamp crossing, and all other training objectives which were not achieved during Exercise VUKUHLOME that was conducted at the Combat Training Centre in November 2022, with the main focus on External Operations in Northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Province and the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.