DA calls for immediate release of Navy report into 2023 Kommetjie submarine disaster

Daily Maverick

2 days ago

The DA's Chris Hattingh has called for the immediate declassification and public release of the SA Navy's investigation into the disaster in 2023 that claimed the lives of three submariners.
Chris Hattingh, the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) defence spokesperson, has called on the SA National Defence Force and Defence Minister Angie Motshekga to immediately release an internal report into the disaster near Kommetjie in the Western Cape in which three submariners died.
One of them was Lieutenant Commander Gillian Malouw-Hector (33), who grew up in Schauderville, Nelson Mandela Bay, and trained with the Sea Cadets in Humewood.
She was the commanding officer of the SAS 'Manthatisi, which was conducting a naval exercise near Kommetjie in September 2023 when large waves swept the crew overboard. Five were saved, but three — Malouw-Hector, Master Warrant Officer William Mathipa (48) and Warrant Officer Class 1 Mmokwapa Mojela (43) — died.
The submariners were conducting a vertical transfer using an SA Air Force Maritime Lynx helicopter when they were swept overboard.
On Tuesday, Hattingh said he did not understand the reasons for keeping the report, which was finalised in 2023, secret.
'The purpose of sailing the ship was to go to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront for a Heritage Day open day,' he said. 'It was not a military operation. They only conducted a training exercise en route.'
The findings of a board of inquiry into the incident were made public. The inquiry concluded that the submariners died in an accident caused by freak waves and that they had followed all protocols. It also found that they had performed a similar exercise in worse weather conditions.
Malouw-Hector was the first female submarine navigator in Africa.
At the time, the Navy said her death 'is a huge loss for the South African Navy, the entire Department of Defence and the country as a whole. [She] was the first female to qualify in her position in the submarine, [and] she was also on the verge of becoming the first female commanding officer… It took years of training for her to get here.'
But now her family, friends and community might never know what happened on that fateful day.
Censored
Hattingh said the Navy's report had been 'censored by Defence Intelligence' and was being 'withheld from the victims' families, their legal representatives, and even the Hawks.
'This obstruction of justice by the Navy and the Department of Defence must end,' he said.
'Despite clear weather warnings, the exercise proceeded, ignoring critical safety protocols. Evidence now shows that serious failures in planning and operational oversight directly contributed to the fatal outcome.'
The Navy has not responded yet to Daily Maverick's request for comment, but its written response to Hattingh indicates that a myriad of further 'processes must be followed' to get the report released, and its release can be refused at any stage.
The Navy told Hattingh, 'The Department of Defence would like to inform you that the requested records have been scrutinised/declassified and masked by the Defence Intelligence Division. However, the following Departmental process has to be followed before the requested records can be released or refused.
'The records have been referred to the Defence Legal Services Division (DLSD) for a legal recommendation. Thereafter, the records will be referred to the Chief of the South African National Defence Force for a recommendation with regards to the release or refusal of the requested records.
'Then the records will be submitted to the office of the Secretary for Defence for a final decision to release or refuse.'
Hattingh said all his attempts to obtain the full report had been met with 'bureaucratic resistance and legal evasion. Even a direct appeal to Minister Angie Motshekga has failed to secure its release.'
He has called on Parliament to establish an inquiry into the SANDF's 'ongoing practice of withholding vital information and failing to safeguard its own personnel'. DM