Identity
Person No.
33736
Old ROH no.
1602
Service No.
80481062BG
Last Name
First Name
Gavin
Initials
G
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
MVA 2,660
Motor vehicle accident
Cause of Death
Died in Military Vehicle Accident, Samil truck he was travelling in collided with civilian vehicle, near Phalaborwa
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Unit History
Notes
Son of Mr. and Mrs. T. J. K. Viljoen
Research notes
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
External References
-
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 13 Aug 2026.
-
SADF.info Border Roll of Honour
open source ↗
SADF.info Border RoH
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), pages 98-99 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 2
Gavin Viljoen was killed when the Samil truck transporting himself and other soldiers collided with a civilian vehicle near their base, 7 SAI Phalaborwa. Gavin was the only casualty. Although his parents tried their best the find out the truth, they were never told the exact circumstances of his death. They were not allowed to see his body. To this day the event is surrounded by mystery and rumours.
Have just come across this site and details. I was also involved in that accident. Luckily only sustained minor scrape and bumbs. I still remember this night. Accident was due to civilian vehicle that drove into the oncoming samil. We also only heard Gavin had been critically injured. A young life lost.
Dedications 1
Gavin will be remembered as being a friendly, popular, intelligent, great guy. He will be missed by his family and friends. Like many other young guys, his death should never have happened and was totally unwanted and unneccessary .