Zondi

Identity

Person No.

33943

Old ROH no.

36066

Service No.

Unknown

Last Name

Zondi 20

First Name

Unknown

Initials

S W

Date of Birth

Unknown

Est. Birth Year

1987 (±1 yr) 21

Age at Death

20

Death Record

Date of Death

17 January 2007 131

Cause code

DOW 2,733

Died of wounds

Cause of Death

Died of injuries, motor vehicle accident 1

Injured when the SAMIL-20 he was travelling in overturned on a corner in wet weather during Ops Humane (monitoring the KwaZulu-Natal border to help contain the spread of swine flu). Most of those on the back of the vehicle were thrown out, some landing on rocks beside the road; Zondi was among them. He was taken to a local hospital, then transferred to Prince Msheni Hospital in Durban, where he died of his injuries a few days later.

Military Service

Branch

Army

Rank

Rifleman

Regiment

Durban Light Infantry 30

Later renamed 1st Infantry (Durban Light Infantry) (1912)

Corps

South African Infantry Corps 10,347

Unit

Unknown

Defence Force

SANDF 1,041

South African National Defence Force

Location

Country

South Africa 23,879

Locality

KwaZulu-Natal 1,589

Cemetery

SADF WALL OF REMEMBRANCE, VOORTREKKER MONUMENT, PRETORIA 1,926

Grave Reference

Alternative Commemoration until grave found 1,612

Memorial

South West Africa/Angola 1976-1989 and Deployments 1994-
Source: kznpr.co.za (KZN: A Photographic Historical Record)

Names on Border War / Deployments

Memorial

Durban Light Infantry Chapel (Chapel of St Michael & St George)

Location

Durban Light Infantry Headquarters, Durban

Address

5 DLI Avenue, Durban, South Africa

Coordinates

-29.84722, 31.01583 · OpenStreetMap

Panel

Border War / Deployments

On the panel

Position on the panel will be added with photographs

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

Mechanised Infantry

Status

Army Conventional Reserve

Part of

Infantry Formation (SAAIF) — Motorised Infantry — Reserve

Notes

No additional information known at this time

Research notes

Firsthand account from Rifleman Zondi's platoon commander, John Dovey (email 28 Aug 2026), who was present on Ops Humane -- confirms and adds detail to the vehicle-accident narrative already on file (SAMIL-20, other passengers thrown clear and injured on rocks).
John Dovey, 1 Sep 2026 (Durban Light Infantry Chapel memorial panel review): Regiment moved from Unit field (was incorrectly stored as this record's Unit) -- confirmed Durban Light Infantry, no Unit known.
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".
3 Oct 2026: CONFIRMED CONTAMINATION, CORRECTED. FirstName "Mondli Joseph" cleared -- it belongs to Zondi, Mondli Joseph (33941, Initials M J, two rows above), while this record's own Initials are "S W", a clear mismatch. Same forward-fill signature as the Eric B (35628 series), Masango/Masedi, and Twycross/Kamwanga/Haupindi fixes. Reported by John via the live site (person.php?PersonNumber=33943: initials and first names do not match).

Citations

Unknown

External References

South African War Graves Project open source ↗

Stories 2

by John Dovey on 30 August 2011 · via source

Rifleman Zondi was in the back of a Samil-20, having just been picked up with the rest of his section after doing twelve hours duty at one of the border posts with the Eastern Cape. He was involved in "OPS HUMANE" to prevent the spread of Swine-Flu. It was late in the afternoon and slightly misty. The driver of the Samil was going to fast and lost control of the vehicle while going around a corner. The vehicle left the road and hit a rock. It flew through the air, spewing soldier's out the back, and landed fifteen meters away. Three soldiers were badly injured, and the rest slightly injured to some extent. Rifleman Zondi unfortunately never recovered from his wounds and died in Prince Msheni hospital a few days later. At the morning parade held at Cedarville the morning after we heard the news, I made a speech to the assembled soldiers, where I promised them, amoung other things, that Zondi's name would go on our Roll of Honour (on the wall). I was very pleased when this was finally made a reality last year (2010) during the Regimental birthday celebrations at the memorial parade/service. A photo of the plaque is attached. RIP.

by John Dovey on 27 August 2026

I was Zondi's platoon commander, deployed on Ops Humane, where we were responsible for monitoring the KwaZulu-Natal border to help stop the spread of swine flu. Zondi had finished his duty at one of the border crossings and had been picked up by the duty driver in a SAMIL-20. On the way back to base, the SAMIL went around a corner too fast and went off the road. Most of the people on the back of the vehicle were thrown out and some landed on rocks next to the road. Zondi was one of them. He was taken to the local hospital, then transferred to a hospital in Durban, where a few days later he died of his injuries. RIP Zondi!

Dedications 1

by Primus In Africa Russell Pearce on 09 March 2012 · via source

I was honoured to have served with and known such a fine soldier .Rifleman Zondi's promising career in the military was sadly cut short , , At the time of his death I was his company quartermaster , having known him from his basic training with our regiment , his death was a blow not only to myself but to the whole regiment as a whole, he will be missed each day!

Zondi (S W)