BULAWAYO – An army recruit died after drowning during training in April, army chief Lieutenant General Emmanuel Matatu revealed on Friday as he oversaw a pass-out parade at Imbizo Barracks in Bulawayo.
Four-hundred-and-eighty-nine cadets made the grade out of the 500 that started the training.
“Within this 500 we had 129 females who started the course. Passing out today we have 489 recruits comprising 363 males and 126 females. Eleven recruits could not make it to today and regrettably one very promising recruit sadly passed away on the 6th of April in a drowning incident which we are investigating up to now. Ten failed to meet the requirements of the course and had to be removed,” Matatu said.
Matatu provided no further information on the drowning incident.
The rigorous eight-month training started in September last year. The new army chief was appointed in March this year.
General Matatu said the 36-week training for the cadets covers the use of infantry weapons, field craft, minor tactics, foot and arms drills, map reading, voice procedure, conventional war, military law and civil relations.
“The 36 weeks that are spent here are very challenging both physically and mentally and here we grow the men out of the boys that we start off with, we get women out of the girls that enrol on our recruit course,” he said.
The army chief warned that indiscipline will not be tolerated in the army.
“The army is a disciplined force and we do not tolerate cases of indiscipline. There will be no leniency on members who break the law and commit offences. If you involve yourself in cases of indiscipline you will face the full wrath of the law as spelt out in the defence act,” he warned.
“I want you to be vigilant and alive to the dangers of some mischievous social media platforms where disinformation and misinformation aimed at subverting the general populace ad members of the ZNA ,we have also become a target,” he warned.
