The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) on Tuesday night said it would send a “high-level team” to Mozambique to probe a shooting incident in which two officers from the Mozambique border police were shot dead.

In a statement, SANDF spokesman, Brigadier General Mafi Mgobozi said a delegation had been dispatched to the scene of the shooting at Ndumo in KwaZulu-Natal to investigate the shooting.

“The delegation has since returned and submitted a preliminary report to C SANDF [chief of the SANDF], following which a high-level team will be dispatched to Mozambique to interact with the authorities in that country with the intention to further investigate the matter,” SANDF spokesman, Brigadier General Mafi Mgobozi said in a statement.

Shootout with SANDF leaves two Mozambican police officers dead

On Monday, the SANDF confirmed the shooting had happened on the border while officers were doing routine patrols on Sunday afternoon but said details were still sketchy.

It did not confirm any South African casualties, but Mozambican authorities said two of their police officers were killed.

Cause of the shooting still a mystery

In Tuesday night’s statement, the SANDF said the two countries had cordial relations and that border security was a priority both countries shared.

It did not specify the cause of the shooting, but said: “The huge task to keep our country’s borders secure is a task we execute in concert with fellow Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries and both the local and Mozambican authorities are working hand in glove to seal the SADC borders against the illicit trafficking of drugs, weapons and contraband.”

African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Devereaux Morkel

(Source: The South African)