Hawks receive board of inquiry report on Kommetjie submarine tragedy, family still in the dark

Romero Hector, the widower of Lieutenant Commander Gillian Malouw-Hector, executive officer on the SAS ’Manthatisi, who, with two colleagues, Master Warrant Officer William Mathipa (48) and Warrant Officer Class 1 Mmokwapa Mojela (43) was killed in the accident off Kommetjie, Cape Town, in September 2023, said on Wednesday that while he welcomed the handing over to the Hawks of the report by the board of inquiry into the accident, he still did not have a copy.

Hector said the fact that the report had been given to the Hawks did not mean that he would get to see it. He said he would continue his pursuit of a copy to take the next steps in a civil claim relating to the death of his wife.

Read more: ‘She was exceptional’ – mentor remembers Lieutenant Commander Gillian Malouw-Hector, first woman in Africa to navigate a submarine

Last month, he undertook a gruelling bike ride from Cape Town to the Valley of Desolation outside Graaff-Reinet to bring attention to his efforts to obtain justice for his wife, Mojela and Mathipa.

Navy-Hawks meeting

Navy spokesperson Commander Theo Mabina confirmed that the board of inquiry report into the tragedy was officially handed to the Hawks during a meeting at Naval Headquarters in Pretoria on Tuesday, 8 July.

“The engagements were meant to assist the Hawks with their ongoing investigations into the tragic incident wherein the SA Navy lost three of its submariners following a vertical transfer exercise between [the submarine] SAS ’Manthatisi and a SA Air Force Maritime Lynx helicopter in September 2023.”

Mabina said Chief of the SA Navy Vice Admiral Monde Lobese subsequently convened a board of inquiry into the incident.

“This meeting and engagement with the Hawks underscores the Navy’s commitment to transparency, cooperation and accountability, as the Chief of the SA Navy has always maintained that the organisation will, within the confines of the laws and regulations, communicate the outcomes of the board whenever the need arises,” Mabina said.

Read more: Questions remain a year after disaster claimed lives of three SA Navy submariners

Brian Plaatjies, a former military judge now representing Hector, confirmed they had not been handed a copy of the report.

Legal attempts

He said he had written to the office of the navy chief, but had encountered several obstacles, “even after the recommendations were made public”. 

He said that while they had not been refused access to the report, the navy had required many steps for them to gain access to a copy.

Plaatjies said that after he threatened legal action, the navy reopened the board of inquiry – one day before his deadline – citing the emergence of “additional facts”.

Plaatjies said they had also applied for a copy of the document in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act. The report was then sent to Defence Intelligence for declassification and masking, then to Defence Legal Services for its recommendation and finally to the chief of the South African Defence Force for his recommendation. 

“So have all these processes now been done? I seriously doubt it,” he said. 

He said that it was about time Hector received closure on how his wife died.

Handover welcomed

Chris Hattingh, Democratic Alliance spokesperson for Defence and Military Veterans, said he too had been trying to get a copy of the report, but welcomed the handover to the Hawks.

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

“The handover of the Kommetjie investigation report to the Hawks is long overdue, but it is an essential first step toward justice. For months, secrecy has smothered this tragedy, fuelling suspicion and outrage.

“Choosing to push ahead with a high-risk vertical transfer exercise, despite clear weather warnings and a blatant disregard for critical safety protocols, was more than reckless. It was a decision that cost lives. The evidence now confirms what many feared: catastrophic failures in planning, risk management, and operational oversight directly led to the deaths of Lieutenant-Commander Gillian Hector and her two colleagues.

“But these were not isolated mistakes; they are the predictable consequence of a defence force stripped bare by years of financial neglect, collapsing capabilities and absent leadership. This is what happens when critical skills are lost, equipment is left to rot and operational safety becomes an afterthought.

“That the Hawks see possible grounds for culpable homicide charges underscores the gravity of the failings on that day.

“Justice delayed is justice denied. The families of the fallen deserve closure. South Africans deserve answers. If negligence is proven, those responsible must be held fully accountable, swiftly and without compromise.

“The lives lost at Kommetjie must not become just another footnote in the SANDF’s growing list of avoidable tragedies. We will push relentlessly for the full truth around Kommetjie to be made public, and for those responsible to face the consequences of their actions or inaction,” Hattingh said. The Hawks have not responded to a request for comment. DM