A South African Defence Forces abnormal truck has crashed into an arrestor bed on the N3 just before Mariannhill toll plaza on Thursday afternoon.
Video footage shared on social media shows one army truck stuck on the arrestor bed. Smoke can be seen coming from its wheels suggesting the brakes were not effective.
At the tollgate which is a few metres ahead, two other army trucks can be seen also showing smoke coming from the wheels.
This slope is well known for giving truck drivers a hard time if their vehicle’s brakes are not efficient or if they fail to pick the right gear to descend.
The SANDF trucks are belived to be heading to Richards Bay for this year’s Armed Forces Day commemorations.
Watch: Watch as trucker crash tests a ‘runaway truck’ in dramatic arrestor bed test
According to Defenceweb, over 8 000 troops will be involved in what is also being used as a large-scale force deployment exercise.
Brigadier General Andries Mahapa, Director Defence Corporate Communication, said this while briefing the media aboard the frigate SAS Mendi in Richard’s Bay on Tuesday.
The South African Navy is organising this year’s event, which is centred around Richard’s Bay and the uMhlathuze municipality (the other cities considered for Armed Forces Day 2023 were East London and Saldanha).
Armed Forces Day started out a decade ago with the purpose of bringing the SANDF to the people, and has grown since the first edition was held in Atteridgeville when a single company’s worth of soldiers took part.
Now, a brigade size force is involved this year, with over 8 000 personnel deployed along with four Navy ships, dozens of aircraft, and hundreds of vehicles.
“The SANDF purports to, among other things, honour serving members and pay tribute to soldiers who paid the ultimate price and lost their lives in the line of duty, such as Corporal Tebogo Edwin Radebe, killed in Mozambique while serving with SAMIM, and more recently, Flight Sergeant Vusi Mabena, who was killed by a sniper’s bullet in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” said General Mahapa.
Watch: SANDF truck shoots through arrestor bed on N3 at Mariannhill https://t.co/L6znENbuM5 pic.twitter.com/Tec0CCV4gv
— SA Trucker (@rsa_trucker) February 16, 2023
