South Africa and Mozambique defence have launched investigations after a fatal shootout between local soldiers and Mozambican border police.

It occurred in the northern part of Kwazulu-Natal on Sunday afternoon. Two of Mozambique’s border police were shot dead.

The soldiers were on routine border patrol when the shooting occurred. A joint investigation is now under way to find the cause of the incident.

SANDF Brigadier General Mafi Mgobozi says, “On Monday the chief of the defence force sent a team to KZN, Indumo area, to investigate the reason for the shooting. I can confirm that the team also confirmed that there was a shooting incident which our soldiers were involved in. Because of the nature of the incident, it was decided that a high level delegation must be dispatched to Mozambique as soon as possible to meet and interact with our counterpart in Mozambique to further investigate.”

The two members who have been killed are thought to be Mozambique’s border police.

“Us South Africa and Mozambique we have a good relationship, even at the lower level. At the present moment I want to say that it’s not going to cause hostility between the countries. We both understand that it’s one of those unfortunate incidents that happened and surprised everyone,” says Mgobozi.

The Defence Force has sent a team to the border area to get more information.

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