The Douglas DC-3 Dakota, a twin-propeller aircraft, had taken off from Pretoria's Waterkloof Air Force Base on Wednesday night, said Brig. Gen. Xolani Mabanga, a military spokesman.
On Thursday morning, soldiers found the wreckage of the airplane in the
Drakensberg mountains near Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal province, some
340 kilometers (210 miles) southeast of the air base, Mabanga said.
Mthatha is about 30 kilometers (17 miles) north of Qunu, the village where Mandela now lives after retiring from public life. South Africa's military remains largely responsible for the former president's medical care. However, military officials declined to say whether those on board had any part in caring for Mandela.
In November, another South African military
flight crash landed at Mthatha, sending several people to the hospital
with injuries. However, at that time, the military denied that those on
board had anything to do with Mandela's care.
Mandela, 94, was imprisoned for
nearly three decades for his fight against apartheid before becoming the
nation's president in the country's first fully democratic vote in 1994
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