MK Botswana Machinery Unit Compromised
On the morning of 13 January 1979, an Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Botswana Machinery Unit of seven combatants were waiting in the bush on their route to Ga-Rankuwa, after being infiltrated on Friday night, 12 January 1979, near the village of Sikwane in Botswana, which is close to Derdepoort, a small town in South Africa. The unit decided to rest under trees in dense bushes as they could not walk for a long distance because the terrain in front of them was sparsely populated with vegetation. The intention was to wait until darkness had descended, which would make it easy for them to proceed with their journey.
While they were waiting, one of the cadres, Thabo Makgage, who was operating the Unit’s Light Machine Gun (LMG), asked to be allowed to relieve himself as he had a “runny” tummy. He then left the LMG with the Commander of the Unit, Authi Muzorewa, who had been injured in August the previous year, with Barney Molokoane, during a confrontation with the apartheid security forces in Witkleigat. Muzorewa was appointed as the Commander in the absence of Barney.
The current group was an initiative of the Botswana Machinery to resume infiltrations into the country, and they selected a Unit of seven MK cadres that were taken from Lobatse in a Toyota light delivery vehicle. Six of them were armed with AK-47 assault rifles, one LMG, and each of them had four defensive and two offensive hand grenades, TNT explosive blocks, and a tin
