The South African Military Health Service (SAMHS) has acquired nearly 40 tents from Redeployable Camp Systems South Africa (RCSSA) in an effort to improve combat readiness and operational deployments.
The new tents were officially introduced into the SAMHS on 5 December during a ceremony at the Military Health Base Depot outside Pretoria.
SAMHS Corporate Communication explained that 39 tents were acquired, along with air conditioning units and other equipment. The tents are able to accommodate 278 people.
“The system was procured purely for the utilisation of SAMHS members during deployments, during exercises, during parades,” explained Lieutenant Colonel S Segone, SO1 Facilities, Military Health Support Formation (MHSF). “It’s been a struggle for the SAMHS members when they go for deployment or for parades; they will struggle with accommodation so the Surgeon General saw it fit that members need to be taken care of hence the SAMHS went and procured this system.”
She said the whole system consists of 39 tents: eight small tents, 28 medium tents, and three large tents. The small tent can accommodate either one or two people, the medium tent can accommodate six to eight members, and the big tent can accommodate between 11 and 12 members. The tents are equipped with beds, mattresses, chairs, tables, and air conditioning units.
Segone said that Redeployable Camp Systems SA at the beginning of December trained 26 SAMHS members on the deployment of the tents, including a team from 8 Medical Battalion, artisans from the Military Health Support Formation, artisans from 1 Military Hospital, and factotums. “We started by training those 26 members so that we are trained and well prepared so that we are able to pitch these tents ourselves without having to outsource or having to rely on RCS,” Segone said.
“Everything will be managed by our artisans from the SAMHS. The reason we included members from 8 Med is they have been utilising the Weatherhavens [Warrior tents] so these systems are an upgrade of the Weatherhavens [Warriors] we have bee utilising.”
The Canvas and Tent Group previously supplied Warrior tents to the SAMHS under Project Swatch. The latest tents were supplied through Canvas and Tent’s Redeployable Camp Systems SA division.
The Canvas and Tent Group, established in 1968, has supplied field accommodation to nearly 60 countries around the world, and counts 32 customers in Africa. It continues to expand its customer base, with recent orders coming from Southern African Development Community (SADC) militaries for regional deployments, amongst others.
All Canvas and Tent products are locally manufactured and designed in South Africa for tough African conditions. The company has supplied to 32 countries in Africa, including Angola, Somalia, Guinea, South Africa and others. It also supplied tents to the United Kingdom to meet its shelter requirements for Afghanistan and Iraq. Regionally, SADC members that use their military field accommodation include Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola and Malawi.
Redeployable Camp Systems SA has done multiple contracts for the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) over the years, such as supplying tents for Project Swatch for a new Transportable Camp System. This included small, medium and large accommodation tents. The company also supplied vehicle tents for daily parking and execution of vehicle maintenance and repair tasks. The products were packed in specially developed steel crates for ease of deployment. Project Swatch was concluded in December 2021.
For Project Teamster, Redeployable Camp Systems SA supplied tented mess facilities to the SANDF, with deliveries in 2021. RCSSA supplied eleven mess facilities for Project Teamster. The mess contract included mess halls, each accommodating 200 people, a containerised dishwashing unit, generator and support equipment.
In early 2022, Canvas and Tent concluded deliveries of over a hundred new tents to the SANDF for its Operation Corona border safeguarding initiative. The tents were the Warrior type, fondly known in the SANDF as ‘Weatherhaven tents’ that accommodate between eight and ten soldiers. The R35 million contract also entailed repairs to existing tented accommodation that had been in place in the border areas since 2008.
In December 2022 Redeployable Camp Systems SA received an SANDF contract for the refurbishment of 19 border post facilities, and this was completed on 27 February 2023.
