Lieutenant General Lawrence Mbatha is the current Chief of the South African Army. He was appointed to this position in April 2020, before being appointed Chief of the Army he was the General Officer Commanding of the South african National Defence Force training command and before that he was the 19th Commandant of the
South African Military Academy
The South African Military Academy is based on similar principles to that of the military academy system of the United States (United States Military Academy United States Naval Academy United States Air Force Academy). The academy is a military ...
.
Military career
He joined
Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1984 and completed courses in Angola and Zimbabwe.
He became part of the
South African National Defence Force
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) comprises the armed forces of South Africa. The commander of the SANDF is appointed by the President of South Africa from one of the armed services. They are in turn accountable to the Minister ...
in 1994 when all the forces were integrated.
In 2003 he served as Officer Commanding of the Army Support Base in Johannesburg, followed by an appointment as Personal Staff Officer to the Chief of the Army (2007) before serving as Officer Commanding of the
South African Army Gymnasium in 2011. He became Commandant of the
South African Military Academy
The South African Military Academy is based on similar principles to that of the military academy system of the United States (United States Military Academy United States Naval Academy United States Air Force Academy). The academy is a military ...
in 2012-2018.
References
Living people
South African Army generals
Year of birth missing (living people)
Graduates of the Joint Services Command and Staff College
UMkhonto we Sizwe personnel
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