Vice Admiral Refiloe Mudimu is a former South African military commander, who served as the Chief of the Navy before his retirement in 2014.

Early life

Johannes Mudimu was born on 6 March 1954, in

Sophiatown Sophiatown , also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid, It produced some of South Africa's most famous writers, musicians, politicians a ...

. He became a member of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

and Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK) in 1975.

Early career

Mudimu received his military training in

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East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

and the then

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. He successfully completed the commander's course in 1977. He then served as an instructor in MK camps until 1979 when he was deployed as Chief of Logistics in Luanda, Angola.Vice Admiral Refiloe Johannes Mudimu , South African History Online
/ref> Mudimu later served in ANC Headquarters in Lusaka,

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

as the co-ordinator of the ANC Youth Radio Programs as well as a member of the editorial board of the Youth Publications. Early in 1985, he was deployed in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

as the ordnance operative. Later, Mudimu was deployed as a commander of the underground units in the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

and Northern Transvaal Provinces. He returned to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in 1991 after the unbanning of the ANC. In 1992, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Personnel and Training and served in the MK High Command until the integration of the forces to form the South African National Defence Force in 1994. After the integration of the forces, he was appointed to General

Siphiwe Nyanda General Siphiwe Nyanda (born 1950) is a former South African military commander and politician. He was a member of Umkhonto We Sizwe and served as Chief of the South African National Defence Force from 1998 to 2005, Minister of Communication ...

’s office as MK Chief of Staff Personnel and Training. Later he was appointed Director, Integration of the Non Statutory Forces (NSF's).

Navy career

Mudimu was integrated into the South African Navy in 1998 from MK as a rear admiral (junior grade). Later, he was appointed as the Inspector General (Navy). That same year, he successfully completed the Navy Senior Command and Staff Course as well as the Senior Management Programme at the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

. On 1 April 1999, Mudimu was transferred to Simon's Town where he was appointed Chief of Fleet Staff until 30 September 2000. On 1 October 2000, he was promoted to the rank of rear admiral and appointed as Chief Director Maritime Support, a post later changed to Chief of Naval Staff. He has completed all military courses prescribed for senior officers including the Joint Staff Course 41/99. In 2005, Mudimu was appointed Chief of the South African Navy and promoted to vice admiral. Vice Admiral Mudimu retired on 31 March 2014.

Armscor

On 20 March 2014 it was announced that Vice Admiral Mudimu was due to become the next Chairman of Armscor. He resigned from Armscor in 2018 due to ill health.

Awards and decorations

On 19 April 2012, Johannes Mudimu received an Honorary Doctorate from Durban University of Technology. His list of Military awards includes: * * * * * * * * * * * * * Order of Naval Merit - Grand Officer (Brazil) - ribbon bar

Order of Naval Merit - Grand Officer (Brazil) - ribbon bar

Grand Officer Order of Naval Merit (Brazil) * Medalha do Mérito Tamandaré

* *

''Officier''

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(France)

References