The Distinguished Gallantry Cross was instituted by the State President of the Republic of Bophuthatswana in 1982, for award to all ranks for hair-raising deeds of distinguished heroism.Republic of Bophuthatswana Constitution Act, 1977
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(Accessed 30 April 2015)

The Bophuthatswana Defence Force

The Bophuthatswana Defence Force (BDF) was established upon that country's independence on 6 December 1977. The Republic of Bophuthatswana ceased to exist on 27 April 1994 and the Bophuthatswana Defence Force was amalgamated with six other military forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).Warrant of the President of the Republic of South Africa for the Institution of the "UNITAS MEDAL-UNITAS-MEDALJE", Gazette no. 16087 dated 25 November 1994.

Institution

The Distinguished Gallantry Cross was instituted by the State President of Bophuthatswana in 1982. It is the senior award of a set of two decorations for bravery, along with the Distinguished Gallantry Medal. Bophuthatswana's military decorations and medals were modelled on those of the Republic of South Africa and these two decorations are the approximate equivalents of, respectively, the

Louw Wepener Decoration The Louw Wepener Decoration, post-nominal letters LWD, is a military decoration for bravery which was instituted by the Union of South Africa in 1952. It was awarded to members of the South African Defence Force for acts of the most conspicuous ...

and Louw Wepener Medal.

Award criteria

The decoration could be awarded to all ranks for hair-raising deeds of distinguished heroism. Only one DGC was ever awarded, to General Jack Turner, for his heroic action and who was shot in the ankle, while overpowering and disarming a rebel guard, saving President

Lucas Mangope Kgosi Lucas Manyane Mangope (27 December 1923 – 18 January 2018) was the leader of the Bantustan (homeland) of Bophuthatswana. The territory he ruled over was distributed between the Orange Free State – what is now Free State – and North W ...

's life and other captured officials from being executed during the attempted coup, on 10 February 1988.

Order of wear

Since the Distinguished Gallantry Cross was authorised for wear by one of the statutory forces which came to be 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 ...

on 27 April 1994, it was accorded a position in the official South African order of precedence on that date.Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477, no. 27376, Pretoria, 11 March 2005, Republic of South Africa Government Gazette no. 15093, Pretoria, 3 September 1993 ;Bophuthatswana Defence Force until 26 April 1994: Ribbon - Order of the Leopard, Military Division

Ribbon - Order of the Leopard, Military Division

*Official BDF order of precedence: ** Preceded by the Order of the Leopard, Military Division, Commander. ** Succeeded by the

Defence Force Merit Decoration The Defence Force Merit Decoration was instituted by the State President of the Republic of Bophuthatswana in 1982, for award to officers for distinguished service of high quality and utmost devotion to duty. *Bophuthatswana official national order of precedence: ** Preceded by the Order of the Leopard, Military Division, Commander. ** Succeeded by the Decoration for Valour in the Prisons Service. ;South African National Defence Force from 27 April 1994: Ribbon - Louw Wepener Decoration

*Official SANDF order of precedence: ** Preceded by the

(LWD) of the Republic of South Africa. ** Succeeded by the Gallantry Cross, Gold (GCG) of the

Republic of Venda Venda () was a Bantustan in northern South Africa, which is fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of the ...

. *Official national order of precedence: ** Preceded by the National Force Gallantry Cross, Gold (PCF) of the Republic of Venda. ** Succeeded by the King's Cross for Bravery of the KwaZulu Homeland. The position of the Distinguished Gallantry Cross in the official order of precedence was revised twice after 1994, to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, but it remained unchanged on both occasions. These occurred in April 1996, when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted for the two former non-statutory forces, the

Azanian People's Liberation Army The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), formerly known as Poqo, was the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress, an African nationalist movement in South Africa. In the Xhosa language, the word 'Poqo' means 'pure'. After attacks on ...

and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and upon the institution of a new set of honours on 27 April 2003.

Description

;Obverse The Distinguished Gallantry Cross is a silver-gilt cross, 38 millimetres in diameter, with dark green enamelled arms and a double-bladed axe head between each pair of arms. In the centre is a leopard head on a red enameled roundel. The suspender is attached to the cross by another double-bladed axe head symbol. ;Reverse The reverse displays the Coat of Arms of the Republic of Bophuthatswana. ;Ribbon The ribbon is 32 millimetres wide and dark red.

Discontinuation

Conferment of the Distinguished Gallantry Cross was discontinued when the Republic of Bophuthatswana ceased to exist on 27 April 1994.

References

{{South African military decorations and medals Military decorations and medals of Bophuthatswana Awards established in 1982 Awards disestablished in 1994 1982 establishments in Africa 1994 disestablishments in Africa