The chief of the South African Army, Lieutenant General Thabiso Mokhosi, passed away on Tuesday just over one month after he was promoted to the position.
His death was announced by the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa, who confirmed that he died at the Unitas Hospital in Pretoria on Tuesday following a short illness. Further details of his passing are yet to be publicly reported.
“Lieutenant-General Mokhosi was recently promoted to the chief of the South African army from November 1st 2019, which saw other senior leadership of the defense force [promoted] into new positions,” the office said in a statement.
Ramaphosa’s office also described the loss as “heart-wrenching.”
“The President has said the passing of Lieutenant General Mokhosi is a heart-wrenching loss to the South African National Defence Force as it comes at a time when his dedicated and exemplary service was needed most,” his office said in a statement.
“[He] has also extended his condolences to the South African Army and the Defence family as a whole,” his office added.
Thabiso completed the strategic leadership course at the SA Army Peace Mission Training Centre in Thaba Tshwane in 1999, before later completing Joint Senior Command and Staff program in 2003 at the SA War College. He was last year appointed to replace Lieutenant-General Lindile Yam following his retirement earlier this year.
The South African military, otherwise known as the South African National Defense Forces (SANDF), is made up of four separate forces: the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Health Services. The organization was founded in 1994 following the country’s’ first post-apartheid national elections and the writing of a new constitution, integrating Nelson Mandela’s Mhkonto we Sizwe guerrilla forces.
Its purpose is largely to maintain peace and order around South Africa, its principal domestic operations including Safeguarding the Border (Operation CORONA), disaster relief and assistance (Operation CHARIOT, Safety and security (Operation PROSPER), and leading the fight against illegal weapons, drug trafficking, prostitution rings and other illegal activities (Operation FIELA).
The state of the country’s army was the subject of a critical report by The Conversation this year, which argued that the country’s forces had failed to adequately respond to widespread gang violence as a result of being “severely overstretched in terms of both personnel and financial resources.”
“Despite their limited mandate, the army has just too few soldiers to patrol the ten suburbs [of Cape Town] that are home to over 1 million people,” wrote social anthropologist
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