By Alex Mitchley.
@GeorgMeiring.
General Georg Meiring, the first chief of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) appointed by former statesman Nelson Mandela, has died.
In a statement issued by the South African Defence Force Association, the Meiring family confirmed that the retired general, aged 84, died on Tuesday afternoon.
“He passed on peacefully, in the company of his family, at 16:39 at his home in Pretoria,” the statement says.
Meiring was the last chief of the apartheid-era South African Defence Force and the first chief of the SANDF from 1994 to 1998, when he retired.
Meiring’s career in the army spanned over 30 years.
After obtaining a Master of Science in Physics from the University of the Free State, Meiring joined the army as a signals officer in 1962 and, in 1980, was appointed as the director of signals,
Between 1982 and 1983, he served as the army’s Deputy Chief. He became the chief of the army in 1990 and was then appointed as the last chief of the SADF from 1993 to 1994, when he became the Chief of the SANDF under the first democratically elected president, Mandela.
Military expert Helmoed Römer Heitman told News24 that Meiring was straight down the line solider and technocrat.
“He came into the defence force understanding the modern technology,” Heitman said.
SANDF integration
Heitman said Meiring also played a pivotal role in the integration of the SANDF in the 1990s, when the SADF, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), and the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA) were integrated into one defence force.
Heitman said South Africans owe a great deal of thanks to Meiring, along with former MK General Siphiwe Nyanda, former Minister of Defence Joe Modise and his deputy at the time Ronnie Kasrils and former SADF chief General Kat Liebenberg, for the successful integration of the SANDF.
“They were the five top guys, and if they didn’t make the right direction, it could have come unglued,” Heitman said.
He said they may not have all liked each other, but they had a goal and made it work. Heitman did, however, say that they respected each other.
Meiring report
Near the end of his career, Meiring was criticised for his handling of an intelligence report about a coup plot to overthrow Mandela.
At the time, the government said the plot did not exist.
The LA Times reported that Meiring did not admit wrongdoing but said he was stepping down because he was responsible for turning over “uncorroborated” evidence about the supposed plot to Mandela.
“The action that resulted from my giving the report caused certain . . . mistrust,” Meiring said in a statement. “I feel it is my duty to do the honourable thing.”
The report said that Mandela accepted the resignation with regret.
Nyanda succeeded Meiring as the Chief of the SANDF.
Meiring, a decorated soldier, is survived by his wife, Ännchen, his sons, Pieter, Wouter and Georg, daughters Mari Anna and Sanet, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.