defenceWeb
Written by defenceWeb -
New SAAF Chief, Lieutenant General Wiseman Mbambo, seen here as a major general.
When he takes up the post of SA Air Force (SAAF) Chief on 1 June, Lieutenant General Wiseman Mbambo becomes the fifth commander of the airborne service of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) since its establishment on 27 April 1994.
In what is, in some circles, seen as a break with tradition Mbambo is the first CAF in the democratic era not to wear pilot’s wings.
His predecessors, all three-star generals, were James Kriel (November 1991 to April 1996), Willem Hechter (May 1996 to February 2000), Roelf Beukes (March 2000 to February 2005), Carlo Gagiano (March 2005 to September 2012) and Zakes Msimang (October 2012 to September 2020).