Major-General ‘Mannetjies’ MJ De Goede – leader with faith in the forces

After the unexpected and sudden death of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) Army Chief Lieutenant-General Thabiso Mokhosi in December, the mantle of acting chief was passed to one of SA’s most experienced soldiers, Major-General “Mannetjies” MJ De Goede.

After serving in the armed forces for the past 40 years, De Goede was looking forward to putting his feet up in June next year and watching the next batch of SA’s finest come through the ranks.

“I’m very positive. There is a good breed of soldiers currently in the military.

“There’s a good breed coming through under the recruitment drive.

“There’s good leadership following behind us,” he said.

“We will still be able to hold our own in the United Nations. However, there should be an expansion of Operation Corona on our borders.

“The previous group 7 South African Infantry Battalion [SAI], which was in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has now been replaced by my old unit and the officer commanding is a lady.

“They [7 SAI] had weekly firefights. Nobody was injured and they held themselves well,” De Goede said. “The UN currently regards 7 SAI as one of the top fighters and 2 SAI as well has been in many firefights.

“They are holding their own and doing well.”

Corona is the border protection operation “executed by the Joint Operations Division of the SANDF”, according to Defenceweb. “There are currently – and will be for the foreseeable future – 15 mainly infantry companies doing the hard slog on foot and its modified 4X4 vehicles with assistance from mounted soldiers and dogs along parts of the border with Zimbabwe and Botswana.”

De Goede told The Citizen last week, at a media briefing on the pending Armed Forces Day on 21 February in Polokwane, Limpopo, that he joined the military as a national conscript in 1980.

“I did my basics at 1 Parachute Battalion in Bloemfontein, wanting to finish my two years.

“In my second year my then general officer commanding [GOC], the late Lieutenant-Colonel Archie Moore, called me in and asked if I didn’t want to become a permanent force member.”

De Goede said he agreed reluctantly and was sent to the then South African Military Academy in Saldhana, Western Cape, where he completed a junior leader’s course which saw him being promoted to second lieutenant and the first pip on his young shoulders.

Obviously, Moore saw something in De Goede and sent him back to the college at the end of 1982 for a three-year Bachelor’s degree in Military Science.

After returning to his unit, De Goode said he spent time with 32 Battalion until its disbandment in 1993.

The disbandment was the result of negotiations between the former National Party and the ANC, and its members were transferred to parachute and mechanised battalions, as well as the South African Special Forces Brigade, colloquially known as the Recces (Directorate Reconnaissance).

At the same time as that disbandment, 2 SAI at Pomfret, North West province, was reactivated. De Goede was promoted to lieutenant -colonel and made GOC of 2 SAI.

He lived in Zeerust for the next three years.

“After I was promoted to full colonel, I went to 43 SA Brigade at Wallmannsthal, Gauteng as the SSO Operations, after which I was promoted to chief of staff at 43 Brigade,” De Goede said. “Then in ’93 I was promoted to brigadier-general at the infantry formation at headquarters in Pretoria as director of force preparation for four years.”

After that stint, he was then promoted to deputy chief of army at army headquarters.

“I’ve seen all the changes. From the old SADF to the SANDF, I saw the whole transformation,” De Goede said.

Running a military machine in peacetime is always problematic as the nation’s needs overtake the need for military might, noted De Goede.

“We have a very tight budget, and its diminishing every year.

“It’s becoming critical. We are able to meet all our external and internal commitments, but it’s getting tight now.

“If we take another budget cut, which is apparently imminent, as previous chief of the army Lieutenant-General Lindile Yam indicated, then we are really in trouble.”

– amandaw@citizen.co.za

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