Andreas Jacobus Liebenberg

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Andreas Jacobus Liebenberg , also Kat Liebenberg (born April 18, 1938 in Upington , † May 23, 1998 in Pretoria ) was a South African officer and commander in chief of the South African Defense Force .

Life

Liebenberg spent his school days in his birthplace, where he finally matriculated . He did his military service in 1955 in the army and in July 1960 became an officer candidate at the SA Military College .

In March 1961 he earned a Bachelor of Laws from Stellenbosch University . He then joined the South African Army as an officer. His long service career began as a platoon leader in the 4 Field Regiment of Artillery . Then Liebenberg moved to the Army headquarters, where he served as a captain as an officer in the General Staff Service in the Director Infantry area between 1964 and 1968 .

For a short time he served in London in 1969 as a military attaché with the rank of commandant and returned to South Africa in 1972. After another assignment at the Army Gymnasium , a training facility for the South African Army, and a few years at Army Headquarters, most recently as Director Infantry , Colonel Liebenberg went to South West Africa , now Namibia, in December 1977 , where he was based in Oshakati , as Officer Commanding 2 Military Area (later sector 10 ) in Owambo , which commanded the South African military units stationed here. This post was considered to be one of the most delicate command posts for South African troop officers. Here and in neighboring Angola , during the course of the Namibian liberation struggle , under his command there were repeated heavy skirmishes with SWAPO and other military units supporting them.

Location of sector 10 in Namibia

In January 1980 he took over the post of Director of Operations at the headquarters of the South African Army , with the rank of brigadier , and thus the management of the Army Operations Center ( AS-3 Operations ).

In 1982, at the age of 42, Andreas Liebenberg was promoted to General Officer Commanding of the Special Forces of the SAA Armed Forces and to the rank of Major General .

In November 1985 Liebenberg rose as Lieutenant-General to Chief of the Army and took over the leadership of the South African Land Forces ( South African Army ). The military confrontation of South Africa in the Angolan Civil War with combat units from Angola, Cuba, the ANC and the SWAPO in the battle for Cuito Cuanavale and the subsequent withdrawal of all South African troops from South Angola also fell during this term of office .

According to the former head of Military Intelligence (DMI), Christoffel Pierre van der Westhuizen , in the course of a hearing in 1999, was in 1986 the secret operation Cats to form a controlled by the Supreme Command of the SADF in Pretoria military intervention force Xhosa Resistance Movement lead, with aiming to destabilize and overthrow the governments of Ciskei and Transkei . The name of the operation is a suitcase word made up of "Kat (Liebenberg)" and "(Westhui) zen". Preparations began in June 1986 and were abandoned before the end of 1987. The plan was intended to prevent the opposition movements ANC and UDF from establishing stable operational structures in the two homelands .

On March 1, 1990, he took over the leadership of the SADF General Staff and was promoted to the rank of General on November 1, succeeding Jannie Geldenhuys , as Chief of the South African Armed Forces ( Chief of the SADF ).

During the transition from apartheid to democracy, Liebenberg participated in the Sub-Council on Defense of the Transitional Executive Council , a government body that existed from December 1993 to April 1994 to ensure the peaceful transition of power. He advised the incumbent government in the last months before the democratic election of 1994. Essentially, this committee dealt with the integration of the various military forces on both sides of the negotiation into the new South African National Defense Force .

justification

After the political upheaval of 1994 Liebenberg took the view that the SADF was neither used for nor against apartheid because it was apolitical. It served as an instrument for the state and the army does the same for today's government. In his opinion, it was the first institution to say goodbye to so-called petty apartheid . After 1994 Liebenberg acknowledged his full responsibility for all actions that resulted from his orders, but did not claim an amnesty for himself . Nonetheless, he believed that reconciliation would have a meaningful effect. In retrospect, in a statement published online, Liebenberg assessed the SADF's contribution to the state as very comprehensive and named the relevant priorities:

Personal

During his military career, Andreas Liebenberg avoided public appearances. For this reason, little information was available about him even during his service in high military top positions. In the circle of the commanders in chief of all South African armed forces he was considered the "unknown man".

Andreas Liebenberg was married to Helena Johanna Liebenberg until his death. The marriage resulted in a son and two daughters. He died at the age of 60 years at a cancer .

literature

  • Shelagh Gastrow: Who's Who in South African Politics . Ravan Press, Johannesburg 1990, p. 126, ISBN 0869753991

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d University of the Witwatersrand. Historical Papers Research Archive: The SADF. A survey . Supplement to Financial Mail, July 10, 1987, pp. 25–26 (PDF document pp. 6–7), online at www.historicalpapers.wits.ac.za (English)
  2. ^ University of the Witwatersrand. Historical Papers Research Archive: The SADF. A Survey: Our largest organization . Supplement to Financial Mail, July 10, 1987, p. 18 (PDF document p. 3), online at www.historicalpapers.wits.ac.za (English)
  3. ^ Ronnie Kasrils : Turning point at Cuito Cuanavale ( Memento of May 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). Article from March 23, 2008 on www.iol.co.za (English)
  4. ^ South African Press Association: Intelligence Cief speaks out on Operation Cats . East London April 6, 1999, at www.justice.gov.za (English)
  5. ↑ TRC special report: Operation cats . at www.sabctrc.saha.org.za (English)
  6. ↑ Farhana Paruk: The Transitional Executive Council (TEC) as transitional institution to manage and prevent conflict in South Africa (1994) . UNISA, master thesis, 2008, online at www.uir.unisa.ac.za (English)
  7. ^ Kat Liebenberg: The Excellence of The South African Defense Force with special reference to my tours of duty as Head of The South African Defense Force, Head of The South African Army and Officer Commanding Special Forces . online at www.rhodesia.nl (English)
  8. ^ South African History Online: Gen. Kat Liebenberg (60), ex-chief of the SA defense force, dies of cancer in Pretoria . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
predecessor Office successor
Johannes Geldenhuys Commander of the South African Defense Force
1990-1993 		Georg Lodewyk Meiring
personal data
SURNAME Liebenberg, Andreas Jacobus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Liebenberg, cat
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African commander
DATE OF BIRTH April 18, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Upington
DATE OF DEATH May 23, 1998
Place of death Pretoria