Johannes Geldenhuys

Johannes Geldenhuys

Johannes Jacobus Geldenhuys , also Jannie Geldenhuys (born February 5, 1935 Farm Dansfontein in the district of Kroonstad , Orange Free State ; † September 10, 2018 in George , Western Cape ) was a South African officer. From 1985 to 1990 he was Commander in Chief of the South African Defense Force .

Life

Geldenhuys grew up in a family under difficult economic circumstances. His father was a political supporter of the Smuts government. His mother was from Bethlehem and was active in the African Party. The different views of the parents and in the family environment made clear to him the positions of the “Smuts people” and those of the “ Nats ” at an early stage . With the outbreak of World War II , his father took up military service in the Union Defense Force . The repeated relocations of his father made him a camp follower in his childhood years and consequently involved changing schools several times. For a short time the family lived in Ladysmith and Frankfort . His father ended up working in theaters of war in Egypt and the Middle East. Shortly after his return, he died in South Africa.

For the last years of school he attended the Hoërskool Voortrekker in Bethlehem ( OVS ), which he graduated with the Matric in 1952 . During his youth he was an enthusiastic rugby player and wanted to become a sports journalist. After the first year at the military high school in Voortrekkerhoogte , however, his career aspirations changed and he embarked on a military career in the standing army. Consequently, Geldenhuys became an officer cadet in the South African Army in February 1954 and began studying at the University of Pretoria . He graduated with a bachelor's degree in mil. In 1956.

He began his military service with the rank of second lieutenant in the One Special Service Battalion in Bloemfontein . In various service positions, Geldenhuys completed some training and finally a course for staff officers. He learned at the South African Military College , which later moved to Oudtshoorn and was renamed the South African Army Infantry School . Three training courses took place abroad. Around 1961, Geldenhuys led the guard unit at Jan Smuts Airport .

In 1965 Geldenhuys took on a job at the South African consulate in Angola . There he spent five years of service and acquired a very good knowledge of Portuguese , which he was finally able to speak fluently. When he left Angola, he was awarded the Portuguese Order of Prince Henry in 1972 .

Following his stay Angola Geldenhuys was after 1970 South West Africa / Namibia as Senior Officer Operations in SWA Command of the SADF to the site Windhoek drafted. In October he was promoted to brigadier . For the period from 1974 to 1975 he headed the department of the military intelligence service ( Chief of Staff, Intelligence ). Geldenhuys was then involved as chief of staff in Grootfontein in Operation Savannah (1975-76), which consisted of military operations in the border war with Angola. By the time Operation Savannah ended in February 1976, he had been promoted to Director of Operations at the Army and promoted to Major-General .

In July 1977 Geldenhuys was given supreme command of the South African troops in South West Africa by taking on the role of Commanding Officer of the South West Africa Command of the South African Defense Force . This gave him a leading influence on the planning and execution of major foreign missions in the neighboring country. This included Operation Reindeer in May 1978. This military action had a major impact on the formation of the South West African Territory Force, which was officially founded in 1980 .

In September 1978 Geldenhuys returned to the SADF headquarters in Pretoria , where he was promoted to Chief of the Army and Lieutenant-General in 1980 . When he took up service as Chief of the Army , he made it clear that he understood this function only as a military and not a political task.

“I said, no, no, no, MK is our enemy. ANC is the minister, the politicians enemy, not ours. "

“I said no, no, no, the MK is our enemy. The ANC is the minister's enemy, the politician's enemy, not ours. "

- Johannes Geldenhuys : Interview April 10, 2008 ( PDF document p. 40 )

Geldenhuys recommended his excellent skills in the course of diplomatic missions and in other negotiations during the deployment in South West Africa / Namibia for international tasks in the negotiations between South Africa and the United Nations on possible solutions for the future independent Namibia. In this context he negotiated with the head of the UNTAG units . He later participated in the negotiations on the Lusaka Protocol , which helped end the Angolan civil war . The Joint Monitoring Commission was established under his leadership in 1984 .

In 1985 Geldenhuys took over as the successor to Constand Viljoen, the high command of the South African Defense Force ( Chief SADF ). This included ex officio participation in the State Security Council , the power center of President Pieter Willem Botha .

During the negotiations between South Africa and representatives of Cuba , Angola, the United States and the Soviet Union regarding the withdrawal of troops from Angola, Geldenhuys was involved in key discussions aimed at finding a solution for Angola and Namibia. As a result of these talks there were elections in Namibia and the withdrawal of South African and Cuban troops from these conflict regions.

When unrest broke out in South Africa in 1988, the government deployed soldiers from the South African armed forces domestically. According to a statement by Geldenhuys to an army women's association in June 1988, between 5,000 and 8,000 soldiers were active in the townships.

When more information about the previously kept secret SADF unit CCB became public in February 1990, he testified about its formation.

Geldenhuys resigned from his post as head of SADF and retired in October 1990.

In 2001, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) denied Geldenhuys amnesty for his involvement in the 1986 attempt at release of Charles Sebe , head of the Ciskei Central Intelligence Service (CCIS), from a Ciskei detention center . The TRC also interrogated him for murder Fabian Defu Ribeiro and his wife Florence Ribeiro on December 1, 1986 through state agents. Geldenhuys denied that he was commissioned for this act.

Private

Johannes Geldenhuys was married to Marie Martins. The marriage had four children, two daughters and two sons.

In his spare time he wrote two short stories for children and collected works by the humorous writer George Mikes of Hungarian origin .

Works (selection)

• A general's story. from an era of war and peace . Ball, Johannesburg 1995, ISBN 1-86842-020-5
• What happened. feite en fabels van die bosoorlog . Litera Publikasies, Stellenbosch 2007, ISBN 978-1-920188-30-6
• South Afrika is fantastik: everyone's guide how not to be politically incorrect: who cares for Jimmy, Tarentaal and Gnu ?: the miracle is over . Protea Boekhuis, Pretoria-Clydesdale, 2007 ISBN 978-1-86919-152-8
• At the front: A general's account of South Africa's border war . Ball, Johannesburg 2009 (2nd edition of the title from 1995), ISBN 978-1-86842-331-6
• (Red.) We Were There. Winning the war for Southern Africa . Kraal Publishers, Centurion 2012, ISBN 978-0-9814009-8-3

literature

• Shelagh Gastrow: Who's Who in South African Politics . Ravan Press, Johannesburg 1987, pp. 97-98, ISBN 0869753363
• Shelagh Gastrow: Who's Who in South African Politics . Ravan Press, Johannesburg 1990, p. 126, ISBN 0869753991

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Mike Cadman: Missing Voices Project: Interview General Jannie Geldenhuys . Interview on April 10, 2008, online at www.historicalpapers.wits.ac.za (English)
2. ^ SAIRR : Race Relations Survey 1987/88 . Johannesburg 1988 p. 521
3. ^ South African History Online: Former Chief of the South African Defense Force (SADF), General Jannie Geldenhuys is born in Kroonstad . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Constand Viljoen	Commander of the South African Defense Force 1985 to 1990	Andreas Liebenberg