43 South African Brigade is a formation of the South African Army. It was established on 2 April 1997 at Wallmannsthal, Gauteng as 43 Mechanised Brigade and then changed to 43 South African Brigade in 1999. Administratively, the headquarters answers to the Chief of the Army. Operationally and for force training, the formation takes instructions from the Joint Operations Division.[2] Units and subunits are attached as required for the task at hand. When not required, those units remain part of their respective type formations.
| 43 SA Brigade | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 2 April 1997–present |
| Country |  South Africa |
| Branch | South African Army |
| Role | To provide a combat ready Brigade Headquarters for the employment by CSANDF as required.[1] |
| Part of | Chief of Army (administrative) HQ SANDF (operational) |
| Motto(s) | Combat Power |
| Colors | Green and Black |
| Insignia | |
| Emblem | Mechanised Infantry Fist |
History
editThe history of the brigade dates back to the late 1990s when HQ 43 Mechanised Brigade HQ provided the Headquarters of the Combined SADC Task Force and commanded the intervention stage of Operation Boleas in Lesotho in September 1998.
In 2009 43 SA Brigade provided the Military Component Force HQ for the SADC Standby Force during Exercise GOLFINHO.[3]
Mandate
editIts mandate is: "To provide combat-ready land forces for the pursuance of national defence and the prevention of war, failing which, to jointly and preferably multinationally, swiftly and decisively achieve national security goals and collaboratively promoting peace and stability internally and externally in concurrence with international obligations to contribute to the development and upliftment of South Africa, its people and the African continent."
Insignia
editDress Insignia
edit
Leadership
edit| From | 43 South African Brigade | To |
| 1997 | Col Robbie Hartslief | 1998 |
| 1998 | Brig Vusi Sindane | 2001 |
| 2002 | Brig Gen Dumisani Mdtutyana | 2005 |
| c. 2005 | Brig Gen Lawrence Smith[4] | 2014 |
| 2015 | Brig Gen Xolani Mankayi[5] | Incumbent |
References
edit- ^ "43 Brigade: About Us".
- ^ Engelbrecht, Leon (2007). A guide to the SANDF - unpublished manuscript. Johannesburg.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "43 SA Brigade 15 Year Span". Dod.mil.za. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
- ^ Helfrich, Kim (8 January 2015). "Senior SANDF promotions". defenceweb.co.za. DefenceWeb. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
- ^ Wicomb, Garnett (25 February 2015). "SANDF officers in court". The New Age. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.