Retired general Georg Meiring, the first chief of the then nascent SA National Defence Force (SANDF) formed in 1994, died on Tuesday (3 September) at his home in Pretoria.
Meiring was in November 1993 named Chief and was in overall command of the South African military machine, then largely grappling with integration.
The eighty-five-year-old was born in Ladybrand in what was then the Orange Free State, in 1939. After obtaining his MSc in physics from the then University of the Orange Free State (now the University of the Free State) Meiring signed up for the SA Army in 1963 as a signaller. In 1980 he was named Director of the then Signal Corps (now the SA Army Signal Formation).
Meiring served as SA Army Deputy Chief between 1982 and 1983 and as General Officer Commanding (GOC) South-west Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) from 1983 to 1987. He was later appointed GOC Far North Command, before a second stint as Army Deputy Chief followed by Chief of the SA Army from 1990 to 1993 before taking office as the last Chief of the then South African Defence Force (SADF) from 1993. He then took command of the then fledgling SANDF on 1 November 1993, serving until 1998 when he resigned in the wake of unconfirmed reports of a couple to unseat President Nelson Mandela.
His honours and medals include SSA (Star of South Africa), SD (Southern Cross Decoration), SM (Southern Cross Medal) and MMM (Military Merit Medal).
A statement issued by the SADF Association (SADFA) on behalf of the Meiring family has it “Jimmy” was highly respected by both retired and serving SANDF officers, NCOs and other ranks. He was “well respected” in his community and church.
The Meiring family understand and appreciate the widespread interest and sympathy for the passing of husband, father, brother and grandfather and wish to bid him farewell in a dignified manner. Funeral and memorial service arrangements will be made known in due course, the Association said.
Meiring is survived by his wife Ännchen, sons Pieter, Wouter and Georg; daughters Mari, Anna and Sanet and grand and great grandchildren.
“He is an inseparable part of the rainbow history of South Africa,” said Kobus Marais, Member of Parliament (Ret) and ex-Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister for Defence and Military Veterans. “He was also a patron of the SADFA and displayed much empathy for the plight of all military veterans regardless of whether they came from the statutory or non-statutory forces.”
The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Angelina Motshekga, the Deputy
Minister of Defence and Military Vetarans, Maj Gen (ret) Bantu Holomisa, the Deputy
Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Richard Hlophe, the Acting Secretary for
Defence, Dr Thobekile Gamede, the Chief of the South African National Defence Force,
General Rudzani Maphwanya and the entire Military Command extended their condolences to the Meiring family, friends and loved ones on his passing.
