The new man heading up the Reserve Force Council (RFC) in South Africa is retired Major General Gordon Yekelo, a former General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) Training Command.
As a senior officer at the centre of training, a priority aspect of any military, one of his first calls was to the SA Army where he paid respects to another officer with training writ large on his CV, Lieutenant General Lawrence Mbatha. The three-star heads the largest service in the SANDF – the SA Army – which has at its disposal the largest component of the Reserve Force – the Army Reserve.
Captain Jacques de Vries reports for the Reserve Force it was an opportunity to catch up on old times and more importantly for Yekelo to introduce himself as RFC chair.
The former two-star heads the RFC, a consultative and advisory body representing the Reserve Force, integral to the SANDF “one force” concept. At its core is promoting and maintaining the Reserve Force as an integral part of the SANDF. Additionally, the RFC has to be consulted on legislation, policy and administrative measures affecting uniformed part-time personnel.
Yekelo is reported as seeing the RFC role as “advisory in nature, as an advocate and promoter of the Reserves at home and abroad through international reserve representative bodies fostering empowerment and integration of Reserve Force members”. This he said was done in co-operation and collaboration with the SANDF Defence Reserve Division, responsible for directing the development and maintenance of the Reserve Force service system by way of strategic direction and specialist advice on Reserve Force policy matters and to promote/market the Reserves and the volunteer Reserve Force service system as well as contribute to government’s developmental agenda, as set out in the National Development Plan 2030.
Ahead of being number one in the SANDF Training Command, Yekelo was, among others, Director Physical Training Sports and Recreation; Director Doctrine Development at Joint Operations Division, and Senior Staff Officer at Joint Operations Division. He served as Commandant of the SA National Defence College from 2014 to 2015 and while there spearheaded the transition from the Executive National Security Programme (ENSP) to the Security and Defence Studies Programme (SDSP).
