List of South African military chiefs
No Chief of the SADF Took office Left office Time in office Defence branch Ref
1 Melville , Stephen General Stephen Melville SSA , OBE ( 1904-1977 ) 1 November 1958 31 December 1960 2 years , 60 days South African Air Force -
2 Grobbelaar , Pieter General Pieter Grobbelaar SSA , DSO ( 1908-1988 ) 1 January 1961 31 December 1965 4 years , 364 days South African Army -
3 Hiemstra , Rudolph General Rudolph Hiemstra SSA , SM ( 1912-2007 ) 1 January 1966 31 March 1972 6 years , 90 days South African Air Force -
4 Biermann , Hugo Admiral Hugo Biermann SSA , SD , OBE , GCIH ( 1916-2012 ) 1 April 1972 31 August 1976 4 years , 152 days South African Navy -
5 Malan , Magnus General Magnus Malan SSA , OMSG , SD , SM ( 1930-2011 ) 1 September 1976 6 October 1980 4 years , 35 days South African Army -
6 Viljoen , Constand General Constand Viljoen SSA , SD , SOE , SM , MMM , ORB ( 1933-2020 ) 7 October 1980 30 October 1985 5 years , 23 days South African Army
7 Geldenhuys , Johannes General Johannes Geldenhuys SSAS , SD , SOE , SM , GCIH , ORB ( 1935-2018 ) 1 November 1985 31 October 1990 4 years , 364 days South African Army -
8 Liebenberg , Andreas General Andreas Liebenberg SSAS , SD , SOE , SM , MMM ( 1938-1998 ) 1 November 1990 31 October 1993 2 years , 364 days South African Army -
9 Meiring , Georg General Georg Meiring SSAS , SD , SM , MMM , ORB ( born 1939 ) 1 November 1993 30 April 1994 180 days South African Army -
Head of the Defence Force -- Chief of the SADF
The UDF was renamed 'South African Defence Force ' in November 1958 . [ 4 ] The Commandant General 's title was then changed to 'Commandant General SADF ' . It was changed to 'Chief of the SADF ' in July 1973 , after Admiral Hugo Biermann assumed the post the year before . After South Africa 's first democratic election , the South African Defence Force ( SADF ) became the South African National Defence Force ( SANDF ) .
This article lists the South African military chiefs. From 1958 until the first post-apartheid general election in 1994, the present-day South African National Defence Force was known as the South African Defence Force. From 1912 to 1958, the military was known as the Union Defence Force. In terms of section 202(1) of the Constitution of South Africa, the military command of the Defence Force consists of the Chief of the Defence Force plus the Chiefs of the combat arms (Army, Air Force and Navy) as well as