General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Andreas "Kat" Liebenberg, (18 April 1938 – 23 May 1998) was a South African military commander. He served as General Officer Commanding

South African Special Forces The South African Special Forces Brigade, colloquially known as the Recces, is South Africa's principal special operations unit, specialising in various types of operations including; counter-insurgency, long-range-reconnaissance, unconventio ...

(1982–85), Chief of the Army (1985–90) and Chief of the South African Defence Force (1990–93).

Military career

Liebenberg joined the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

in 1955 and, after obtaining a BA Law degree at the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

, was commissioned in 1961. Liebenberg was posted to London as a military attache in 1969. In 1972, he returned from London to become second in command of the Army Gymnasium. Two years later he was back at Army Headquarters as a Staff Officer before becoming Director Infantry and, in December 1977, as a colonel, Officer Commanding 2 Military Area (later called Sector 10) at

Oshakati Oshakati is a town in northern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Oshana Region and one of Namibia's largest places. Oshakati was founded in July 1966 and proclaimed a town in 1992. The town was used as a base of operations by the S ...

. He stayed there till January 1980, when he became Director of Operations at Army Headquarters in the rank of brigadier. Liebenberg served as General Officer Commanding

from 1982 to 1985, as Chief of the Army from 1985 to 1990, as Chief of Defence Force Staff for a few months in 1990, and then as Chief of the South African Defence Force from 1990 to 1993.Fact file: Chiefs of the SANDF,past and present , DefenceWeb
/ref> He was a member of the defence committee of the

Transitional Executive Council The Transitional Executive Council (TEC) was a multiparty body in South Africa that was established by law to facilitate the transition to democracy, in the lead-up to the country's first non-racial election in April 1994. As part of the multi ...

which supervised the South African government during the final months leading up the first democratic election in 1994.

Trial

In 1995, Liebenberg, former defence minister, General

Magnus Malan General Magnus André de Merindol Malan (30 January 1930 – 18 July 2011) was a South African military figure and politician during the last years of apartheid in South Africa. He served respectively as Minister of Defence in the cabinet of ...

, and former defence force chief, General Jannie Geldenhuys were tried for murder, as a result of a military operation in which several civilians had been killed. They were all acquitted.

Awards and decorations

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References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Liebenberg, Andreas 1938 births 1998 deaths Afrikaner people South African people of German descent South African people of Dutch descent Chiefs of the South African Army South African military personnel of the Border War Stellenbosch University alumni People from Upington