General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Johannes Jacobus (Jannie) Geldenhuys (5 February 193510 September 2018) was a South African military commander who served as Chief of the South African Defence Force from 1985 to 1990.

Early life

Geldenhuys was born in

Kroonstad Kroonstad ( in Afrikaans) is a town in Free State, South Africa, consisting of the following suburbs: Brentpark, Constantia, Constantia Park, Dawid Malanville, Elandia, Gelukwaarts, Goedgedacht, Heuningspruit, Industria, Jordania, Koek ...

on 5 February 1935. He would later matriculate from Hoërskool Voortrekker in Bethlehem, Orange Free State.

Military career

He joined the army on 4 January 1954 as a candidate officer. Geldenhuys obtained a BMil from the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

in 1956 before joining 1 Special Service Battalion. In 1965, he was based at the South African Embassy in

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

as a Vice-Consul, a position he held until 1968. He was appointed as Army Chief of Staff Intelligence and then Army Chief of Staff Operations. He went on to high command in the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal Army, 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 Servi ...

, serving as commander of South West Africa Command from 1977 until 1980, when he was briefly appointed as

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

the

South West African Territorial Force The South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) was an auxiliary arm of the South African Defence Force (SADF) and comprised the armed forces of South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1977 to 1989. It emerged as a product of South Africa's politi ...

. Later in 1980, he became Chief of the Army. Geldenhuys was promoted to

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

and assumed the position of Chief of the South African Defence Force on 31 October 1985. In this role, he took part in negotiations that brought the Border War to an end in 1989, after 23 years of fighting. The post-Apartheid

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state ac ...

found that when Geldenhuys and General Ian Gleeson were informed that the SADF and Security Branch had assassinated Dr

Fabian Ribeiro Fabian Defu Ribeiro SCOB (19 June 1933 – 1 December 1986) was a South African doctor and anti-apartheid activist who, along with his wife Florence, was assassinated by South African government forces. Ribeiro studied at the University of Fort ...

and his wife

Florence Ribeiro Florence Barbara Ribeiro SCOB (3 November 1933 – 1 December 1986) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who, along with her husband Fabian Ribeiro, were assassinated by South African government forces. The post-Apartheid Truth and Reco ...

on 1 December 1986 they failed to pass this information onto the Attorney-General or the police. The commission concluded that they both "acted in an obstructive way for which they are legally responsible". As part of the Commission's hearings it was alleged that Geldenhuys had also authorised the use of SADF special forces personnel to support the Security Branch's operations within South Africa; he denied having done so. In 2023, Geldenhuys was named as an accomplice to the torture and murder of anti-apartheid activist Abdullah Haron.

Death

Geldenhuys died on 10 September 2018 due to the effects of Alzheimer's disease. He was survived by his wife Marié, daughters Anna-Marié and Lollie, and son Bruwer. Another son, Martin, predeceased him.

Medals and decorations

* * * * * * * * * * , Knight * * * *

Early life

Military career

Death

Medals and decorations

Notes

References

Further reading