The Lenong Regiment (formerly Regiment President Kruger) is a reserve

motorised infantry Motorized infantry is infantry that is transported by trucks or other motor vehicles. It is distinguished from mechanized infantry, which is carried in armoured personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles, and from light infantry, which c ...

regiment of 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 ...

History

Regiment President Kruger was raised in 1954 as a motorised infantry unit and was initially headquartered in

Krugersdorp Krugersdorp (Afrikaans for ''Kruger's Town'') is a mining city in the West Rand, Gauteng Province, South Africa founded in 1887 by Marthinus Pretorius and Abner Cohen. Following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, a need arose for a ...

Name change

By 1960 the unit was renamed to Regiment Wes Rand. This was however reverted by 1964. In August 2019, 52 Reserve Force units had their names changed to reflect the diverse military history of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Regiment President Kruger became the Lenong Regiment, and have 3 years to design and implement new regimental insignia.

Garrison

The unit's HQ moved to

Randfontein Randfontein is a gold mining town in the West Rand, Gauteng, South Africa, west of Johannesburg. With the Witwatersrand gold rush in full swing, mining financier Sir Joseph Robinson, 1st Baronet, JB Robinson bought the farm Randfontein and, in ...

around 1972, about 20 kilometers away.

Freedom of Entry

The unit exercised its freedom of entry into

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

on 9 November 2013 as part of the centenary celebrations of the City of Johannesburg with

bayonets A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or Spike bayonet, spike-shaped melee weapon designed to be mounted on the end of the gun barrel, barrel of a rifle, carbine, musket or similar long gun, long firearm, allowing t ...

fixed, colours flying, and drums beating.

Regimental colours

The units eagle symbol depicted the old Transvaal Republican era.

Previous dress insignia

SADF era Regiment President Kruger ver 2

Current dress insignia

Deployments and training

The regiment has been deployed as part of the SANDF (South African National Defence Force) throughout Africa,

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

DRC The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

; in support of

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

peacekeeping mandates. All members of the Regiment are volunteers, with employment in the civilian roles, they fulfil their responsibilities and duties on top of their duties and responsibilities to their families and employers.

Leadership

Honorary Colonel

* Colonel Jacques Jean-Marie Julienne (2012)

References

External links

{{Greater Johannesburg, mil Infantry regiments of South Africa Military units and formations in the West Rand Military units and formations of South Africa in the Border War Military units and formations established in 1954