The Molapo Armour Regiment (formerly Regiment Mooirivier) is a reserve armoured

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

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

Origin

The regiment was founded in 1941 as 2 Anti Tank Regiment and re-instituted in 1954 by the first vice- rector of the

Potchefstroom University The Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (abbreviated as PU for CHE) was a South African university located in Potchefstroom. Instruction was mainly in Afrikaans language, Afrikaans. In 2004, the university was merged with othe ...

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Fanus du Plessis. During 1955 the regiment was converted to an armoured car regiment and renamed Regiment Hendrik Potgieter. In 1959 the Regiment was renamed Regiment Mooirivier.

Under the SADF

This unit served in South Africa's various internal conflicts as well as during the

South African Border War The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

, including duty in

South-West Africa South West Africa was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. South West Africa bordered Angola ( a Portu ...

and cross-border raids into

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 ...

between 1975 and 1984. The regiment participated in Operations Askari, Modular, Hooper and Packer. The regiment was equipped with Eland 90s at that stage.

Divisional affiliation

* 8th South African Armoured Division ** 82 Mechanised Brigade

Under the SANDF

82 Mechanised Brigade Division was disbanded, and Regiment Mooirivier was transferred to the new armoured 'type' formation, the South African Army Armoured Formation.

Current equipment

The Regiment currently uses the

Rooikat The Rooikat (Afrikaans for "Caracal"; ) is a South African armoured reconnaissance vehicle equipped with a stabilised high velocity gun for organic anti-tank and fire support purposes. The Rooikat's main armament was built with the Oto Mela ...

armoured fighting vehicle, equipped with a 76 mm quick-fire gun. Rooikat Armoured Car

Name Change

In August 2019, 52 Reserve Force units had their names changed to reflect the diverse military history of South Africa. Regiment Mooirivier became the Molapo Armoured Regiment, and have 3 years to design and implement new regimental insignia.

Regimental Symbols

*Regimental

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

: ''Semper Prorsum''.

Previous dress insignia

SADF era Regiment Mooirivier insignia ver 2

Leadership

{{Post-member, from-date=n.d., post-incumbent=vacant, to-date= {{Post-header, post-name=Acting Honorary Colonel {{Post-member, from-date=August 2018, post-incumbent=Colonel Rory Hollins MMM, to-date=Present {{Post-header, post-name=Commanding Officer {{Post-member, from-date=April 1954, post-incumbent=Commandant J.S. du Plessis, to-date=January 1967 {{Post-member, from-date=January 1967, post-incumbent=Commandant C.W.A. Steyn, to-date=May 1971 {{Post-member, from-date=May 1971, post-incumbent=Commandant C.H. Heenop, to-date=May 1979 {{Post-member, from-date=December 1979, post-incumbent=Commandant S.G. Greyling, to-date=December 1987 {{Post-member, from-date=January 1988, post-incumbent=Lt Col. W.H. van Zyl, to-date=March 2001 {{Post-member, from-date=May 2001, post-incumbent=Lt Col. T. du P Snyman, to-date=May 2005 {{Post-member, from-date=May 2005, post-incumbent=Lt Col. B.J. de Klerk, to-date=January 2014 {{Post-member, from-date=January 2014, post-incumbent=Lt Col. H.H-P.J. Stark, to-date=September 2017 {{Post-member, from-date=September 2017, post-incumbent=Maj. S.J.B. Brooks, to-date=July 2018 {{Post-member, from-date=July 2018, post-incumbent=Lt Col. S.J.B. Brooks, to-date=Present {{Post-header, post-name=Regimental Sergeant Major {{Post-member, from-date=April 1954, post-incumbent=WO1 P.F. Smit, to-date=July 1966 {{Post-member, from-date=July 1966, post-incumbent=WO1 S.W. van der Merwe, to-date=March 1993 {{Post-member, from-date=April 1993, post-incumbent=WO1 W.J. Wagner, to-date=Present {{Post-member, from-date=January 2019, post-incumbent=WO1 U.K. Koaishe , to-date=Present {{Post-end

References

{{reflist, 30em {{portal, South Africa {{SA Army Units Armoured regiments of South Africa Military units and formations in Potchefstroom Military units and formations established in 1954 Military units and formations of South Africa in the Border War {{SouthAfrica-mil-stub