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27 August  2008: No 49/08

The memorial service of the late Secretary for Defence, Mr January Boy Masilela will be held at Thaba Tshwane City Hall on Thursday (28th August 2008) at 12.00pm.

The Deputy Minister of Defence, Mr Mluleki George will be the main speaker at the memorial service. Other speakers will include senior South African military officials, family, friends and close associates.

Mr Masilela passed on, following a motor vehicle accident on the N4 highway near Bronkhorstpruit on the morning of Sunday, 24 August 2008.

Mr Masilela was born in Middleburg, Mpumalanga on 01 January 1955, where he grew up and did his secondary school education until he left the country for exile where he joined the African National Congress (ANC) and its armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK).

While in exile, he went for military training in Angola, Soviet Union, the then German Democratic Republic and Cuba. He was a Political Commissar (Deputy Commander) in the MK Headquarters in Angola and Chairman of Regional Political Military Council in Botswana.

In 1981 Mr Masilela was part of the ANC Military Mission to the German Democratic Republic. He accompanied the late O.R. Tambo to Algeria in 1985 as the Chief Military Advisor. In 1986, he was a member of the Military Advisory Team of the Military Delegation that was led by Joe Slovo to the USSR.

Upon return from exile, he held the following senior positions in the new democratic RSA: Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Local Government in Mpumalanga from 1994 to 1997. He was Member of the Executive Council (MEC) Department of Agriculture in Mpumalanga from 1997 to 1999.

In December 1999, he was appointed the Secretary for Defence (Director General) in the Department of Defence.

Funeral arrangements are still underway and will be communicated in due course.

Enquiries can be directed to Mr Sam Mkhwanazi at (012) 355-6123 or fax to (012) 355-6012.