Pretoria - The South African Military Health Service recently bid a final farewell to retiring surgeon-general of the SANDF Lieutenant-General Dr Zola Dabula during a change-of-command parade at the Pretoria Military Sports Club in Thaba Tshwane.
This follows the appointment of Major-General Dr Ntshavheni Peter Maphaha as the new surgeon-general by the commander-in-chief of the SANDF, President Cyril Ramaphosa, in April.
The ceremony was witnessed by the highest echelon of the SANDF as well as government officials.
The event was conducted in a conventional military format, with SA Military Health Service colours on display, a salute fly-past, and scroll presented by 7 Medical Battalion Group airborne forces in free-fall.
Dabula was born in 1956 in the Eastern Cape, where he did his primary and secondary education. He studied at the then University of Natal in 1976.
He was an underground operative for uMkhonto we Sizwe, the now defunct military wing of the ANC, the liberation movement of South Africa into which he was recruited in 1972.
Dabula said yesterday was one of the most anxious moments in his life as an outgoing lieutenant-general.
“Everything in life has a beginning and an end, I have finished my race and I believe that I ran a good one, despite the challenges, especially the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
He wished his successor well, reminding him that the position serves as an opportunity to make a difference in other people’s lives. Maphaha vowed to lead the military health service with zeal and due diligence.
Pretoria News