A total of 53 Naval Junior Officers graduated at the South African Naval College in Gordons Bay on Friday. The college was established to prepare junior officers for appointments in the SA Navy. Photo: Henk Kruger African News Agency (ANA) A total of 53 Naval Junior Officers graduated at the South African Naval College in Gordons Bay on Friday. The college was established to prepare junior officers for appointments in the SA Navy. Photo: Henk Kruger African News Agency (ANA)
Cape Town – Chief of the South African Navy Vice-Admiral Mosiwa Hlongwane has hailed the Gordon’s Bay Naval College for training the next generation of leaders of the country’s navy.
He delivered a keynote address when officiating at the Junior Officer’s Graduation Parade in Gordon’s Bay.
Hlongwane acknowledged the 53 junior officers who graduated and who would proceed to the Fleet and various functional and academic training institutions.
He said that 2018 had been declared the centenaries of Nelson Mandela and fellow Struggle icon Albertina Sisulu under the themes “be the legacy” and therefore the values upheld by these two great leaders were even more important today.
“Now more than ever we require leaders who are able to make our society, our defence force and our navy a better place to live and work in,” Hlongwane said.
The naval college had positioned itself as a centre of excellence for producing the calibre of officer representatives of the democracy envisioned by the icons.
“The young men and women before us today are a testament to the remarkable tenacity and resilience of our youth. The very lifeblood of the democratic dispensation envisioned by Madiba and Mama Sisulu who have it within their power to make this country, and this navy a better place for all, where all South Africans feel and are safe,” he said.
Hlongwane praised the graduates for outstanding accomplishments during the parade.
The task of the SA Naval College is to prepare junior officers for appointments as officers in the SA Navy.
Apart from the necessary military knowledge and skills, the development of the attributes expected of an officer are instilled.
Hlongwane said the military professional education, training and development of young men and women made a direct and significant contribution to national development and the future success of South Africa.