Vusumuzi Masondo

Lieutenant General Vusumuzi Masondo MMM is a South African military commander.

He was born in Umtata on 21 December 1957. He left South Africa to join Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1976 where he served in various capacities until his return to South Africa in 1992 and integration into the SANDF in 1994.

He holds a Certificate in Defence Management from the University of the Witwatersrand, a Certificate in Labour Relations from the University of Pretoria and a B Comm degree. He is currently studying towards a B Comm Honours degree from the University of South Africa. Masondo is married with three children.

Military career
Lieutenant General Masondo underwent his basic military training in Angola in 1977 and did Air Defence Artillery training in the former Soviet Union in 1978. He served in the ranks of uMkhonto weSizwe in various capacities until his return to South Africa in 1992 after the unbanning of the African National Congress.

On 1 October 2011 he was appointed Chief of the South African Army and promoted to Lieutenant General

After Integration
Before integration into the SA National Defence Force in 1994, he served on the Joint Military Coordinating Council (JMCC) as the co-chairperson of the Inspection Work Logistics Command in 1995. In 1996, he was transferred to 3 Electronic Workshop in Wonderboom where he was appointed as the personnel officer of the unit. After serving as a personnel officer for nearly a year, he was transferred to the SA Army Signal Formation Headquarters in 1997 and appointed as Staff Officer Personnel.

On 1 January 1999 until 31 May 2002, he was appointed as Staff Officer Class at the SA Army Armour Formation and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

He was appointed as Senior Staff Officer in charge of staffing at the SA Army Headquarters on 1 June 2002 and promoted to the rank of colonel. On 1 January 2003, he was transferred to the Human Resource Support Centre (Directorate Personnel Maintenance) where he was appointed as Senior Staff Officer in charge of remuneration.

On 1 May 2004, Lieutenant General Masondo was appointed as Director Corporate Communication and promoted to the rank of brigadier general. He served in that post for only one month and on 1 June 2004 was appointed as Personnel Staff Officer to the then Chief of the SA National Defence Force, General Siphiwe Nyanda. On 1 March 2006, he was appointed as Acting Director Human Resource Maintenance, a post in which he was confirmed as Director on 1 March 2006. On 1 December 2007, Lieutenant General Masondo was promoted to the rank of major general and appointed as Chief Army Force Preparation.