Lieutenant General Motanyane Confirmed as Commander of the LDF

Lieutenant General Makhula Mosakeng officially retired on October 27, 2004 after some 37 years of service  and handed over to his then deputy, Major General Motanyane.

The LDF Commander started his schooling at Saint David's Primary, A Roman Catholic missionary school in the Ha Ndebele area of the Berea district but was unable to go any further due to the death of his father. After some years in an assortment of jobs, including a stint at the then Lesotho Youth Service (LYS), he was admitted to the Police Training College (PTC), then known as the Police Training Service.

"Our course was made up of five squads, two of which were sent to join the then Police Mobile Unit (PMU). I happened to be part of the latter group," Lt. General Motanyane says.

Taking opportunity of the evening classes offered by the army, Lt. Gen Motanyane was able to write examinations in the general Certificate of Education (GCE London), doing exceptionally well in mathematics and the science subjects.

This opened other doors because very soon afterwards he underwent "an intensive military training course in the United Kingdom", coming back a qualified aircraft technician in 1981.

Other courses followed, including a senior staff course in Malawi in 1997;  a defence management course in Swaziland in 1999; executive defence management at home in the same year;  peace-keeping at the Zimbabwe Regional College in 2000 and; a leadership course at the African Center of Strategic Studies in Botswana in 2000.

Lieutenant General Motanyane is married with two children.

11 November 2004