Bruce Ramfolo has been appointed the defence department's new acquisitions chief to replace Shamin "Chippy" Shaik who resigned earlier this year, defence secretary January Masilela said yesterday.

Ramfolo managed the acquisition of corvettes for the SA Navy as part of the government's multi-billion arms deal.

He was introduced to the defence industry when he worked on army projects at Armscor's corporate logistics division as senior project engineer.

His educational qualifications include a master of science degree from the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University. He also holds an MBA degree from the University of Pretoria.

Shaik announced his resignation in March this year, with effect from May 1 following an inquiry which found him guilty of misconduct for disclosing confidential information contained in a n auditor-general draft report on the arms deal. The report was critical of his involvement in the deal.

With acknowledgements to Sapa and Cape Times.