Cape Town — Head The head of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), Sphiwe S'phiwe Nyanda, is to leave his post at the end of next month after President Thabo Mbeki granted his request to have his contract terminated early.

Neither his reason for leaving nor his future was divulged.

Nyanda, who was the man largely responsible for steering the SANDF through the troubled waters of unification and trans formation in the first few years of democracy, was its head for eight years.

Posts of this nature are normally held for five years.

Nyanda is to be replaced by the current SANDF chief of joint operations Lt-Gen Godfrey Ngwenya, who also oversees SA's special forces.

Ngwenya is second-in-command of the defence force and acts as commander when the chief is not present. He has gained operational experience as chiefs of joint operations since 2001, due to SA's involvement in peacekeeping operations in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Before moving to joint operations, Ngwenya headed the army's North West Command in Potchefstroom.

A former Umkhonto weSizwe operative, Ngwenya is quietly spoken and tends to listen rather than talk in meetings. He is well liked by senior officers, and many have said for some time his capabilities have been underestimated.

Jakkie Cilliers, Institute for Security Studies executive director, said Ngwenya was, "a very capable successor and well-schooled by his time in joint operations."

Chief government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe said at a media conference yesterday that Mbeki had told the cabinet that Nyanda had made the request, and he had acceded. He also told the cabinet that he had approved Ngwenya's appointment as successor to Nyanda.

SA's correspondent for Jane's Defence Weekly, Helmut Romer-Heitman said that Nyanda, in his first years in the SANDF, had impressed traditionalists by taking his staff courses and passing them well. Then, after George Meiring left the SANDF, he took over as chief of the SA's military under very difficult circumstances.

The appointment of Meiring SA's first democratic president Nelson Mandela's choice, was instructive in calming conservatives' fears. His term ended when he reported to the then defence minister Joe Modise there was a plot by some in the ANC to overthrow the state.

With acknowledgements to Wyndham Hartley, Jonathan Katzenellenbogen and the Business Day.