A military signaller from the soles of his boots to the stylised Mercury, messenger of the gods emblem on his cap badge, is the new Director Information Warfare at the Command and Management Information Systems (CMIS) Division of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
As of Friday, 17 January, Mbapa Senamela was promoted to Brigadier General and given command of the information warfare component of the South African military’s over-arching information technology (IT) operation.
Looking back on his career in the beige beret of the Signal Formation, Senamela, as reported by a Lieutenant Maluleke of SA Army Corporate Communication, was Director Information and Technology; Director Cyber Command; Officer Commanding (OC) SA Communication Security Agency (SACSA); Senior Staff Officer (SSO) Information Systems; Officer Commanding (OC) North West Signal Unit; Second in Command Dequar Signal Unit; Combat Net Radio Section Commander; and a signal troop commander.
Senamela has tours of duty in the Comoros, Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo (DR) to his credit all of which provided experience that will be put to use at CMIS Headquarters in Centurion’s EcoPark.
Senamela was given his first star by SA Army Chief, Lieutenant General Lawrence Mbatha, with CMIS Division Chief, Major General Mafi Mgobozi on hand.