SA army to get first black chief

Pretoria - President Nelson Mandela yesterday named war hero Lieut Gen Siphiwe Nyanda, falsely accused in February of plotting…

Pretoria - President Nelson Mandela yesterday named war hero Lieut Gen Siphiwe Nyanda, falsely accused in February of plotting his overthrow, as the first black head of South Africa's armed forces.

The appointment marks a key step in the transformation of Africa's best equipped military force which began four years ago with the integration of 30,000 black ex-guerrillas into the forces and security services.