Secretary-General Appoints Lieutenant General Derrick Mbuyiselo Mgwebi of South Africa Commander, UN Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Lieutenant General Derrick Mbuyiselo Mgwebi of South Africa as Force Commander of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).

He succeeds Lieutenant General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz of Brazil, who completed his assignment on 2 December 2015, and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful to for his significant contribution to MONUSCO over the past two-and-a-half years.

Lieutenant General Mgwebi has more than 35 years of national and international military experience.  In 1991, he was appointed Director of Special Forces of the South African National Defence Forces and in 1993, Director of Training and Operations.  He held the post of Military Secretary at the Ministry of Defence (1995-1997) and served in the Mpumalanga Command (1997-2002), after which he was appointed Director of the South African Army Infantry Formation.

Between 2004 and 2006, Lieutenant General Mgwebi served as Force Commander of the United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB), and from 2007 to 2011 he was the Chief of Human Resources of the South African National Defence Force, where he is currently Chief of Joint Operations.

Lieutenant General Mgwebi holds a diploma in defence management and a degree in business administration from the University of South Africa.

Born in 1956, he is married and has two children.