{{Infobox officeholder | name = Gabriel Ramushwana | image = | office1 = 3rd Head of State of Venda | term_start1 = 5 April 1990 | term_end1 = 25 January 1994 | predecessor1 = Frank Ravele | successor1 = Tshamano Ramabulana [1] | birth_name = Gabriel Ramushwana | birth_date = 1 July 1941 | birth_place = Musina, Formerly known as Messina, [[Transvaal] Now known as Limpopo Province | death_date = 12 January 2015 (aged 73) [2] | death_place = Thaba Tshwane Military Hospital, Tshwane, Gauteng, South Africa [3] | party = ANC ( Military ) [4] }}
Gabriel Ramushwana (1 July 1941 –12 January 2015) was a head of state of the Bantustan of Venda.
He joined the SAP in Welkom as a Constable in 1960 and was seconded to the SADF 112 Infantry Battalion as a Warrant Officer in 1973. After being rushed[ citation needed ] through SADF OCS, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant and a Company 2 i/c [lower-alpha 1] in 112 Infantry Battalion in 1977. Promoted to Captain in 1980 and made Battalion Intelligence Officer. He was made the CO of the 1 Venda Battalion in 1981, and the deputy commanding officer of the Venda Defence Force in 1984. [5]
On 8 February 1994, he was made Major-General of the National Peacekeeping Force. [6] : 18
On 5 April 1990, he led the overthrow of the democratically elected government of President Frank Ravele and established a military government. [7]
Ramushwana died on 12 January 2015 at the age of 73. [2]
Venda or Tswetla, officially the Republic of Venda, was a Bantustan in northern South Africa. It was fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while, to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of the Limpopo province. Venda was founded by the South African government as a homeland for the Venda people, speakers of the Venda language. The United Nations and international community refused to recognise Venda as an independent state.
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The Cape Town Highlanders is a reserve mechanised infantry regiment of the South African Army.
The South African Defence Force (SADF) comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Force was officially succeeded by the SADF, which was established by the Defence Act of 1957. The SADF, in turn, was superseded by the South African National Defence Force in 1994.
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The South African Army Infantry Formation supervises all infantry within the South African Army.
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111 Battalion was a motorised infantry unit of the South African Army.
113 Battalion was a motorised infantry unit of the South African Army.
151 South African Infantry Battalion was a motorised infantry unit of the South African Army.
115 South African Infantry Battalion was a motorised infantry unit of the South African Army.
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The Venda Defence Force (VDF) was established in September 1982 from the 112 Battalion of the South African Defence Force and the military branch of the Venda National Force which itself had been formed when the Venda homeland became independent from South Africa in September 1979.
The Bophuthatswana Defence Force was established on 6 December 1977 from trainees of the South African Defence Force. It was the defence force of the Republic of Bophuthatswana, a nominally independent bantustan during the Apartheid era of South Africa.
Chief Frank Ndwakhulu Ravele (1926–1999) was the second president of the bantustan of Venda, which was granted nominal independence from South Africa on 13 September 1979.
The 1990 Venda coup d'état was a bloodless military coup in Venda, an unrecognised state and a nominally independent South African homeland for the Venda people, which took place on 5 April 1990. The coup was led by the then 48-year-old Colonel Gabriel Ramushwana, the Chief of Staff of the Venda Defence Force, against the government of President Frank Ravele (NPV).
The National Peacekeeping Force (NPKF) was a short-lived South African peacekeeping force created in the run-up to the first democratic elections in 1994. Its purpose was to address the various security concerns and maintain peace during this transitional period.