First Indian woman to join the SA Air Force

AFTER more than 10 years in the armed forces, Sherene Rambalee can attest that it made her a disciplined person for life.

Although she resigned from the South African Air Force in 1997, Rambalee said she has remained a disciplinarian and sometimes her 24-year-old son reminds her that she is no longer in the armed forces.

Rambalee became the first Indian woman to be admitted into the country’s air force, in 1986, and during the years of the first democratic government, as a personal assistant to the late defence minister, Joe Modise, she became his trusted confidante.

Rambalee received an Order of Merit at the South African Indian Legion of Military Veterans’ (Sail) ceremony yesterday, having made outstanding efforts to assist other veterans.

She was thrilled about the recognition she and other veterans received.

“It is awesome that Sail gives recognition to people who made contributions and sacrifices for this country,” Rambalee said.

After completing her basic military training, she was posted to Grootfontein in South West Africa before Namibia’s independence.

With South Africa’s first democratic elections around the corner, in 1993, Rambalee achieved top-secret security clearance and landed a post as classified registry officer at the defence ministry’s office in Pretoria.

The position gave her first-hand insight into the defence forces’ daily operations.

Shortly after Modise was appointed defence minister in 1994, with Ronnie Kasrils as his deputy, he was in need of a PA.

Rambalee was the only black employee in their offices and Modise asked one of the heads to appoint “the Indian woman” temporarily as his PA.

Two weeks later Modise told her that he wanted her permanently in the position.

“That caused a stir because it meant that I had skipped about 10 ranks when I got appointed to a top position like that.”

In 1997, Modise told her he was going to step down.

She realised that a new minister would want his own staff and, having climbed the heights as she had, it didn’t make sense for her to return to her old position, so she resigned.

Rambalee said her time in the military represented some of the best times of her life, especially the nearly four years working with Modise.

“I joined the military with the attitude that although there was an apartheid government in place, I could make a small difference from the inside,” she said.