The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) announced on Friday that Sipho Mbhokota had been appointed as the new executive manager of CSIR Defence and Security (previously Defence, Peace, Safety and Security). He has been at the CSIR since 2014, when he was appointed Competency Area Manager for the Integrated Systems Group.
“I am excited about the opportunities ahead and honoured to be appointed,” he said. “I will be working closely with industry partners, public and private sector, in developing and localising technologies to support the advancement of industries in the defence and security area. We want to strengthen capabilities in defence, civil security and cybersecurity through advanced technologies.”
He will be a member of the management team that will implement the CSIR’s new strategy. This is intended to make use of the CSIR’s strong capabilities in science, technology and engineering to be able to seize opportunities for local industrial development.
In its press release, the science council described CSIR Defence and Security as “a key focus area”. Its purpose was to help “build resilient defence and security capabilities for South Africa to ensure secure borders and the safety of citizens.”
Mbhokota served for ten years in the South African Air Force, as an engineer officer. During that time he served as a squadron systems engineer, and was a project engineer on the aircraft acquisition team for South Africa’s ultimately abortive Airbus A400M purchasing programme.
Before joining the CSIR he was with national defence acquisition agency Armscor (which also runs the Simon’s Town Dockyard). He worked as divisional manager: engineering services at the dockyard (which is co-located with the Simon’s Town Naval Base).