Order for Meritorious Service

The Order for Meritorious Service is a South African National Order that consisted of two classes, in gold and silver, and was awarded to deserving South African citizens. The order was discontinued on 2 December 2002.[1]

Order for Meritorious Service
Order for Meritorious Service, Gold
TypeCivil National Order
Awarded forExceptional public service
Country  South Africa
Presented bythe State President and, from 1994, the President
EligibilitySouth African citizens
Post-nominalsGold - OMSG
Silver - OMSS
StatusDiscontinued in 2003
Established1986
Last awarded2002
1986 and 1996 ribbon bars
Pre-1994 & post-2002 orders of wear
Next (higher)
Order for Meritorious Service, Gold, Pre-1994 precedence:
Post-2002 precedence:
  • Order of Thohoyandou, Special Class, Grand Cross
Order for Meritorious Service, Silver, Pre-1994 precedence:
Post-2002 precedence:
  • Order of Indwe, Class I
Next (lower)
Order for Meritorious Service, Gold, Pre-1994 succession:
Post-2002 succession:
  • Order of Transkei, Class I, Grand Cross
Order for Meritorious Service, Silver, Pre-1994 succession:
Post-2002 succession:
  • Order of Transkei, Class II, Grand Officer

Institution

The Order for Meritorious Service was instituted by the Republic of South Africa in 1986, by Warrant published in Government Gazette no. 10493 dated 24 October 1986. It superseded the earlier Decoration for Meritorious Services. The order could be awarded in two classes:

  • The Order for Meritorious Service, Class I, Gold, post-nominal letters OMSG, for exceptional merit.
  • The Order for Meritorious Service, Class II, Silver, post-nominal letters OMSS, for outstanding merit.[1][2]

Award criteria

The Order was awarded by the State President and, from 1994, the President, to South Africans who had rendered exceptional public service. Recipients included cabinet ministers, judges, captains of commerce and industry, church leaders, academics, sports stars and prominent figures in the arts and sciences.[1]

Order of wear

The positions of the two classes of the Order for Meritorious Service in the official order of precedence were revised three times after 1986 to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, first with the integration process of 1994, again when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted in April 1996 for the two former non-statutory para-military forces, the Azanian People's Liberation Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and again with the institution of new sets of awards in 2002 and 2003.[3][2]

Order for Meritorious Service, Gold
Official national order of precedence until 26 April 1994
Official national order of precedence from 27 April 1994

The position of the Order for Meritorious Service, Gold in the South African order of precedence remained unchanged, as it was on 27 April 1994, when new awards were instituted in 1996, 2002 and 2003.[3]

Order for Meritorious Service, Silver
Official national order of precedence until 26 April 1994
Official national order of precedence from 27 April 1994

The position of the Order for Meritorious Service, Silver in the South African order of precedence remained unchanged, as it was on 27 April 1994, when new awards were instituted in 1996, 2002 and 2003.[3]

Description

Both classes share the same ribbon and are worn around the neck.[1]

Obverse

The badge of the Order is a white-enamelled gold or silver gable cross that displays the national arms on a shield in the centre of a smaller gold or silver cross paty.[1]

Reverse

The reverse has the pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms.

Breast star
Suspender

The suspender is in the form of the crest of the pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms, a lion holding four staves to represent the four provinces of the Union of South Africa, above an outline of an inverted gable.

Breast star

The breast star consists of the badge of the order superimposed on a four-pointed multi-rayed diagonal star.[1]

Ribbon

The original ribbon was 35 millimetres wide and in the colours of the 1928 South African flag, with a 6 millimetres wide dark blue band, a 4 millimetres wide white band and a 5½ millimetres wide orange band, repeated in reverse order and separated by a 4 millimetres wide white band.[1]

A new ribbon was introduced in 1996, in the colours of the new post-1994 South African flag. It is also 35 millimetres wide with (approximate widths) a 2 millimetres wide red band, a 2 millimetres wide white band, a 7½ millimetres wide green band and a 5 millimetres wide yellow band, repeated in reverse order and separated by a 2 millimetres wide black band, but with the red band at left replaced by a 2 millimetres wide blue band at right.[1]

Discontinuation

Conferment of the decoration was discontinued in 2003 when a new set of national orders was instituted.[1]

Recipients

The known recipients are listed in the table.[5][6][7]

Class Name Year
Gold Abdurahman, A.  † 2003
Silver Baard. Frances  † 2003
Gold Biko, Stephen Bantu  † 2003
Silver Bizos, George 1999
Silver Boonzaier, Gregoire Johannes 2003
Silver Brownell, Frederick Gordon 2000
Gold Cadman, Radclyffe Macbeth 1987 [5]
Gold Dadoo, Yusuf Mohamed  † 2003
Gold Dyer, Henry Brooke 1998
Gold du Plessis, Hubert 1992
Silver Eybers, Elisabeth Françoise 2003
Gold Fischer, Abram Louis  † 2003
Gold Gear, James Henderson Sutherland 1989
Silver Gwanga, J. 2003
Gold HurIey, Denis Eugene 2003
Silver Ibrahim, A. 2003
Gold Joseph, Helen Beatrice  † 2003
Gold Kathrada, Ahmed Mohamed 2003
Silver Khuzwayo, E. 2003
Gold Kies, B.  † 2003
Gold Klaaste, Aggrey Zola 2003
Gold Kotane, Moses Mauane  † 2003
Silver Mafikeng, E.  † 2003
Silver Magubane, Peter 1999 [6]
Silver Makeba, Zenzile Miriam 2003
Gold Malan, Magnus André de Merindol c. 1987
Gold Mangeni, M.A. 2003
Gold Marks, J.B.  † 2003
Silver Masekela, Hugh Ramopolo 2003
Silver Matomela, F.  † 2003
Silver Matshikiza, Todd Tozama  † 2003
Gold Mbeki, Mvuyelwa Govan Archibald 2003
Silver Mbeki, Zanele 2003
Silver Meer, Fatima 2003
Gold Mhlaba. Raymond 2003
Gold Mkwayi, Wilton 2003
Silver Mntwana, Ida Flyo  † 2003
Silver Molale, Kate  † 2003
Silver Moloi, L.S.L.N. 2003
Silver Mompati, Ruth Segomotsi 2003
Gold Motlana, Nthato Harrison 2003
Gold Motsoaledi, Mathope Elias  † 2003
Silver Mpetha, Oscar  † 2003
Gold Ngoyi, Lillian Masediba  † 2003
Gold Nokwe, Philemon Pearce Dumasile  † 2003
Silver Nyembe, Dorothy  † 2003
Gold Oppenheimer, Harry Frederick 2003
Gold Rupert, Anthony Edward 2003
Silver Schoeman, Karel 2003
Gold Schwarz, Harry Heinz 1988
Silver September, H.  † 2003
Silver Shope, Gertrude 2003
Silver Simons, Rachel Alexandrovich 2003
Gold Sisulu, Nontsikelelo Albertina 2003
Gold Sobukwe, Robert Mangaliso  † 2003
Gold Suzman, Helen 1997
Silver Tamane, D.  † 2003
Gold Tiro, O.A.  † 2003
Silver Tshabalala-Msimang, Manto 2003
Gold Tutu, Desmond Mpilo 1999
Silver van der Merwe, S.S. 2003
Gold Venter, William Peter 1991
Silver Williams-de Bruyn, Sophia Theresa 2003
Gold Smith, Margaret Mary 1987

Note:  † denotes a posthumous award.

References
  1. South African Medal Website - Republic of South Africa: 1967-2002 (Accessed 1 May 2015)
  2. South African Medal Website - Post-nominal Letters (Accessed 28 April 2015)
  3. Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477, no. 27376, Pretoria, 11 March 2005, OCLC 72827981
  4. Republic of South Africa Government Gazette no. 15093, Pretoria, 3 September 1993
  5. "Natalia 42 Obituaries" (PDF). Natal Society Foundation. 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  6. "Peter Magubane". Pan Macmillan.
  7. Republic of South Africa Government Gazette no. 24977, Pretoria, 28 February 2003 (Retrieved 2015-02-16)
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