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Star for Conspicuous Leadership
Star for Conspicuous Leadership
Type	Military decoration for bravery
Awarded for	Distinguished conduct and exceptional combat leadership
Country	South Africa
Presented by	the President
Eligibility	Azanian People's Liberation Army cadres
Post-nominals	SCL
Campaign(s)	The "struggle"
Status	Discontinued in 2003
Established	1996
	Ribbon bar
APLA 1996 & SANDF post-2002 orders of wear
Next (higher)	APLA precedence: Bravery Star in Silver; SANDF precedence: Conspicuous Leadership Star;
Next (lower)	APLA succession: Gold Decoration for Merit; SANDF succession: Defence Force Merit Decoration;

The Star for Conspicuous Leadership, post-nominal letters SCL, was instituted by the President of the Republic of South Africa in April 1996. It was awarded to veteran cadres of the Azanian People's Liberation Army, the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress, for distinguished conduct and exceptional combat leadership during the "struggle".^[1]^[2]

Azanian People's Liberation Army

The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA) was the para-military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). It was established in 1961 to wage an armed struggle against the Nationalist government inside South Africa. On 27 April 1994, the Azanian People's Liberation Army was amalgamated with six other military forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).^[1]^[3]^[4]

Institution

The Star for Conspicuous Leadership, post-nominal letters SCL, was instituted by the President of South Africa in April 1996. It is the junior award of a set of three decorations for bravery, along with the Gold Star for Bravery and the Bravery Star in Silver.^[1]^[2]

The Azanian People's Liberation Army's military decorations and medals were modeled on those of the Republic of South Africa and these three decorations are the approximate equivalents of, respectively, the Honoris Crux Gold, the Honoris Crux (1975) and the Pro Virtute Decoration.^[1]^[5]

Award criteria

The decoration could be awarded to veteran cadres of the Azanian People's Liberation Army for distinguished conduct and exceptional combat leadership during the "struggle".^[1]

Order of wear

The position of the Star for Conspicuous Leadership in the official military and national orders of precedence was revised upon the institution of a new set of honours on 27 April 2003, but it remained unchanged.^[5]^[6]

Azanian People's Liberation Army

Official APLA order of precedence:
- Preceded by the Bravery Star in Silver (BSS).
- Succeeded by the Gold Decoration for Merit (GDM).^[5]

South African National Defence Force until 26 April 2003

Official SANDF order of precedence:
- Preceded by the Conspicuous Leadership Star (CLS) of Umkhonto we Sizwe.
- Succeeded by the Defence Force Merit Decoration of the Republic of Bophuthatswana.^[5]
Official national order of precedence:
- Preceded by the Conspicuous Leadership Star (CLS) of Umkhonto we Sizwe.
- Succeeded by the Police Star for Distinguished Service (SOO) of the Republic of South Africa.^[5]

Description

Obverse

The Star for Conspicuous Leadership is a pair of five-pointed stars, superimposed one on the other and struck in bronze, to fit inside a circle with a diameter of 38 millimetres and displaying a bronze lion on a ruby red enameled centre roundel.^[1]^[7]

Ribbon

The ribbon is 32 millimetres wide and red, with a 12 millimetres wide dark brown band in the centre.^[1]^[7]

Discontinuation

Conferment of the Star for Conspicuous Leadership was discontinued upon the institution of a new set of honours on 27 April 2003.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g South African Medal Website - Liberation armies (Accessed 30 April 2015)
^ ^a ^b South African Medal Website - Post-nominal Letters (Accessed 28 April 2015)
^ "Manifesto of Umkhonto we Sizwe". African National Congress. 16 December 1961. Archived from the original on 17 December 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
^ Warrant of the President of the Republic of South Africa for the Institution of the "UNITAS MEDAL-UNITAS-MEDALJE", Gazette no. 16087 dated 25 November 1994.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477, no. 27376, Pretoria, 11 March 2005, OCLC 72827981
^ ^a ^b Presidential Warrant by the President of the Republic of South Africa for the Institution of Honours for Bravery in the South African National Defence Force, Gazette no. 25213 dated 25 July 2003.
^ ^a ^b Uniform: SA Army: Former Forces Medals - Azanian Peoples Liberation Army (APLA)