Veteran Belinda Van Fleet.
SAMVOTA Chairperson
The SAMVOTA Chairperson is responsible to all her SAMVOTA Veterans for the success of the organisation, which includes raising SAMVOTA's profile and for the good standing, smooth running and effectiveness of the organisation.
She will be the official SAMVOTA's representative at functions on the highest level.
She is accountable to the SAMVO Chairperson (ascending) and to the Regional Chairpersons within her Zone (descending).
South African Army, Western Province Command HQ at the Castle. First woman in the Cape Town Highlanders, where she served in a Personnel Support capacity. Joined SAMVOTA August 2022 - Located Salt Lake City, USA.
Belinda was born and raised in Cape Town, with family roots in Namaqualand and Italy.
After matriculating in 1982 from Groote Schuur High School in Newlands, she travelled around Europe for 6 months and then volunteered for one year of voluntary national service in the South African Army in July 1983. She completed 2 months of basic training at the S.A. Army Women’s College in George and was trained in the Personnel mustering, after which she was briefly transferred to South Cape Command HQ in Oudtshoorn.
Another transfer took her to Western Province Command HQ at the Castle, where she completed the balance of her national service. After clearing out from the S.A. Army, she enrolled in the University of Cape Town, from which she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree. Still feeling that her duty towards her country was not complete, she voluntarily joined the Cape Town Highlanders as the first woman in its then, 100 years of existence, where she served in a Personnel Support capacity for another 8 years, finally resigning her post in 1992 when she married a United States Marine and moved to the West Coast of the USA.
Belinda currently resides in the greater Salt Lake City, Utah area and holds the position of President for a construction staffing and recruiting company.
Belinda joined SAMVOTA on the 31st August 2022 and was appointed to her SAMVO position in October 2022. We wish Belinda every success in this role and a long and rewarding membership of this global military veteran organisation.
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12 Dec 2023
We have a change in Chairmanship within SAMVOTA and I must sincerely thank Veteran Alex Harkess for his leadership of SAMVOTA over the past few years. The veteran put forward by Alex, and seconded by a number of members, is none other than our Director Communications, Belinda van Fleet.
Thank you for taking on this very important role within SAMVO, Belinda, and we all know that you will acquit yourself extremely well.