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The command of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) changed hands in Pretoria on Monday, with President Thabo Mbeki as the number one witness.

The outgoing chief of the SANDF, Siphiwe Nyanda, handed over to Lt-Gen Godfrey Ngwenya.

Mbeki, his wife Zanele and Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota were among the guests at the ceremony held at Thaba Tshwane, west of Pretoria at the SANDF Sports Club's stadium.

"We are rejuvenating the SANDF. Fine young men and women, both black and white, with no ideological baggage, continue to swell the ranks of the SANDF through the military service development programme," Nyanda said in his farewell speech.

"Today the stature of the SANDF is at an all-time high. I leave it on such a high. I leave knowing that what I set out to do I have done to the best of my ability," Nyanda said.

He said when he was appointed SANDF chief in June 1998, the SANDF faced "great challenges and adversity" which included the integration of seven different forces and a declining defence budget.

After the speech, Nyanda handed Ngwenya the symbol of office, a metre-long gilded sword.

Ngwenya will officially assume the post on June 1. Both men were greeted with ululations.

Eight special forces paratroopers landed in the stadium after the generals had left.

Towards the end of proceedings a military band, including two singers performed the Italian version of the song "Time to say Goodbye" to a visibly emotional Nyanda.

Defence department spokesman Lt-Col Louis Kirstein said 850 VIP invitations had been sent out for the event.

Five flag-carrying Oryx helicopters and four Rooivalk helicopters flew over a brigade of 1000 troops assembled in the stadium as a 17-gun salute was fired.

The brigade, which had earlier been led onto the stadium grounds by a band, consisted of members of the five main branches of the SANDF, being the army, SA Military Health Service, SA Air Force, Joint Operations Division and the navy.

After the ceremony, traffic in the area came to a standstill.

Parades of SANDF members in their formal dress uniforms, followed by military band members playing drums, trumpets and tubas marched through the streets, as traffic was diverted and in some cases blocked, to make way for their display.

Civilians lined the streets, cheering and clapping as the parade passed.