After the
Union of South Africa was formed in 1910,
General Jan Smuts, the Union's first Minister of Defence, placed a high priority on creating a unified military out of the separate armies of the union's four provinces (the British
Cape Colonial Forces, and the forces of the
Natal Colony, the
Transvaal, and the
Orange River Colony). The Defence Act (No. 13) of 1912 established a
Union Defence Force (UDF) that included a Permanent Force (or standing army) of career soldiers, an
Active Citizen Force of temporary
conscripts and volunteers as well as a
Cadet organisation. The 1912 law also obliged all white males between seventeen and sixty years of age to serve in the military, but this was not strictly enforced as there were a large number of volunteers. Instead, half of the white males aged from 17 to 25 were drafted by lots into the ACF. For training purposes, the Union was divided into 15 military districts. The authorised strength of the ACF and Coast Garrison Force was 25,155 and by 31 December actual strength stood at 23,462.
First World War and crew,
East Africa, 1916 or 1917. Photo courtesy of SANDF Archives, from Nöthling, C J (ed), "Ultima Ratio Regum: Artillery History of South Africa" 1987 Following the British
declaration of war against Germany on 4 August 1914, South Africa was an extension of the British war effort due to her status as a Dominion within the Empire. Although self-governing, South Africa, along with other Dominions such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand, were only semi-independent from Britain. General
Louis Botha, the then prime minister, faced widespread
Afrikaner opposition to fighting alongside Great Britain so soon after the
Second Boer War, and had to quell a military rebellion by some of the more extremist elements before he could send an expeditionary force of some 67,000 troops to invade
German South West Africa (now
Namibia). The German troops stationed there eventually surrendered to the South African forces in July 1915. In 1920 South Africa received a
League of Nations mandate to govern the former German colony and to prepare it for independence within a few years, however South African occupation continued, illegally, until 1990. Later, the
South African Infantry Brigade, and various other supporting units such as the South African Native Labour Corps, were deployed to France in order to fight on the
Western Front as the
South African Overseas Expeditionary Force under British command. The
1st South African Brigade consisted of four infantry battalion sized regiments, representing men from all four provinces of the
Union of South Africa, as well as
Rhodesia. The 1st Regiment was from the
Cape Province, the 2nd Regiment was from
Natal and the
Orange Free State and the 3rd Regiment was from
Transvaal and Rhodesia. The 4th Regiment was called the
South African Scottish and was raised from members of the
Transvaal Scottish and the
Cape Town Highlanders; they wore the
Atholl Murray tartan. Supporting units included five
batteries of heavy artillery, a
field ambulance unit, a
Royal Engineers signals
company and a
military hospital. The most costly action that the South African forces on the Western Front fought in was the
Battle of Delville Wood in 1916 – of the 3,000 men from the brigade who entered the wood, only 768 emerged unscathed. Another tragic loss of life for the South African forces during the war was
the Mendi sinking on 21 February 1917, when the troopship Mendi – while transporting 607 members of the
South African Native Labour Corps from Britain to France – was struck and cut almost in half by another ship. In addition, the war against the German and
Askari forces in
German East Africa also involved more than 20,000 South African troops; they fought under General Jan Smuts's command when he directed the British campaign against there in 1915. (During the war, the army was led by General Smuts, who had re-joined the army from his position as Minister of Defence on the outbreak of the war.) Coloured South Africans also saw notable action with the
Cape Corps in
Palestine. With a population of roughly 6 million, between 1914 - 1918, over 250,000 South Africans of all races voluntarily served their country. Thousands more served in the
British Army directly, with over 3,000 joining the British
Royal Flying Corps and over 100 volunteering for the
Royal Navy. More than 146,000 whites, 83,000 black Africans and 2,500 Coloureds and Asians also served in either German South-West Africa, East Africa, the Middle East, or on the Western Front in Europe. Suffering roughly 19,000 casualties, over 7,000 South Africans were killed, and nearly 12,000 were wounded during the course of the war.
Eight South Africans won the
Victoria Cross for gallantry, the Empire's highest and prestigious military medal. The
Battle of Delville Wood and the sinking of the
SS Mendi being the greatest single incidents of loss of life.
Interwar period Wartime casualties and post-war demobilisation weakened the UDF. New legislation in 1922 re-established conscription for white males over the age of 21 for four years of military training and service and re-constituted the Permanent Force. UDF troops assumed internal security tasks in South Africa and quelled several revolts against South African domination in South-West Africa. South Africans suffered high casualties, especially in 1922, when an independent group of
Khoikhoi – known as the
Bondelswarts-
Herero for the black bands that they wore into battle – led one of numerous revolts; in 1925, when a mixed-race population – the
Basters – demanded cultural autonomy and political independence; and in 1932, when the
Ovambo (Ambo) population along the border with
Angola demanded an end to South African domination. During the Rand strike of 1922, 14,000 members of the ACF and certain A class reservists were called up. Expenditure cuts saw the UDF as a whole reduced. The last remaining regiment of the
South Africa Mounted Riflemen was disbanded on 31 March 1926 and the number of military districts was reduced from 16 to six on 1 April 1926. The Brigade HQ of the SA Field Artillery was also disbanded. These included
Cape Command (with its headquarters at the
Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town),
Orange Free State Command,
Natal Command,
Witwatersrand Command (5th and 9th Brigades plus the
Transvaal Horse Artillery),
Robert's Heights and
Transvaal Command (HQ
Robert's Heights) and
Eastern Province Command at
East London. With the declaration of war in September 1939, the South African Army numbered only 5,353 regulars, with an additional 14,631 men of the Active Citizen Force (ACF) which gave peace time training to volunteers and in time of war would form the main body of the army. Pre-war plans did not anticipate that the army would fight outside southern Africa and it was trained and equipped only for
bush warfare. One of the problems to continuously face South Africa during the war was the shortage of available men. Due to its racial policies it would only consider arming men of European descent, which limited the available pool of men aged between 20 and 40 to around 320,000. In addition the declaration of war on Germany had the support of only a narrow majority in the South African parliament and was far from universally popular. Indeed, there was a significant minority actively opposed to the war and under these conditions conscription was never an option. The expansion of the army and its deployment overseas depended entirely on volunteers. The
1st South African Infantry Division took part in several actions in East Africa in 1940, North Africa in 1941 and 1942, including the
Second Battle of El Alamein, before being withdrawn to South Africa. The
2nd South African Infantry Division also took part in a number of actions in North Africa during 1942, but on 21 June 1942 two complete infantry brigades of the division as well as most of the supporting units were captured at the fall of
Tobruk. The
3rd South African Infantry Division never took an active part in any battles but instead organised and trained the South African home defence forces, performed garrison duties and supplied replacements for the South African 1st Infantry Division and the South African 2nd Infantry Division. However, one of this division's constituent brigades –
7th South African Infantry Brigade – did take part in the
Invasion of Madagascar in 1942. The
6th South African Armoured Division fought in numerous actions in Italy from 1944 to 1945. Of the 334,000 men volunteered for full time service in the South African Army during the war (including some 211,000 whites, 77,000 blacks and 46,000
Cape Coloureds and Asians), about 9,000 were killed in action, though the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission has records of 11,023 known South African war dead during
World War II. (15th Army Group) takes the salute from
M-10 tank destroyers of the 11th Armoured Brigade of the
6th South African Armoured Division at the commemoration parade marking the end of hostilities in
Italy.
Monza Race Circuit: 14 July 1945
Post-war period Wartime expansion was again followed by rapid demobilisation after World War II. By then, a century of Anglo-Boer clashes followed by decades of growing British influence in South Africa had fuelled Afrikaner resentment. Resurgent Afrikaner nationalism was an important factor in the growth of the
National Party (NP) as the 1948 elections approached. After the narrow election victory by the NP in 1948, the government began the steady Afrikanerisation of the military; it expanded military service obligations and enforced conscription laws more strictly. Most UDF conscripts underwent three months of Citizen Force training in their first year of service, and an additional three weeks of training each year for four years after that. In 1948, the new Minister of Defence,
Frans Erasmus, aimed ' to level the playing-fields' within the Union Defence Force, which was strongly British-oriented in usages, structures, uniforms and nomenclature. This developed from an attempt at affirmative action into a 'politically tinged purge'. The various Commando units, previously 'Skietverenigings', were later classified as Type A, B or C independent Commandos and continued as single-battalion or small independent units. As part of the post-war reorganisation, the Defence Rifle Associations were disbanded in 1948 and replaced by a new Commando organisation with a strength of 90,000 men. At the same time, the Afrikaans-oriented single-battalion regiments founded in 1934 underwent at least one change of name and sometimes more. An early victim was the renowned Middellandse Regiment, which became Regiment Gideon Scheepers in 1954. It was also decided to establish and maintain two complete army divisions in the UDF: namely
1 SA Infantry Division and
6 SA Armoured Division, consisting of 1, 2, 3, 12, and 13 (CF) Infantry Brigades and the (PF)
11th Armoured Brigade. The divisions were formally established with effect from 1 July 1948, but with the exception of 11 Brigade they were disbanded on 1 November 1949, mainly as a result of difficulties in obtaining volunteer recruits to man the Citizen Force brigades. The 11th Armoured Brigade was itself disbanded on 1 October 1953. In the early 1950s the Union undertook, however, to provide one armoured division for active service in the Middle East in the event of war in the region. To this end some 200
Centurion tanks were ordered, and the first were delivered in July 1952. During Exercise Oranje, conducted in 1956, the Army trialled its Centurions for the first time in a simulated nuclear war situation. The Defence Act (No. 44) of 1957 renamed the UDF the
South African Defence Force (SADF) and established within it some quick-reaction units, or Commandos, to respond to localised threats. The SADF, numbering about 20,000 in 1958, would grow to almost 80,000 in the next two decades. In 1960 there was another wave of regimental name-changing. Difficulties with manning levels saw the disestablishment of 7 SA Division on 1 November 1967 and its replacement by the Army Task Force (HQ) and 16 Brigade. Also during the 1970s, the SADF began accepting "non-whites" and women into the military as career soldiers, not only as temporary volunteers or reservists; however, the former served mostly, if not exclusively, in segregated units while the latter were not assigned to combat roles. By the end of the 1970s, the South African military was increasingly called upon to confront external threats and internal unrest which started escalating to armed confrontation between the South African state and the liberation forces. Principal among these armed groups was that of the ANC's (Spear of the Nation), the AZAPO's Azanian People's Liberation Army and the PAC's Poqo. In 1973 two new infantry units were established:
7 South African Infantry Battalion (Bourke's Luck) and
8 SA Infantry Battalion (Upington), as well as
11 Commando (Kimberley), which to a great extent took over the functions of the
Danie Theron Combat School's training wing. In 1973 the SADF also took over responsibility for the defence of
South West Africa (today Namibia) from the South African Police. During the succeeding months the Army became involved in combat operations for the first time since the Second World War, clashing with groups of SWAPO infiltrating into South West Africa. From 1 September 1972 Army Task Force Headquarters was redesignated HQ
7 South African Infantry Division. 1 SA Corps itself was established in August 1974 and was active until 30 January 1977. It appears from Colonel Lionel Crook's book on 71 Brigade In the early 1980s, the Army was restructured in order to counter all forms of insurgency while at the same time maintaining a credible conventional force. To meet these requirements, the Army was subdivided into conventional and counterinsurgency forces. The counterinsurgency forces were further divided into nine territorial commands, each of which was responsible to the Chief of the Army. This force consisted of members of the Permanent Force, Commandos, and a few selected Citizen Force units. The Citizen Force, through the 7 and 8 Divisions, provided the conventional defence force. By July 1987 the number of territorial commands was expanded to ten, and the Walvis Bay military area was often counted as an eleventh. The commands were the
Western Province Command (HQ
Cape Town, 1959–1998);
Eastern Province Command (HQ Port Elizabeth, 1959–1998);
Northern Cape Command (HQ
Kimberley);
Orange Free State Command (HQ Bloemfontein, 1959–1998);
Northern Transvaal Command (HQ
Pretoria);
Witwatersrand Command (HQ Johannesburg, subject of a bombing in 1987);
Northwestern Command (HQ
Potchefstroom);
Eastern Transvaal Command (HQ
Nelspruit);
Natal Command (Durban), and
Far North Command (HQ
Pietersburg, which in late 1993 and early 1994 included
Regiment Hillcrest which was then part of
73 Motorised Brigade, and 73 Brigade itself). The part-time force also operated in the military area of
Walvis Bay. During this same period, the Engineers and Signals were grouped into the first of the 'type' formations, the
South African Army Engineer Formation (in 1982) and the
South African Army Signals Formation (in 1984). Both these formations were made directly responsible to Chief of Army. In 1984
Northern Transvaal Command was subdivided and
Eastern Transvaal Command (Nelspruit) and
Far North Command (Pietersburg) formed. The two new Commands were regarded as theatres and as such also had responsibility for conventional operations (and units) within their areas. For example, Far North Command had
73 Motorised Brigade within its area.
Southern Cape Command may have been disbanded, and
Northern Cape Command established, in 1986. In 1989 the
RLI became the conventional reserve for
Far North Command. The
area of responsibility of each commands followed the boundaries of the Economic Development Regions. Before the dissolution of the territorial commands General
Derrick Mgwebi is also reported to have headed
Mpumalanga Command. During the 1980s, the legal requirements for national service were to register for service at age sixteen and to report for duty when called up, which usually occurred at some time after a man's eighteenth birthday or on leaving school. National service obligations could be fulfilled by active-duty military service for two years and by serving in the reserves, generally for ten or twelve years. Reservists generally underwent fifty days per year of active duty or training, after their initial period of service. The system was for the most part that the National Service requirement was for 720 days (two years) and subsequent reserve duty was a further 720 days. The reserve duty was broken up depending on the needs of the units and of the individual concerned. This generally worked out as a ninety-day "operational" commitment one year, followed the next year by a thirty-day commitment in addition to any courses, parades or admin evenings that might be required. Members of the Reserve were able to volunteer for further duty in addition to that mandated. This additional, voluntary, service was recognised with the award of the Emblem for Voluntary Service (EVS) (now the
Badge for Reserve Voluntary Service (BRVS)) for five years of voluntary service over and above the mandated commitment. The requirements for national service changed several times during the 1980s and the early 1990s in response to national security needs, and they were suspended in 1993.
Post-1994 , 10 km from
Goma,
Democratic Republic of the Congo. s of the
Cape Town Highlanders Regiment during a mechanised training exercise. From the early 1990s (after 1992) to 1 April 1997, the SA Army maintained three 'small'
divisions, the 7th (HQ
Johannesburg), 8th (HQ Durban) and 9th (HQ Cape Town). They consisted of a reconnaissance battalion, two anti-aircraft defence battalions (AA guns), two battalions of artillery (G-5s and G-6s), a battalion of 127 mm MRLs, an engineer battalion, two battalions of Olifant MBTs, two battalions mounted in Ratel ICVs, and finally two battalions mounted in Buffel APCs. They were all amalgamated into the 7th South African Division on 1 April 1997, and became the 73rd, 74th and 75th Brigades respectively. On 1 April 1997
Regiment Louw Wepener (Bethlehem),
Regiment De Wet (Kroonstad) and
Regiment Dan Pienaar (Bloemfontein) were absorbed into
Regiment Bloemspruit. In November 1998 the Army detailed to the Cabinet its plans to reduce army strength from 56,000 to 36,000 by 2002. It was planned to disestablish HQ 7 Division; HQ 44 Parachute Brigade; three other brigade headquarters; and 13 of 21 regular infantry battalions. 7th Division was disbanded on 1 April 1999 and all army battalions were assigned to 'type' formations, in accordance with the recommendations of the
South African Defence Review 1998. The 'type' formation force structure was implemented in accordance with the recommendations of auditing firm
Deloitte and Touche, who were contracted to draw up a plan to make the SA Army more economically efficient. The Deloitte and Touche plan had the army separate its combat forces into "silo" style formations for armour, infantry, artillery, and engineers. Deane-Peter Baker of the South African
Institute for Security Studies said that the D&T plan, while alleviating, to an extent, the mistrust of the new South African leadership of the remaining apartheid-era
South African Defence Force personnel in middle management positions, reduced the combat effectiveness of the Army, and was seen by 2011 as a mistake. Though non-white personnel did serve as unarmed labourers with the army in both World Wars, a number of non-whites were employed in segregated units during the Border War, and a number of units were completely desegregated, it was not until 1994 – when South Africa achieved full democracy – that the army as a whole was made open to all races. Today the
South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has racial quotas to make sure that White, Black, Coloured, and Indian South Africans are proportionately represented in the armed forces. in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. During 2006 the Army released its ARMY VISION 2020 guidelines document, in a fresh attempt to reassess the 1998 structures which had proved wanting. The army planned a return to a division based structure, from the previous structure where units are simply provided as needed to the two active brigades. In many respects the plan was an attempt to undo the effects of the Deloitte and Touche-inspired force design that came into effect in 2001. The new plan was to create two divisions and a special operations brigade to conduct mountain, jungle, airborne and amphibious operations. Specialised training would have had to be carried out, as and when funds become available. A works regiment was also to have been created, to help with the maintenance of army and Defence Force buildings and infrastructure. However the plan was not implemented, and appeared to stall until the issue of the
2014 South African Defence Review. With the release of that review in mid-2014 it appears possible that the 2006 planning may be reinvigorated. Concerns have been raised as to the operational capabilities of the army given the high proportion of the army's budget spent on salaries (around 80%) and low amounts budgeted for capital (5%) and operational (15%) capacity. In addition to the large ratio of officers to soldiers, critical skills shortages, high average age of service personnel (48 years), and low proportion that are medically fit enough to be readily deployable (about 10% of personnel). The
United Nations Force Intervention Brigade was replaced by the
SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023. Tanzania and Malawi have committed 2 100 troops to the mission. South Africa has committed 2,900 troops to the mission, of the country's 38 572 active army personnel. Based on South African Army standard operating procedures, if 2 900 South African troops are in active combat theatre, 2 900 rehearsing (preparing to replace active duty personnel) and 2 900 in
rest and recuperation (R&R), then South Africa has in effect committed 22.5% of its army personnel capacity to the region for a period of 25-years. All
Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, including South Africa, are working on establishing the
SADC Standby Brigade as an element of the
African Standby Force. Working towards the creation and strengthening of these regional brigades should contribute to the peace and security of the region. The major challenges that the Army face today is to readdress its current force design, to balance its budget, to integrate new equipment to replace several ageing systems, and to prepare forces for the African Standby Force and
African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises. ==Structure==