South African Defence Force

For the post-apartheid defence force, see South African National Defence Force.

The former South African Defence Force base in Outapi, Omusati, Namibia.

The South African Defence Force (SADF) was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act (No. 44) of 1957. The SADF was superseded by the South African National Defence Force in 1994.

The SADF was involved in the South African Border War and in the Angolan Civil War on the side of UNITA and Angola rebel leader Jonas Savimbi.

Within South Africa, the SADF was widely used in support of the South African Police to quell opposition to apartheid and to maintain law and order.

The SADF implemented conscription of young white men. There were also a large number of volunteers. These volunteers were white, black, coloured and indian. Conscription was opposed inter alia by organisations such as the End Conscription Campaign, but supported in the main by the white population until the early 1990s.

As the military expanded during the 1970s, the SADF general staff was organized into six sections - finance, intelligence, logistics, operations, personnel, and planning; uniquely, the South African Medical Service (SAMS) was made co-equal with the South African Army, the South African Navy and the South African Air Force.

Organization

The State President was the Commander-in-Chief of the SADF with:

• Chief of the Defence Staff - overall senior command officer
• Chief of the Army
• Chief of the Air Force
• Chief of the Navy
• Chief of the Military Health Service

Staff Divisions under the Chief of Defence Staff included:

• Personnel
• Intelligence
• Operations
• Logistics
• Finance

Other Support Services commands included:

• Inspector General of the SADF
• Chaplain General of the SADF

A list of Chiefs of Defence Staff of the SADF:

• General A.J. Liebenberg, SSA, SD, SOE, SM, MMM
• General Constand Viljoen, SSA, SD, SOE, SM
• General J.J. Geldenhuys, SSA, SD, SOE, SM
• General Magnus Malan, SSA, OMSG, SD, SM

Other senior officers:

• Lieutenant General D.P. Knobel, SSAS, SD, SOE, SM, MMM, K St J
• Vice Admiral G. Syndercombe, SAA, SD, SOE, SM, Chief of SAN
• Colonel N.C. Parkins
• Brigadier Philip Schalkwyk
• Major General D.R. Marais

Personnel

• Permanent Forces - Full time Active members
• National Servicemen - Initially called up for 1 year national service, later extended to 2 years national service in 1977, with ongoing short term service requirements. Troops were generally fully trained for operational duty within the space of 4–7 months
• Citizen Forces - fully trained part-time members
• Commando Forces - AKA "Active Citizen Force" - fully trained members
• Special forces - including the Reconnaissance Regiments, and the Civil Co-operation Bureau
• Voluntary Term Service - created in 1992 to replace the National Service
• Service Volunteers - non-permanent full time members
• Auxiliary Service - limited duty personnel who did not meet the academic or physical requirements for national service but performed guard, COIN, labour, and driving duties.

Prior to the dissolution, the SADF had the following force:

• Full-time - 40 000 Volunteer Service, 5 000 National Service
  • auxiliaries - 16 000
  • civilians - 24 000

• Part-time - 500 000
  • Citizen Force (approximately 120 000)
  • Commando Force (approximately 130 000 in 200 Units)
  • Reserves (approximately 180 000)

Nuclear weapons

Main article: South Africa and weapons of mass destruction

South Africa at one time possessed weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, but its stockpile was dismantled during the political transition of the early 1990s.

Integration

At the end of apartheid in 1994, the SADF was amalgamated with the defence forces of a number of formerly independent homelands as well as personnel from the former anti-apartheid guerrilla forces such as the African National Congress's Umkhonto we Sizwe, the Pan Africanist Congress's APLA and the Self-Protection Units of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). The new integrated force became known as the South African National Defence Force.

See also

• Military history of South Africa
• South African Police Service
• South West African Territorial Force (SWATF)
• Orders, decorations, and medals of South Africa
• South African National Defence Force

References

• Overview of the changing of the SADF