South African Defence Force

For the post-apartheid defence force, see South African National Defence Force.
South African Defence Force
Active 1957–1994
Country  South Africa
Allegiance South Africa
Branch South African Army
South African Navy
South African Air Force
South African Medical Service
Role Armed forces of South Africa
Size 45,000 Full-time
Engagements South African Border War
Angola Civil War
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 The SADF was superseded by the South African National Defence Force in 1994.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:

Staff Divisions under the Chief of Defence Staff included:

Other Support Services commands included:

Heads of the South African Defence Force

Further information: List of South African military chiefs

Personnel

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

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

References

Sovereign
states
States with limited
recognition
Dependencies and
other territories