General Service Medal | |
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Awarded by the State President | |
Country | Bophuthatswana |
Type | Military campaign medal |
Eligibility | All ranks |
Awarded for | Operational service inside Bophuthatswana |
Status | Discontinued in 1994 |
Statistics | |
Established | 1991 |
BDF pre-1994 & SANDF post-2002 orders of wear | |
Next (higher) |
BDF precedence:
SANDF precedence:
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Next (lower) |
BDF succession:
SANDF succession:
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Ribbon bar |
The General Service Medal was instituted by the State President of the Republic of Bophuthatswana in 1991, for award to all ranks for operational service inside Bophuthatswana.
The Bophuthatswana Defence Force (BDF) was established upon that country's independence on 6 December 1977. The Republic of Bophuthatswana ceased to exist on 27 April 1994 and the Bophuthatswana Defence Force was amalgamated with six other military forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
The General Service Medal was instituted by the State President of Bophuthatswana in 1991.
The medal could be awarded to all ranks for operational service inside Bophuthatswana.
Since the General Service Medal was authorised for wear by one of the statutory forces which came to be part of the South African National Defence Force on 27 April 1994, it was accorded a position in the official South African order of precedence on that date. The position of the General Service Medal in the official order of precedence was revised twice after 1994, to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, first in April 1996 when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted for the two former non-statutory forces, the Azanian People's Liberation Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and again upon the institution of a new set of honours on 27 April 2003.