Gold Service Medal
| Gold Service Medal | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Awarded by the President | |
| Country |
  South Africa
|
| Type | Military long service medal |
| Eligibility | Azanian People's Liberation Army cadres |
| Awarded for | Thirty years service |
| Campaign(s) | The "struggle" |
| Status | Discontinued in 2003 |
| Statistics | |
| Established | 1996 |
| APLA 1996 & SANDF post-2002 orders of wear | |
| Next (higher) |
APLA precedence:
SANDF precedence:
|
| Next (lower) |
APLA succession:
SANDF succession:
|
 Ribbon bar |
|
The Gold Service Medal was instituted by the President of the Republic of South Africa in April 1996. It was awarded to veteran cadres of the Azanian People's Liberation Army, the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress, for thirty years service.
The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA) was the para-military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). It was established in 1961 to wage an armed "struggle" against the Nationalist government inside South Africa. On 27 April 1994, the Azanian People's Liberation Army was amalgamated with six other military forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
The Gold Service Medal was instituted by the President of South Africa in April 1996. It is the senior award of a set of three medals for long service, along with the Silver Service Medal and the Bronze Service Medal.
The Azanian People's Liberation Army's military decorations and medals were modelled on those of the South African Defence Force and these three medals are the approximate equivalents of, respectively, the Good Service Medal, Gold, the Good Service Medal, Silver and the Good Service Medal, Bronze.
The medal could be awarded to veteran cadres of the Azanian People's Liberation Army for thirty years service.
The position of the Gold Service Medal in the official military and national orders of precedence was revised upon the institution of a new set of honours on 27 April 2003, but it remained unchanged.
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Wikipedia