South African National Defense Force

South African National Defence Force
List 10 other official names: Suid-Afrikaanse Nasionale Weermag  (Afrikaans) IButho leSewula Afrika lezokuVikela leliZweloke  (Southern Ndebele) UMkhosi woKhuselo weSizwe waseMzantsi Afrika  (Xhosa) UMbutho Wezokuvikela WaseNingizimu Afrika  (Zulu) Umbutfo Wetekuvikela Wavelonkhe waseNingizimu Afrika  (Swati) Sešole sa Tšhireletšo sa Bosetšhaba sa Afrika Borwa  (Northern Sotho) Lebotho la Naha la Tshireletso la Aforika Borwa  (Sotho) Sesole sa Tshireletso ya Naga ya Aforika Borwa  (Tswana) Vutho ra Rixaka ra Vusirheleli ra Afrika-Dzonga  (Tsonga) Tshiimiswa tsha Mmbi ya Vhupileli ya Afurika Tshipembe  (Venda)
Current form	1994 – present
Service branches	South African Army South African Navy South African Air Force Military Health Service
Headquarters	Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief	Jacob Zuma
Minister of Defence and Military Veterans	Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula
Chief of the South African National Defence Force	General Solly Shoke
Manpower
Military age	18–49
Available for military service	10,354,769 males, age 18–49 (2005), 10,626,550 females, age 18–49 (2005)
Fit for military service	4,927,757 males, age 18–49 (2005), 4,609,071 females, age 18–49 (2005)
Reaching military age annually	512,407 males (2005), 506,078 females (2005)
Active personnel	78,707
Reserve personnel	15,107
Expenditures
Budget	$US 4.572 billion
Percent of GDP	1.1% (2010–2011)
Industry
Domestic suppliers	Denel, Paramount Group, Reutech Radar Systems
Foreign suppliers	AgustaWestland, BAE Systems, Heckler & Koch, IVECO, MAN, Saab AB, Thales, ThyssenKrupp
Related articles
History	Military history of South Africa List of wars involving South Africa
Ranks	South African military ranks

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) comprises the armed forces of South Africa. The commander of the SANDF is appointed by the President of South Africa from one of the armed services. They are in turn accountable to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans of the Defence Department.

The military as it exists today was created in 1994, following South Africa's first post-apartheid national elections and the adoption of a new constitution. It replaced the South African Defence Force.

The SANDF took over the personnel and equipment from the SADF and integrated forces from the former Bantustan homelands forces, as well as personnel from the former guerrilla forces of some of the political parties involved in South Africa, such as the African National Congress's Umkhonto we Sizwe, the Pan Africanist Congress's Azanian People's Liberation Army and the Self-Protection Units of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).

As of 2004, the integration process was considered complete, with retaining personnel, structure, and equipment from the SADF. However, due to integration problems, financial constraints, and other issues, the SANDF faced capability constraints.'

The South African Commando System was a civil militia active until 2008, based upon local units from the size of company to battalion. In its final years its role was to support the South African Police Service during internal operations. During such deployments the units came under SAPS control.

According to the Defence Ministry's 2014 Defence Review, the SANDF is "in a critical state of decline".

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Wikipedia