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A South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldier gestures during operation “Shanela” in the Soul City informal settlement near Kagiso on December 14, 2024. Security forces raided an informal settlement west of Johannesburg arresting scores of people in a crackdown on illegal mining. (Photo by WIKUS DE WET/AFP via Getty Images)

How the SANDF has declined over 30 years

The hollowing out of the armed forces was laid bare in 2023, when it was disclosed that 85% of the air force’s aircraft fleet was out of action

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the SANDF deployment in his 12 February State of the Nation Address.

SANDF mum on serial rapist claim

An internal report on sexual offences at a military academy says the defence force failed a deceased rape victim and has called for an internal investigation

Let down: Like the South African troops killed in the Central African Republic in 2013

Diverted funds puts soldiers at risk

United Nations money for SA peacekeepers is channelled to treasury instead of defence

Why South Africa’s GI Janes have to tough it out and conform to masculine norms

Equal in word but not deed, South Africa’s female soldiers are forced to conform to masculine norms

SA soldiers worst sex offenders on UN missions

A new report puts South African soldiers on United Nations peacekeeping missions at the top of a list of offending nations.

Secret Russian satellite surveillance revealed

The report suggests South Africa is seeking closer ties with Russia on integration of the Condor project with another system being developed.

Amid a 60% budget cut

SAAF helicopters grounded for lack of funds

None of the South African Air Force’s 18 Agusta A109 helicopters are being used, because there is no money to operate them, say reports.

Zuma

Zuma awarded top liberation military veterans’ medal

President Jacob Zuma has been honoured with the second highest liberation military veterans’ medal.

Southern Africa’s Bushmen face lifestyle threat

They roamed the savannahs and open plains for thousands of years, but the hunter-gatherer lifestyle of Southern Africa’s San tribes is slowly being squeezed towards extinction.…