Conscription in South Africa was established in 1952 and continued until 1995. As part of the Apartheid system, conscription applied only to men from the white minority that dominated the country. Conscription was initially administrated through a ballot system but in 1967 a universal national service scheme was introduced. Requirements on conscripts increased over time, and at its peak consisted of two years of mandatory military service, followed by periodic calls ups for training and active service. Most members of the South African Defence Force were conscripts.
Many conscripts were required to fight in the South African Border War and take part in operations within South Africa to quash resistance to the Apartheid regime. There were few opportunities for conscientious objection, though the great majority of conscripts served willingly. The End Conscription Campaign and other movements grew in prominence during the 1980s and were at times suppressed by the government.
Conscription was phased out from 1990. The largest mobilisation of conscripts took place in 1994, to provide security for the country's first democratic election. Following the transition to democracy, conscription was no longer enforced from August 1994 and was formally abolished in 1995. The post-Apartheid South African National Defence Force comprises only volunteers. There have been several proposals to re-introduce conscription since 2000.
Background
The Afrikaner community in South Africa had a history of voluntary military service by white citizens in the commando system. These forces were raised when needed for local defence and men serving with them generally did not receive formal military training. Following the Second Boer War many Afrikaners saw a standing military as a symbol of oppression.
South Africa's English community reflected the norms of the United Kingdom. This included maintaining a professional standing army made up of long-serving volunteers, with conscription (enacted through press gangs) only being seen as acceptable in dire circumstances.
The Union Defence Force (UDF) was formed in 1912. While attempts were made to structure it in ways that reflected the different traditions of the Afrikaner and English communities, it largely reflected the norms of the English community. The Defence Act that was passed in 1912 included provisions to enable conscription, but these were not enacted. As a result, military service was voluntary until 1952, including during the world wars in which large numbers of South Africans joined the military. Following the Second World War the Active Citizen Force, which comprised only volunteers, supplemented the full-time military.
Requirements Conscription by ballot The National Party was elected to rule South Africa in 1948 on the basis of commitments to intensify and entrench racial discrimination in favour of the white minority; this was known as the Apartheid system. The National Party government also began to restructure the UDF to reflect the norms of the Afrikaner community.
Conscription was first introduced in 1952 under the provisions of the 1912 Defence Act. From this time, most members of the South African military were conscripts. All white men reaching conscription age (around 30,000 men) were balloted annually, with a small number being selected for service. These conscripts were initially liable for three months of training followed by three short training camps annually for four years; for a period this was reduced to two months training and a training camp every second year. Conscripts had completed their initial training were designated the Citizen Force (CF) with the full-time professional military being the Permanent Force (PF).
In 1957 the South African parliament passed the Defence Act (No. 44), through which the UDF became the South African Defence Force (SADF). This act included provisions that made all white men aged between 17 and 65 liable for service in the SADF. Women and men not classified as white were exempt from conscription.
The requirements on conscripts increased from the early 1960s in response to resistance to the Apartheid system and an associated perceived deterioration in South Africa's security. The number of men selected for conscription annually grew from about 7,000 in 1957 to 20,000 in 1964. Conscripts were required to complete nine months of initial training from 1961 and those assigned to the CF had to undertake five annual camps totalling 90 days of service. Under the legislation in force at this time, conscripts needed to undertake training only and could be deployed on active service in crises. By the last years of the balloting system the majority of eligible men were being called up.
From 1957, the South African government did not permit conscientious objection to military service. There were calls from religious groups to introduce provisions to enable this, but the government did not change the relevant regulations.
Universal national service
The Minister for Defence, Jim Fouché, commissioned a committee to review the SADF's manpower needs in 1965. Following extensive consultations, the committee found that the ballot system of conscription was unfair and inefficient. It recommended that universal conscription be introduced instead. The government accepted this finding.
The Defence Act of 1967 introduced a universal national service scheme for white men. Refusing to serve was illegal, and was punishable by up to two years imprisonment. The 1967 reforms also removed the limitation on conscripts only being liable for training during normal periods, which enabled the SADF to deploy them on operations. From 1967 to 1973, conscripts were required to undertake 12 months initial service. After completing this, over the next ten years they needed to provide three periods of active service for 26 days as well as five annual twelve day training camps. Between 1974 and 1976, the liability for part-time service for CF personnel was changed to five camps, each of 19 day duration.
From 1977 to 1982 conscripts were required to undertake 24 months initial service and CF members were liable for eight annual 30 day camps. In 1982 foreign citizens who were permanent residents of South African became liable for conscription. Between 1983 and 1992 the initial period period of service remained 24 months and CF members were then liable for six cycles of 120 days of active service over the next 24 months. After completing all of their mandatory service periods, men could transfer to the inactive reserve or volunteer to continue with the CF or a commando unit. In the 1980s South Africa had one of the longest periods of mandatory military service in the world, and the harshest penalties for evading it.
In 1974 anti-conscription activities were criminalised. A mechanism to allow men to object to conscription on religious grounds was introduced in 1983. Applicants for this status who were found to meet the criteria had to undertake lengthy and unpleasant forms of alternative service. Some categories of religious objectors were required to undertake alternative service for one and half times as long as the period they would have served in the SADF. The criminalisation of anti-conscription activities meant that many men were unaware that religious objection was an option potentially available to them.
Conscription was phased out from 1990. During that year, the period of national service was reduced to twelve months. The final intake of national servicemen took place in July 1993. On 24 August 1993 the Minister for Defence, Kobie Coetsee, announced that conscription would be abolished. Legislation to end conscription was passed in 1993 but members of the CF remained liable for call ups until mid-1994. When the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was formed in April 1994 it included 34,000 national servicemen in the full-time force and 425,000 personnel in commando and reserve units. The government argued in July that year that continuing call ups were necessary until new arrangements to recruit volunteers were established given that the SADF was playing an important role in internal security. A moratorium on prosecutions for draft evasion was introduced in August 1994, ending the requirement for conscripts to report when called up.
Estimates of the total number of conscripts vary. The historian David Williams has put the figure at 600,000. Magnus Malan, who served as the head of the SADF and Minister for Defence, wrote that there were more than 500,000. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) stated that almost 428,774 men were conscripted between 1960 and 1992.
Post-Apartheid
As part of reforms through which the SANDF was formed, the final elements of conscription ended in 1995. As of 2026, the SANDF continues to comprise only volunteers. The Constitution of South Africa that was adopted in 1996 does not contain any provisions relating to conscription or conscientious objection.
It was reported in September 2000 that the government was considering reintroducing a form of conscription, with the head of the SANDF informing parliament that he intended to put proposals to the government on the issue. In 2010, Minister of Defence Lindiwe Sisulu proposed to introduce legislation to establish a voluntary form of national service for young people. Another report in 2015 stated that elements of the governing African National Congress wanted to implement mandatory military service for young people as a means of reducing unemployment and improving patriotism and discipline.
Use of conscripts
The South African government introduced and expanded conscription to provide the military manpower it believed was required to sustain the Apartheid system against domestic and international opposition. This took place in the context of increasing isolation due to the decolonisation of Africa and growing opposition to Apartheid in western countries that had previously been allies. This isolation meant that South Africa needed to become increasingly self-sufficient.
As South Africa did not face a significant external threat in the 1950s and 1960s, the main challenge was seen as suppressing internal resistance to white rule. This included responding to protests that occurred in response to the Sharpeville massacre in March 1960.
The introduction of National Service enabled a major expansion of the SADF. This included building up a sizable force of Army units that were available for combat at short notice. By 1974, the Army's full-time forces included eight regular infantry battalions, a parachute battalion and substantial armoured and artillery units. There were 42 CF infantry battalions, one of which was a parachute unit, and more than 200 commando units. The CF also contributed 16 armoured regiments and 19 artillery regiments.
The great majority of conscripts were assigned to the South African Army. The South African Air Force (SAAF) and South African Navy mainly relied on PF personnel as they required higher levels of technical skills. Some conscripts were assigned to the South African Police, with this requiring their consent. Conscripts in the police had similar obligations for full time and part-time service as those in the Army.
Border war
Armed resistance to South African rule in South West Africa began in 1966, with the SWAPO nationalist group launching an armed struggle. This was initially handled by the police, but by 1973 the government concluded that the SADF also needed to be deployed. The military largely took over responsibility for counter-insurgency tasks. Most SADF personnel sent to the territory were conscripts. Large numbers of CF units and individual personnel were rotated through South West Africa on three month deployments.