South Africa Military

South Africa is a country located in the southern part of Africa and is known for its strong military and defense. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is the military branch of the country and consists of four branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, and Special Forces. The total active personnel stands at around 78,000 with an additional reserve force of around 22,000 personnel. South Africa has a higher defense budget compared to its GDP as it spends about 1.1% of its GDP on defense. The country also imports weapons from countries such as Germany, France, and Israel. South Africa also has strong ties with other countries in the region such as Angola and Zimbabwe which allows them to cooperate militarily when needed. As a result of this strong military presence in the region, South Africa has become an important regional hub for security and stability in Southern Africa. See naturegnosis to learn more about the country of South Africa.

In South Africa, there are enough different worlds to discover – many worlds and many populations with their numerous languages, customs and pasts. In addition, the advantages of travel to South Africa are the non-existent time difference and great dating destinations where there is no malaria.

The most well-known places to visit on trips to South Africa are the beautiful Cape Town next to Table Mountain, the rugged but species-rich Cape of Good Hope and the steep Victoria Falls.

Defense

The defense was previously based on general military duty. Gradually, it was transformed into an acquired squad by integrating the old defense force and the ANC’s military branch. A significant reduction in the personnel force combined with a clear modernization was carried out. The army comprises (2006) 36,000 men and is built around type units of battalion force that can be distributed to nine (brigade) commanding bodies. To this is added a reserve force of 10 500 men. The territorial associations, totaling 47,000 men, will be dissolved before 2009. The fleet comprises 4,500 men, 5,800 fully manned, with 3 modernized submarines, 4 modern corvettes and 32 patrol boats. The Air Force comprises 9,000 men, 9,750 fully manned, with 74 fighter aircraft and 12 attack helicopters. In 2006, 28 JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft were introduced.

South Africa participates in UN peacekeeping efforts in Burundi (ONUB), the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia/ Eritrea and Sudan. Defense costs fell from 2.7 to 1.5% of GDP in 1985-2006. To see related acronyms about this country, please check ABBREVIATIONFINDER where you can see that ZA stands for South Africa.

South Africa Army

The total force figures for South Africa’s armed forces are 65,350 active personnel, with a reserve of 15,050 personnel (2018, IISS).

  • COUNTRYAAH: Do you know where is South Africa on the world map? Come to see the location and all bordering countries of South Africa.

Army

The army has a strength of 40,200 active personnel. Materials include 24 Elephant 2 tanks, 50 clarinets, 534 storm tanks, 810 armored personnel vehicles and two self-propelled artillery. In addition, the Army has heavy artillery, anti-aircraft artillery and light drones.

Air Force

The Air Force has a strength of 9900 active personnel. Materials include 26 fighter central Saab, 24 transport, 59 trainers (of which 24 Hawk which can also be used as light combat aircraft), and 85 helicopters (which eleven combat helicopters central Rooivalk).

The Navy

The Navy has a force of 7100 active personnel. The fleet includes three tactical submarines, four frigates, four patrol vessels, two minesweepers and two auxiliary vessels.

International operations

In 2018, South Africa participated in UN operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) with an infantry battalion, a combat helicopter squadron and a helicopter squadron (1175 personnel), and seven observers, and in Sudan (UNAMID) with three personnel and ten observers.

Nuclear power in South Africa

South Africa is the only country in Africa that has nuclear reactors in commercial operation. The country’s nuclear power plant, Koeberg, came into operation in 1984. The power plant has two pressurized water reactors with a total capacity of 1830 MW e.

Coal is the dominant energy resource in South Africa and accounts for almost 70% of the country’s energy consumption. This also characterizes the country’s electrical energy production system, where several large coal power plants are built near the country’s many coal mines. In 2012, the coal power plants accounted for more than 92% of the country’s total power generation of 258 TWh. The contribution from nuclear power was 13 TWh, which was 5%.

In order to meet the future need for electrical energy, a number of plans for further power development have been presented in recent years. In 2008, the state power company, Eskom, announced plans to expand its production capacity by 40 GW e by 2025, half of which would be nuclear power. These ambitions were not followed up. So far the plans are concretised to a development of 9,600 MW e new nuclear power over the next 10 years. However, no final decision has been made, which is attributed to difficulties in financing.

From 1993 to 2010, Eskom, in collaboration with, among others, the international company Westinghouse, worked on developing an innovative demonstration plant based on a pebble bed reactor. However, this project has been halted by the South African government, citing, among other things, the lack of interest from potential customers. In addition, funding would be demanding as much work remained before the reactor could be realized.

South Africa has large uranium resources and some of these are currently being mined as a by-product of the gold and copper mines. Annual production is approximately 600 tonnes of uranium (U 3 O 8), which represents 1% of the world’s total uranium production.

South Africa – Pretoria

Pretoria

Pretoria, capital of South Africa; 1. 7 million residents (2009). Pretoria is the seat of government, and its residents are largely employed in the service sector. The industry is dominated by iron and steel handling, diamond mining and the food industry. The city has two universities, several museums, parks and historical monuments. Voortrekkermonumentet.

Pretoria was founded in 1855 and is named after the peasant leader Andries Pretorius (1798-1853), who in 1838 defeated the Zulu people at Blood River. Pretoria became the capital of the Transvaal in 1860 and in 1910 in the newly formed South African Union.