Boer Commando The Boer commando was the basic unit of organisation of the militia of the Boer people of South Africa . The term came into English usage during the Second Boer War . History . In 1658 , war erupted between the Dutch settlers at Cape Colony and the Khoi - khoi . In order to protect the settlement , all able bodied men were conscripted . After the conclusion of this war , all men in the colony were liable for military service and were expected to be ready on short notice . By 1700 , the size of the colony had increased immensely and it was divided into districts . The small military garrison stationed at the Castle de Goede Hoop couldn ' t be counted on to react swiftly in the border districts , therefore the commando system was expanded and formalized . Each district had a Kommandant who was charged with calling up all burghers in times of need . In 1795 , with the First British Occupation and again in 1806 with the Second British Occupation , the commandos were called up to defend the Cape Colony . At the Battle of Blaauwberg ( 6 January 1806 ) , the Swellendam Commando held the British off long enough for the rest of the Batavian army to retreat to safety . Under British rule , the Cape Colony continued to use the commando system in its frontier wars , in addition to regular British imperial troops . Boer commandos fought alongside Fengu , English settler , Khoi - khoi and other ethnic groups in units which were often mixed . Light , mobile commandos were undeniably better - suited than the slow - moving columns of imperial troops , for warfare in the rough frontier mountains . However , tensions often arose in the Cape ' s government over the relative merits and control of these two parallel military systems . During the Great Trek , this system was used and remained in use in the Boer republics . Both republics issued commando laws , making commando service mandatory in times of need for all male citizens between the ages of 16 and 60 . During the Anglo - Boer War ( 1899 – 1902 ) the Boer commando formed the backbone of the Boer forces . After the declaration of peace in 1902 , the commandos were disbanded . They did reform themselves in clandestine " shooting clubs " . In 1912 , the commandos were reformed as an Active Citizen Force in the Union Defence Force . This system was in operation until 2005 , when all commandos were disbanded again . Structure . Each commando was attached to a town , after which it was named ( e . g . Bloemfontein Commando ) . Each town was responsible for a district , divided into wards . The commando was commanded by a kommandant and each ward by a veldkornet or field cornet ( equivalent of a senior NCO rank ) The veldkornet was responsible not only for calling up the burghers , but also for policing his ward , collecting taxes , issuing firearms and other material in times of war . Theoretically , a ward was divided into corporalships . A corporalship was usually made up of about 20 burghers . Sometimes entire families ( fathers , sons , uncles , cousins ) filled a corporalship . The veldkornet was responsible to the kommandant , who in turn was responsible to a general . In theory , a general was responsible for four commandos . He in turn was responsible to the commander - in - chief of the republic . In the Transvaal , the C - in - C was called the Commandant - General and in the Free State the " Hoofdkommandant " ( Chief Commandant ) . The C - in - C was responsible to the president . Other auxiliary ranks were created in war time , such as " vleiskorporaal " ( " meat corporal " ) , responsible for issuing rations . The commando was made up of volunteers , all officers were appointed by the members of the commando , and not by the government . This gave a chance for some commanders to appear , such as General Koos de la Rey and General C . R . de Wet , but also had the disadvantage of sometimes putting inept commanders in charge . Discipline was also a problem , as there was no real way of enforcing it . The various Boer republics did not all have the same command structure . Weaponry . From the early days the commandos were issued with firearms by the government of the day . The burghers were obliged to keep these firearms serviceable and ready at all times . In the Anglo - Boer War , most burghers were issued with the modern , clip - loading Mauser rifle . Before the Boer War , the two Boer republics had permanent artillery units ( e . g . the Transvaalse Staatsartillerie ) , equipped with Krupp or Creusot artillery .