South African Special Forces The South African Special Forces Brigade ( popularly known as " Recces " ) is the only Special Forces unit of the South African National Defence Force ( SANDF ) . On 1 October 1972 , 1 Reconnaissance Commando was created at Oudtshoorn , South Africa . It was relocated a few years later to Durban , South Africa . This was the first South African Special Forces unit . The South African special forces played a significant role in the country ' s 30 year long border war in Namibia and Angola . South African Special Forces now consists of Special Forces Headquarters in Pretoria , 4 Special Forces Regiment in Langebaan , 5 Special Forces Regiment - Phalaborwa and the Special Forces School in Murrayhill . 4 Special Forces Regiment specialise in maritime - related activities , whereas 5 Special Forces regiment specialises more in overland techniques , especially long - range infiltration . The Brigade is directly under the command of the Joint Operations Division of the SANDF , and unlike other similar forces worldwide , is not a part of the South African Army . History . The first South African Special Forces unit , 1 Reconnaissance Commando , was established in the town of Oudtshoorn , Cape Province on 1 October 1972 . On 1 January 1975 , this unit was relocated to Durban , Natal , where it continued its activities as the airborne specialist unit of the special forces . Later , two additional Reconnaissance Commandos were formed : On 1 January 1981 , a re - organisation of Special Forces took place , as part of which the Reconnaissance Commandos and other special forces were transformed into an independent formation , directly under the command of the ( then ) South African Defence Force ( instead of the South African Army ) . As part of the re - organisation , the various Reconnaissance Commandos were also given the status of regiment s . In the latter part of the same decade , a Special Forces headquarters and a Special Forces stores depot were also added to the Special Forces structure . Between the years 1981 and 1990 , Special Forces was home to unconventional operations such as Project Barnacle , the Civil Cooperation Bureau and other operations conducted under the aegis of 7 Medical Battalion Group . In 1991 , the structure of the special forces underwent another change , when the special forces headquarters was disbanded and a Directorate Reconnaissance , reporting directly to the Chief of the Army , was established instead . Another organisational change followed in 1993 , when the Directorate Reconnaissance became 45 Parachute Brigade . As a result of this , all the units were renamed : 1 Reconnaissance Regiment became 452 Parachute Battalion , 4 Reconnaissance Regiment became 453 Parachute Battalion and 5 Reconnaissance Regiment became 451 Parachute Battalion . The special forces organisation was changed to its current structure in 1996 . The Special Forces Brigade , as it is presently known , consists of 4 and 5 Special Forces Regiments as well as 1 Maintenance Unit , which provides logistic support . As part of the military transformation process , 1 Special Forces Regiment was disbanded in 1996 . Operations . The South African " Recces " were deployed to many local hot spots during the late 1970s and early 1980s , particularly Angola . The main enemy then was South West Africa ’ s People Organization whose armed wing PLAN , was a guerrilla organization fighting for an independent Namibia . One of the " Recces " ' most effective operations came in 1982 : Operation Mebos penetrated deep into Angola and destroyed the SWAPO Headquarters . In Operation Askari , in the winter of 1984 , the " Recces " cut off almost all supply lines to and from the SWAPO in Angola . In 1985 , a " Recce " team undertook the controversial Operation Cabinda , a failed attempt to sabotage Angolan oil installations run by Gulf Oil . In early summer of 1985 , another " Recce " team under the command of SADF Captain Andre Diedericks crossed into Angola ’ s Cuando Cubango province , and with UNITA ' s help , protection and escort was secretly deployed around Menongue area . The team had at their disposal the 9K31 “ Strela - 1 ” AA system manned and operated by the team members . Team ’ s mission was to carry out covert combat operations , code names " Catamaran 1 , " " Catamaran 2 " and " Cerberus " with the goal to disrupt air traffic in Cuando Cubango province by shooting down air transports , combat aircraft and gunships using the AA system . On 11 June 1985 , roughly 80 km from Menongue , the team shot down Angolan airplane , a light utility aircraft , Britten - Norman BN - 2 “ Islander ” . The " Islander " , en route from Menongue to Cuito Cuanavale with a crew of 2 and 5 passengers was also carrying 69 million kwanza s ( Angola ’ s currency ) , several months of salary for FAPLA ’ s 16th Brigade ’ s personnel based in Cuito Cuanavale . When the " Islander " fell to the ground the money was stolen and the remains of the dead passengers had been pillaged by UNITA soldiers attached to protect the " Recce " team . On 25 November 1985 , the same " Recce " team had also shot down an “ Aeroflot ” Antonov AN - 12 , cargo airplane . The AN - 12 transport en route from Cuito Cuanavale to Luanda carrying 8 crew members and 13 passengers crashed approximately 43 km south - east of Menongue . All people on board ( twelve Soviet and nine Angolan nationals ) died in the crash . Selection . The Ultimate Challenge , as South African Special Forces Selection is often called , is considered one of the harder special forces selection courses in the world . A soldier must meet very high requirements to even attend Special Forces Selection . In accordance with SANDF regulation , only South African citizens are permitted . Pre - selection training . This includes all aspects of psychological and physical tests . For the psychological tests , soldiers will be given written tests and oral interviews with Special Forces NCOs . A soldier must be self - controlled and mature . Soldiers are ejected from the course if there is any suggestion of mental instability . The Physical Test includes 40 continuous push ups , 67 sit ups in two minutes , fireman lift , three - kilometre run in full gear in thirteen minutes , a rope climb ( to show upper body strength ) , 40 shuttle runs in 95 seconds and wall scaling . A student must scale a wall , complete a fifteen - kilometre march in less than 120 minutes and perform 120 shuttle kicks . Parachute selection course . Basic Parachute School is one of the most demanding . All Special Forces candidates who aren ' t parachute - qualified will have to attend this course . Special Forces selection . Selection is an event during which candidates are placed in an extremely mentally and physically demanding set of situations and circumstances , through which they must pass . It is in duration approximately a week . For the duration of Selection , the candidates do not sleep or eat , and have no rest period at all . Only an extremely small percentage of persons who begin Selection ever pass it . In some years , no - one has managed to pass Selection , and there are other cases where only 1 or 2 persons out of an entire Selection group pass . Training cycle . Once past the Selection process , he will be placed on a training cycle to acquire the skills required . These include : air co - operation , water orientation , obstacle crossing , bushcraft , tracking and survival , demolitions and tactics in urban as well as rural areas . Advanced Airborne Training : a recruit will be taught about military free - fall such as HALO and HAHO . They will also learn about helicopter operations – how to rappel fast down a rope out of helicopters . Combat extraction is also taught , along with learning how to set up a LZ . Land training consists of many things : including sniping , demolitions and reconnaissance . Bushcraft and survival is also taught . Climbing and photography are taught to new recruits . Urban and rural combat is perhaps the newest training – developed quite recently , this training provided South Africa with a new counter - terrorist force . Medical and communications training is also given to those who wish to become qualified . Maritime training consists of the use of small boats , underwater demolitions , swimming , diving , beach reconnaissance and navigation . Operator ' s Badge . All South African Special Forces operators receive the Operator ' s Badge , which is given only to those members who have completed all the qualifications as an Operator . It consists of an inverted Commando Knife within a laurel wreath , which is meant to symbolise both special forces ( the knife ) and victory ( the wreath ) . Standard operator badges are silver , but a gold badge with an embedded diamond is awarded to Operators with more than 10 years of active service .