en Caledon River Commando

Caledon River Commando
Caledon River Commando
	Caledon River Commando emblem
Disbanded	March 14, 2003 (21 years ago)
Country	South Africa
Allegiance	Republic of South Africa; Republic of South Africa;
Branch	South African Army; South African Army;
Type	Infantry
Role	Light Infantry
Size	One Battalion
Part of	South African Infantry Corps; Army Territorial Reserve, Group 36
Garrison/HQ	South western Free State

Caledon River Commando was a light infantry regiment of the South African Army. It formed part of the South African Army Infantry Formation as well as the South African Territorial Reserve.

History

Origin

Operations

With the UDF

By 1902 all Commando remnants were under British military control and disarmed.

By 1912, however previous Commando members could join shooting associations.

By 1940, such commandos were under control of the National Reserve of Volunteers.

These commandos were formally reactivated by 1948.

With the SADF

During this era, the unit was mainly used for area force protection, search and cordons as well as stock theft control assistance to the rural police.

The unit fell under the command of Group 36.

With the SANDF

Disbandment

This unit, along with all other Commando units was disbanded after a decision by South African President Thabo Mbeki to disband all Commando Units.^[1]^[2] The Commando system was phased out between 2003 and 2008 "because of the role it played in the apartheid era", according to the Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula.^[3]

Unit Insignia

Leadership

Leadership
From	Honorary Colonels	To
From	Commanding Officer	To
From	Regimental Sergeant Major	To

References

^ Col L B van Stade, Senior Staff Officer Rationalisation, SANDF (1997). "Rationalisation in the SANDF: The Next Challenge". Institute for Security Studies. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ "About the Commando system". Archived from the original on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 17 January 2008.
^ de Lange, Deon. "South Africa: Commandos Were 'Hostile to New SA'". Cape Argus. Retrieved 5 March 2015.

Caledon River Commando