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Republic of South Africa. Shoulder title of the South Africa Active Citizen Force of the South African Navy. Text in English. Insignia of the SADF South African Defence Forces. Pre-1991 South African insignia, during the Apartheid period. The Citizen Force remained within the restructured South African Defence Force (SADF) following the dissolution of the UDF in the late 1950s. White South Africans completing military service were automatically enlisted in the Citizen Force for five years, with the expectation of serving at least nineteen days per year. In 1977, this time was extended to thirty days per year for eight years. Afterwards, they were considered part of the Citizen Force Reserve for another five years and could still be called up for military service if their skills were required. The Citizen Force was composed entirely of white South African men until 1978, when Black South Africans who had previously served in the Corps also enlisted. The first Black officers in the Citizen Force were commissioned in October 1978.
By the late 1980s, the Citizen Force represented 68% of the total SADF force. No Black South Africans enlisted in the Citizen Force, as most Black SADF recruits were professional soldiers and lacked the part-time military tradition of the country’s white community.
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