21 South African Infantry Battalion is an infantry battalion of the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

. The unit has its origin as 21 Battalion, an apartheid era unit used to train black South African men as soldiers.

History

Origin

In 1973 the apartheid government decided to train black soldiers.Engelbrecht, A Guide to the SANDF, 2007, Chapter 9C, p.8 On 21 January 1974, the Army Bantu Training Centre was established at Baviaanspoort, north of Pretoria. Sixteen recruits began basic training in March 1974 with another 38 men joining in August, now trained by the sixteen initial recruits. In April 1975, authority was given for blacks to attest in the then-Permanent Force. On 1 December 1975, the Army Bantu Training Centre became a self-accounting unit and moved to Lenz, south of Johannesburg. The centre was then renamed 21 Battalion on the 21st birthday of the

South African Infantry Corps The South African Army Infantry Formation supervises all infantry within the South African Army. History Origins: Union Defence Force South African Infantry originated as the ''Infantry Branch'' of the Union Defence Forces in 1913. In 1915, ...

in 1975. Press releases during 1977 emphasised that these black soldiers would not be trained for South African combat roles. By 1978, the Chief of the South African Army begun to implement plans to establish 21 Battalion as the training school for black soldiers of different ethnic groups.

Homeland Units

The plan was for these recruits to serve in ethnic units in the current regional commands with their eventual adoption into the black homeland armies. The Lenz unit would train over eight years, up to eighteen black battalions, distributing them into these regional battalions. Initial units were the Zulu 121 Battalion at Jozini, Natal Command, the

Swazi Swazi may refer to: * Swazi people, a people of southeastern Africa * Swazi language * Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked coun ...

111 Battalion at

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Northern Transvaal Command Northern Transvaal Command was a command of the South African Army. It was active from 1959 to mid 2000 when it was disestablished. Formerly it was named Northern Command from 1946 to 1959. History Origins Union Defence Force Military Districts ...

, the

Venda Venda () was a Bantustan in northern South Africa, which is fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of the ...

112 Battalion at Madimbo and the

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113 Battalion at Impala near

Phalaborwa Phalaborwa (translated to English as ''better than the south; phala'' means ''better than and borwa'' means ''south'') is a town in the Mopani District Municipality, Limpopo province, South Africa. It is located near the confluence of the Ga-Sela ...

. The size of the battalion ranged from 35 men in 1975, reaching over 400 to 515 men in 1979.

Training

Training started with a 10-week orientation course that was used to weed out those not suited for military service and would eventually cull at least half of the recruits. The Second Phase of Basic training took 17 weeks as opposed to 12 weeks for white recruits and was conducted by black trainers in the form of

COIN A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

training. Phase Three resulted in specialised training and was conducted by white trainers with the men being trained to be clerks, storemen, tradesmen, mechanics, chefs and drivers. Training time for ranks of corporals and sergeants was identical to white recruits and was conducted by white trainers and resulted in the first corporals in 1977 and 21 sergeants in 1979. The January 1977 intake figures were 82 men, 260 men in 1979 and 350 by 1978. The unit expanded training to black recruits that formed units from the black homelands of the Transkei, 1

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ban ...

Battalion,

(later 15 SAI) and KwaNdebele(later 115 Battalion) as well as 48 men from

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts of ...

, 1 Ovambo Battalion and 100 men of 121 Battalion.

Later years

During March 1978, 140 men in three platoons, were deployed to the Eastern Caprivi for three months with the objective of liaising with the local population and to gather intelligence from any friendships cultivated. This was followed up with a second unit in 1979. By 1986 the unit had four companies of its own troops. In July 1987 it became a fully operational battalion, and was used as a reaction force in South Africa before being posted to

South-West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

in 1988 during the Border War.

Redesignated as a SAI

21 SAI was established on 1 January 1991 at Doornkop, Johannesburg.

SANDF era

In 1997 the unit was commanded by a colonel and consisted of two operational battalions. By 1999, it had reverted to four infantry companies and a reconnaissance platoon.

Freedom of Entry

The unit exercised its freedom of entry into Johannesburg on 9 November 2013 as part of the centenary celebrations of the City of Johannesburg with fixed bayonets, colours flying and drums beating.

Leadership

Insignia

Previous Dress Insignia

Current Dress Insignia

References

{{SA Army Units Infantry battalions of South Africa Infantry regiments of South Africa Military units and formations in Johannesburg Military units and formations established in 1975