List of wars involving South Africa

This is a list of wars involving the Union of South Africa and its successor, the Republic of South Africa.

Conflict	South Africa and allies	Opponents	Results	Prime Minister (1912–94) President (1994–)	Losses
World War I (1914–1918 A.D.)	France United Kingdom Canada Australia New Zealand India South Africa Newfoundland Russia Italy United States Serbia Montenegro Belgium Japan China Romania Portugal Brazil Hejaz Greece Armenia Nejd and Hasa Siam	Germany Austria-Hungary Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Transvaal	Victory End of the German, Russian, Ottoman, and Austro-Hungarian empires Formation of new countries in Europe and the Middle East Establishment of the League of Nations	Louis Botha	9,726 dead^[1]
Maritz Rebellion (1914–1915)	South Africa	South African Republic	Government victory Rebellion suppressed		9,726 dead^[1]
Russian Civil War^[2] (1918–1920)	White Movement United Kingdom United States France Japan Italy China Canada Australia India South Africa Czechoslovakia Poland Greece Romania Yugoslavia Estonia	Russian SFSR Far Eastern Republic Latvian SSR Ukrainian SSR Commune of Estonia Mongolian Communists	Defeat (limited involvement)^[2] Allied withdrawal from Russia Defeat of the White Movement		Unknown
Rand Rebellion (1921–1922)	South Africa	CPSA	Government victory Rebellion suppressed	Jan Smuts	153 dead^[3] (both sides)
Bondelswarts Rebellion (1922)	South Africa South West Africa	Bondelswarts	Government victory Rebellion suppressed		100 dead, 468 wounded (Bondelswarts)
World War II (1939–1945)	Soviet Union United States United Kingdom China France Poland Yugoslavia Greece Netherlands Belgium Luxembourg Denmark Norway Czechoslovakia Canada Australia New Zealand India South Africa Philippines Ethiopia Brazil Mexico Mongolia	Germany Japan Italy Romania Hungary Bulgaria Slovakia Croatia Finland Thailand Iraq	Victory Collapse of the German Reich Fall of Japanese and Italian Empires Creation of the United Nations Emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as superpowers Beginning of the Cold War		6,840 dead 1,841 missing 14,589 prisoners
Greek Civil War (1944–1945)^[4]	Cairo Government United Kingdom South Africa	ELAS	Victory Treaty of Varkiza		None
Korean War (1950–1953)	South Korea United States United Kingdom Canada Turkey Australia Ethiopia Philippines New Zealand Thailand Greece France Colombia Belgium South Africa Netherlands Luxembourg	North Korea China Soviet Union	Stalemate The Korean Armistice Agreement North Korean invasion of South Korea repelled UN invasion of North Korea repelled Chinese invasion of South Korea repelled Korean Demilitarized Zone established Little territorial change at the 38th parallel border	D. F. Malan	34 dead^[5] 9 prisoners
Rhodesian Bush War (1965–1979)	Rhodesia South Africa	ZANU FRELIMO ZAPU ANC	Stalemate Lancaster House Agreement, internationally recognised independence for the Zimbabwe	B. J. Vorster	Unknown
Mozambican Civil War (1979–1985)^[6]	RENAMO Zimbabwe Rhodesia South Africa	FRELIMO ANC	Stalemate (limited involvement) Non-aggression pact (Nkomati Accord)	P. W. Botha	Unknown
South African Border War (1966–1989)^[7]	South Africa Portugal UNITA FNLA	SWAPO SWANU MPLA Cuba ANC Zambia	Stalemate Withdrawal of foreign forces from Angola Namibian independence from South African rule		2,038 dead^[8]
Natal Civil War (1987–1994)^[9]	IFP	ANC	Stalemate^[9] Violence subsided following 1994 elections		Unknown
Operation Boleas (1998)	South Africa Botswana	LDF rebels	Victory Suspected coup d'état in Lesotho quelled	Nelson Mandela	11 dead^[10]
Battle of Bangui (2013)	South Africa Central African Republic	Séléka	Disputed^[11] François Bozizé successfully escorted to safety,Rebel advance towards South African base repelled	Jacob Zuma	15 dead^[12]
M23 Rebellion (2012-2013)	Democratic Republic of the Congo MONUSCO Force Intervention Brigade South Africa^[13] Tanzania^[14] Malawi^[15]	March 23 Movement Alleged support: Uganda^[16] Rwanda^[16]	Victory M23 disarms and demobilises^[17]		None
ADF Insurgency (2014–present)	DR Congo Uganda South Africa Tanzania Malawi	ADF	Ongoing UNF Intervention Brigade intervention from 2014		1 dead
Insurgency in Cabo Delgado (2017–present)	SADC South Africa Mozambique Tanzania Angola Botswana Rwanda Malawi Lesotho	Ansar al-Sunna Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant	Ongoing involvement of South African Special forces from July 2021	Cyril Ramaphosa	1^[18]

Notes

References

^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2013–2014 Archived 2015-11-04 at the Wayback Machine, page 48. Figures include identified burials and those commemorated by name on memorials.
^ ^a ^b Scientia Militaria: South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 15, Nr 4, 1985, pp. 46-48. Accessed January 24, 2016.
^ Bendix, S. (2001) Industrial Relations in South Africa. Claremont: Juta. p. 59
^ See Air operations during the Greek Civil War#South African Air Force
^ "Casualties of Korean War" (in Korean). Ministry of National Defense of Republic of Korea. Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved 14 February 2007.
^ South Africa agreed to withdraw its support for RENAMO in 1984. However, South Africa only withdrew from the Mozambican Civil War in 1985. For more information, see War and Society: The Militarisation of South Africa, edited by Jacklyn Cock and Laurie Nathan, pp.104-115
^ Note: South Africa was already involved in combating SWAPO insurgents in 1966, but intervention in Angola started in 1975 with Operation Savannah.
^ "SA Roll of Honour: List of Wars". Justdone.co.za. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
^ ^a ^b Taylor, Rupert. "Justice denied: political violence in Kwazulu‐Natal after 1994." African Affairs 101, no. 405 (2002): 473-508.
^ "'A fractious lot': Anatomy of (another) coup in Lesotho". Daily Maverick. 3 July 2015.
^
References:
- Helmoed Römer Heitman. [1]
^ "CAR battle claims another SANDF soldier". Enca. South Africa.
^ South Africa deploys troops to DR Congo: News Archived 24 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Africareview.com (2 June 2012). Retrieved on 2013-09-04.
^ "Last batch of Tanzanian troops now in Goma for the Force Intervention Brigade". MONUSCO. 12 June 2013. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
^ "UN troops clash with rebels in DR Congo – Africa". Al Jazeera English. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
^ ^a ^b According to a leaked U.N. report. "Rwanda defence chief leads DR Congo rebels, UN report says". BBC. 17 October 2012. Archived from the original on 27 November 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
^ Andrew Harding (5 November 2013). "BBC News – DR Congo M23 rebels 'end insurgency'". BBC. Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
^ "Remains of SA soldier killed in Mozambique handed over to family". africanews.

[1] Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2013–2014 Archived 2015-11-04 at the Wayback Machine, page 48. Figures include identified burials and those commemorated by name on memorials.

[Russian_Civil_War-2] Scientia Militaria: South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 15, Nr 4, 1985, pp. 46-48. Accessed January 24, 2016.

[3] Bendix, S. (2001) Industrial Relations in South Africa. Claremont: Juta. p. 59

[4] See Air operations during the Greek Civil War#South African Air Force

[5] "Casualties of Korean War" (in Korean). Ministry of National Defense of Republic of Korea. Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved 14 February 2007.

[Mozambique-6] South Africa agreed to withdraw its support for RENAMO in 1984. However, South Africa only withdrew from the Mozambican Civil War in 1985. For more information, see War and Society: The Militarisation of South Africa, edited by Jacklyn Cock and Laurie Nathan, pp.104-115

[7] Note: South Africa was already involved in combating SWAPO insurgents in 1966, but intervention in Angola started in 1975 with Operation Savannah.

[8] "SA Roll of Honour: List of Wars". Justdone.co.za. Retrieved 15 January 2013.

[Rupert-9] Taylor, Rupert. "Justice denied: political violence in Kwazulu‐Natal after 1994." African Affairs 101, no. 405 (2002): 473-508.

[10] "'A fractious lot': Anatomy of (another) coup in Lesotho". Daily Maverick. 3 July 2015.

[11] References:
Helmoed Römer Heitman. [1]

[12] Helmoed Römer Heitman. [1]

[12] "CAR battle claims another SANDF soldier". Enca. South Africa.

[africareview.com-13] South Africa deploys troops to DR Congo: News Archived 24 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Africareview.com (2 June 2012). Retrieved on 2013-09-04.

[un.org-14] "Last batch of Tanzanian troops now in Goma for the Force Intervention Brigade". MONUSCO. 12 June 2013. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013.

[15] "UN troops clash with rebels in DR Congo – Africa". Al Jazeera English. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.

[leaked-16] According to a leaked U.N. report. "Rwanda defence chief leads DR Congo rebels, UN report says". BBC. 17 October 2012. Archived from the original on 27 November 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2012.

[17] Andrew Harding (5 November 2013). "BBC News – DR Congo M23 rebels 'end insurgency'". BBC. Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2013.

[18] "Remains of SA soldier killed in Mozambique handed over to family". africanews.

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v t e Lists of wars involving African countries
Sovereign states	Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
States with limited recognition	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Somaliland
Dependencies and other territories	Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla (Spain) Madeira (Portugal) Mayotte / Réunion (France) Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)

See also

Notes

References