South African National Defence Force (SANDF): South African Army (includes Reserve Force), South African Navy (SAN), South African Air Force (SAAF), South African Military Health Services (2021)
Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF): Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) (2021)
Military service age and obligation
18-26 years of age for voluntary military service; women are eligible to serve in noncombat roles; 2-year service obligation (2021)
18-22 years of age for voluntary military service (18-24 for officer cadets; 18-30 for technical/specialist personnel); no conscription; women are eligible to serve (2021)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
0.9% of GDP (2021 est.)
1% of GDP (2020 est.)
1% of GDP (2019)
1% of GDP (2018)
1% of GDP (2017)
0.7% of GDP (2019)
1.2% of GDP (2018)
1.5% of GDP (2017)
1.8% of GDP (2016)
1.9% of GDP (2015)
Military and security service personnel strengths
the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is comprised of approximately 75,000 personnel (40,000 Army; 7,000 Navy; 10,000 Air Force; 8,000 Military Health Service; 10,000 other, including administrative, logistics, military police) (2020)
information varies; approximately 30,000 active duty troops, including about 4,000 serving in the Air Force (2021)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
the SANDF's inventory consists of a mix of domestically-produced and foreign-supplied equipment; South Africa's domestic defense industry produced most of the Army's major weapons systems (some were jointly-produced with foreign companies), while the Air Force and Navy inventories include a mix of European, Israeli, and US-origin weapons systems; since 2010, Sweden is the largest supplier of weapons to the SANDF (2020)
the ZDF inventory is comprised mostly of older Chinese- and Russian-origin equipment; since 2000, China is the leading arms supplier to the ZDF, although there are no recorded deliveries of weapons since 2006; since the early 2000s, Zimbabwe has been under an arms embargo from the European Union, as well as targeted sanctions from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US (2020)
