Watch: South Africa shows off its military power

·22 Feb 2017

In 2012, President Zuma proclaimed that 21 February each year will be observed and commemorated as Armed Forces Day.

This would be a day set aside to expand public understanding of the military’s role and its purpose to society, as well as to demonstrate the military combat readiness against threats and to support government during peace time.

This year the celebration also coincided with the centenary of the sinking of the SS Mendi steamship which killed more than 600 black South Africans during the First World War.

In tribute, the country’s armed forces showed off in a number of displays around the country most notably on KZN’s Blue lagoon beach.

How strong is South Africa’s military?

Data from Global Firepower (GFP) shows that South Africa’s military is ranked 46th out of 126 countries.

The list uses over 50 factors to determine a country’s Power Index score, with military data taken from the CIA World Factbook, public domain print and media sources and user contributions.

South Africa’s military force is ranked as the third strongest in Africa, below Egypt (18th) and Algeria (27th), but ahead of Nigeria (41st) and Ethiopia (46th).

The country is listed as having an active military force of 89,000 personnel, with 17,100 in reserve. There are 14.1 million South Africans “fit” for service (meaning all citizens aged between 16 and 49).

According to DefenceWeb, the South African Army is the single largest component of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF), getting a majority of the overall defence budget – R15.65 billion for the 2016/17 financial year.