Bophuthatswana Defence Force

The Bophuthatswana Defence Force, known in Afrikaans as the Bophuthatswana Weermag and abbreviated BDF, was the military of the Republic of Bophuthatswana, a nominally independent bantustan of the apartheid era in South Africa. It was established on 6 December 1977 from trainees of the South African Defence Force, beginning as a ceremonial National Guard of about 125 soldiers, and was formalized in November 1979 under a Department of Defence. It was organized into three military areas with bases for infantry battalions, a parachute battalion and special forces, a military school and technical services, and an air wing at Air Force Base Mmabatho. A coup attempt in February 1988 was put down with help from the South African Defence Force. In March 1994 unrest followed an incursion by Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members, and Bophuthatswana was then placed under South African government control.