It was, in many respects, a mirror of 7th South African Infantry Division.

A provisional 1977 order of battle had 8 Armoured Division organised as follows: [1] Headquartered in Pretoria, 81 Armoured Brigade consisted of the following units: Headquartered in Potchefstroom, 82 Mechanised Brigade consisted of the following units: During Operation Packer which succeeded Operation Hooper in March 1988, 82 Mechanised Brigade protected the eastern bank of the Cuito River.

Headquartered in Durban, 84 Brigade was formed in Durban as part of 8 South African Armoured Armoured Division on August 1, 1974, and its official establishment was authorized on September 10 of that year.

82 Mechanised Brigade had been transferred to the command of 7 South African Infantry Division.

8 Division's Brigades were disbanded in 1992 and the battalions and regiments came to answer directly to the divisional headquarters - the thinking was that these would be grouped into task forces as required.