With the departure of the British and proclamation of the Republic in 1854, the commandos were retained and regular shooting exercises were held in the districts.

During the guerilla phase of the war, the commando raided its own city's infrastructure under British control, namely Bloemfontein's water works.

By 1978, Bloemfontein City Commando had a platoon mainly made up of colored employees of the Musgrave weapons factory and by 1980 had a complement of around 30 men led by a white officer.

The unit conducted several tours in the South West African operational area around 1976 to 1982, but was mainly responsible for internal security and protection especially during the unrest in the 1980s.

[6][7] The Commando system was phased out between 2003 and 2008 "because of the role it played in the apartheid era", according to the Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula.