This unit was formed in East London in 1876, as the Buffalo Corps of Rifle Volunteers, for service in the 9th Frontier War.

There had previously been many other units from this region, from which the Regiment can also claim descent: On 1 December 1900 George Herbert Farrar was appointed as a Major in the Kaffrarian Rifles.

By 1913 the unit was embodied in the Citizen Force as the 5th Infantry (Kaffrarian Rifles), but regained its old name in 1932.

a Rifle company returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a six-month spell of active duty as part of MONUSCO.

The Buffalo Volunteer Rifles still utilize a British Infantry tradition where officers had a red backing and ranks were blackened out on fatigues.