By the 1980s, it was responsible for the security of the region, forming the primary level of command for military operations in support of the Police.

These included the Durban Light Infantry (located nearby in their historic buildings within the Greyville Racecourse), the Durban Regiment, 84 Signal Unit SACS, 15 Maintenance Unit SAOSC,[6] 19 Field Engineer Regiment SAEC, and Natal Field Artillery.

[7] It seems reasonably clear that in the research for World Armies a number of units assigned to the command at the time were missed.

Each of these regional groups fell under the authority of a Command and exercised operational control over a number of units, mostly Commandos.

SANDF director of facilities Brigadier General G Mngadi said the beach front property, formerly occupied by Headquarters Natal Command and later by the Joint Operations Division's eastern Joint Tactical Headquarters, “was leased by the National Department of Public Works for the South African Defence Force on a 99 year lease from the erstwhile Durban Corporation, now known as the Ethekweni Municipality.” Mngadi says that as a result of the consolidation of the facilities footprint in Durban, the facility had become superfluous and was returned to the city on October 16, 2009.