[1][2][3] With effect from 6 April 1952, when a new series of South African military decorations and medals was instituted to replace the hitherto used British and British Commonwealth decorations and medals, these new awards took precedence in the order of wear before all earlier British military orders, decorations and medals awarded to South Africans, with the exception of the Victoria Cross, which still took precedence before all other awards.

[7][8][9] The position of the Permanent Force Good Service Medal in the official order of precedence was revised three times after 1975, to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, first upon the integration into the South African National Defence Force on 27 April 1994, again when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted in April 1996 for the two former non-statutory forces, the Azanian People's Liberation Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and again when a new series of military orders, decorations and medals was instituted in South Africa on 27 April 2003.

The Permanent Force Good Service Medal is a medallion with a scalloped edge and a raised rim, 38 millimetres in diameter and 3 millimetres thick at the rim and struck in silver, depicting the pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms.

[1][11] The reverse is inscribed "VIR LANGDURIGE DIENS EN GOEIE GEDRAG" and "FOR LONG SERVICE AND GOOD CONDUCT" and has a raised rim and decorated ribbon suspender, similar to those on the obverse.

[1] The clasp, awarded after thirty years of service, was struck in silver and is 32 millimetres wide, with the South African Coat of Arms embellished in the centre and with a hole at each corner to enable it to be sewn to the ribbon.