South Africa's Commando System was responsible for the safeguarding and protection of specific communities (usually rural, but sometimes urban).

Commando units were usually referred to as area protection, a civil defence system which involved the whole community.

The participants in the Commando System did not have military commitments outside of the areas they served and were responsible for the safety and security of their own communities.

The early Boer Commando system was a conscriptive service designed to provide a quickly-trained fighting force.

When danger threatened, all the men in a district would form a militia organised into military units called commandos and would elect officers.

Being civilian militia, each man wore what they wished, usually everyday neutral or earthtone khaki farming clothes such as a jacket, trousers and slouch hat.

The average Boer citizens who made up their commandos were farmers who had spent almost all their working life in the saddle, and because they had to depend on both their horse and their rifle for almost all of their meat, they were skilled hunters and expert marksmen.

As hunters they had learned to fire from cover, from a prone position and to make the first shot count, knowing that if they missed the game would be long gone.

The Veldkornet was responsible not only for calling up the burghers, but also for policing his ward, collecting taxes, issuing firearms and other material in times of war.

Other auxiliary ranks were created in war time, such as Vleiskorporaal ("meat corporal"), responsible for issuing rations.

[citation needed] As some commando units increased in size and functionality, it was decided to convert some of them to full Citizen Force regiments.

On 14 February 2003, President Mbeki announced the disbanding of the commando system over six years, to be replaced by 'specialised police units'.

[6] Its spokesman, Armiston Watson said that "the disbanding of the rural commandos (announced by the government in 2003) was an irresponsible political move which now leaves all farmers and farm workers defenceless and easy targets for criminals.

[10]The 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.

[11] In 2005 then-Minister of Defence Mousioua Lekota explained that the process was "driven partly to counter racist elements within some of commandos, but also because of constitutional issues.

These commandos are often the first to receive a call for assistance from the farmer under attack, since farms are generally far away from police stations.

There are three types of commando structures in the rural areas: Area-bound reaction force units are composed of people who live in towns and cities.

Home and Hearth protection reaction force commando members are made up of farmers, smallholders, and their labourers.

In addition to relying on the commandos, a contingency plan has been drawn up in some areas, using members of the local community to assist the police.

... On 14 February 2003 President Mbeki announced that the commando system would be phased out and replaced with sector policing under the leadership of the SAPS.

The reasoning behind this was that crime prevention was not the mandate of the SANDF, but the responsibility of the SAPS.1 The President’s announcement created a great deal of unhappiness amongst farmers who rely upon commandos for rural safety and security.