It was an initiative of John Tyndall of the British National Front; sister organisations were also formed in Australia and New Zealand at the same time.
SANF's first Chairman was Jack Noble, with the party being organised during the 1970s by Ray Hill.
It moved beyond a mere gathering of expatriates when it linked up with Italian and Portuguese neo-fascists and the South African Ku Klux Klan.
It also "published a number of anti-black and ‘anti-Zionist’ pamphlets which led to calls for it to be prosecuted for incitement to racial hatred", SANF’s policies would have led to a "massive increase in the death rate of black infants".
The South African police made arrests and discovered a hitlist of targets which included Bishop Desmond Tutu,[9] the White Commando having previously "threatened him repeatedly".