[1][2][3] The Woltemade Cross for Bravery, Silver, post-nominal letters WDS, was instituted by Warrant of 16 September 1988, published in Government Gazette no.

[4] The cross was named in memory of Wolraad Woltemade, an elderly servant of the Dutch East India Company, who gave his life while rescuing shipwrecked sailors in Table Bay on 1 June 1773.

The ship De Jonge Thomas broke anchor in a gale force Northwestern and was driven ashore in the Salt River Mouth.

It is in the form of a cross potent with a centre roundel bearing, in relief, a representation of Wolraad Woltemade on his horse saving a man from the sea.

[1][2] The reverse of the full-size decoration has the embellished South African Coat of Arms and the engraved serial number of the cross.