The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has opened its Military Skills Development System (MSDS) applications for 2027, allowing young and deserving South Africans the chance to join the military on a two-year contract.
Applications opened on Monday 16 February and will close on 27 March 2026.
The application form can be found here.
Successful recruits will receive military training and further functional training in their first year of service. During the second year of service, depending on the duration of the functional orientation, they will be deployed where needed and given opportunity to apply their knowledge and develop their skills.
The MSD System takes around 2 000 volunteers into either the SA Air Force (SAAF), SA Army, SA Military Health Service (SAMHS) or SA Navy (SAN) for two years. Basic military training is first up followed by specialist mustering training, dependent on service and then deployment to a division, unit or base.
When the 24 month MSDS period is up, a limited number of MSDS volunteers will be offered short-term contracts in the full-time force (usually for 10 years) with the remainder expected to put their military skills to use in the Reserve Force.
For those wishing to apply for the MSDS programme, the requirements are that potential candidates are South African citizens (no dual citizenships are allowed), are between 18 and 22 years old (graduates can be 26), have completed or are currently in Grade 12, have no record of serious criminal offenses or pending cases, have no visible tattoos, and comply with the medical fitness requirements of the SANDF. They need to have an Admission Point Score of 18 and above, excluding Life Orientation. Maths and physical science will be required for specialised musterings such as aviation engineering.
If applicants have not been contacted by the end of December 2026, they should consider their application to be unsuccessful.
Volunteers hoping to become part of either the air, land, maritime or military health services must hand deliver their application forms to their nearest recruitment office or post them to:
Department of Defence, Human Resources Division
Chief Directorate HR Management
(Directorate HR Acquisition)
Private Bag X976
Pretoria
0001
Regional recruitment offices are:
Regional Office Free State. Army Support Base Bloemfontein Recruitment Office, Pappa Brits Street, Tempe, Bloemfontein, 9300 – Enquiries: 051 402 1262.
Regional Office Western Cape. Castle of Good Hope, Recruitment Office, Block C, C/o Buiten & Darling Street, Cape Town, 8000 – Enquiries: (021) 787 1023/4
Regional Office Limpopo. Army Support Recruitment Office Building, 145 Gate Way Road (Next to Polokwane Airport), Polokwane, 0700 – Enquiries: 015 299 3318.
Regional Office KwaZulu-Natal. Recruitment Office, Lords Ground Military Base, 186 Old Ford Road (K.E. Masinga Road), Durban, 4000 – Enquiries: 031 451 1722/1704.
Regional Office Eastern Cape. Army Support Base Recruitment Office, Willow Drive, Forest Hill, Port Elizabeth, 6013 or Regional Office Eastern Cape, de Beer Street, Forest Hill, Gqeberha, 6001 – Enquiries 041 505 1101/1268.
Regional Office Northern Cape. Army Support Base Recruitment Office Kimberley, General Khan Van Der Spuy Drive, Diskobolos, Kimberley, 8301 – Enquiries: 053 530 3204
Regional Office North West. Army Support Base Recruitment, C/O Grobler St (R53) and Eleazer Road, Potchefstroom, 2531 – Enquiries: 018 289 3322
Regional Office Gauteng. Recruitment Office, C/O 218 Visagie and Paul Kruger Street, Pretoria Central, 0001- Enquiries: 012 339 5718/5703.
Regional Office Mpumalanga. Army Support Base, 8 Spruit Street, Mbombela, 1201 – Enquiries: 013 756 2113/2181 or 4 South African Battalion, C/O Dr Beyers Naude and Boncker Street, Middleburg, Mpumalanga, 1050 – Enquiries: 013 249 3534
Applicants should note that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has no online application system.
