rt Elizabeth, Richards Bay,
Saldanha Bay

Merchant marine:
total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 31,505 GRT/37,091 DWT
by type: container 1, petroleum tanker 1
foreign-owned: 1 (Denmark 1)
registered in other countries: 7 (2005)

Airports:
728 (2004 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 144
over 3,047 m: 10
2,438 to 3,047 m: 5
1,524 to 2,437 m: 51
914 to 1,523 m: 67
under 914 m: 11 (2004 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 584
1,524 to 2,437 m: 34
914 to 1,523 m: 300
under 914 m: 250 (2004 est.)

Military South Africa

Military branches:
South African National Defense Force (SANDF): Army, Navy, Air
Force, Joint Operations, Joint Support, Military Intelligence,
Military Health Service (2004)

Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service; women have a long
history of military service in non-combat roles - dating back to
World War I (2004)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 18-49: 10,354,769 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18-49: 4,927,757 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males: 512,407 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$3.172 billion (2004)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.5% (2004)

Military - note:
with the end of apartheid and the establishment of majority rule,
former military, black homelands forces, and ex-opposition forces
were integrated into the South African National Defense Force
(SANDF); as of 2003 the integration process was considered complete

Transnational Issues South Africa

Disputes - international:
South Africa has placed military along the border to stem the
thousands of Zimbabweans fleeing to find work and escape political
persecution; managed dispute with Namibia over the location of the
boundary in the Orange River

Illicit drugs:
transshipment center for heroin, hashish, marijuana, and cocaine;
cocaine consumption on the rise; world's largest market for illicit
methaqualone, usually imported illegally from India through various
east African countries; illicit cultivation of marijuana; attractive
venue for money launderers given the increasing level of organized
criminal and narcotics activity in the region

This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005

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