In 1939, South Africa was originally divided under the Union Defence Force into 9 military districts.[1] At the time, the command was headquartered at East London and comprised 2nd Infantry Brigade and 5 and 6 Batteries of the Permanent Garrison Artillery.[2]
Under the SADF, Northern Transvaal Command was originally split into an eastern and western sector while Northern Cape had to be created from scratch. The Southern Cape Command was merged with Western Cape. The Officers commanding the new Commands were usually Brigadiers all units in those areas fell under them as far as training, housing, administration, discipline and counter insurgency was concerned.
In 1980, Eastern Province Command and 6 SAI engaged in Operation Rain, which was support to the Transkei during a regional drought that lasted until 1981.[3]
Before the reintegration of the Transkei Defence Force, a number of senior Transkei officers had undergone staff courses in India. These included the head of the Transkei Defence Force, Brigadier T.T. Matanzima, who later on became head of the Eastern Province Command.[4]
The command was redesignated as Army Support Base Eastern Cape (ASB EC), currently commanded by Colonel N.A. Ndou.[5] The Support Base was established in April 2000, after the closing down of the Eastern Province Command.[5]
Groups and Commando Units
[edit]SADF era Eastern Province Command Commando structure
^Volker, Walter (2010). Signal Units of the South African Corps of Signals and Related Signal Services. Pretoria: Veritas Books. p. 372. ISBN978-0-620-45345-5. cited in Turton, Anthony. A South African Diary: Contested Identity, My Family - Our Story Part G: 1987 - 2011.
^Wood, Geoffrey(2000) 'South Africa's unfinished business: Organisational change and continuity within the South African national defence force', Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, 38: 2, 92.
South Africa
