ABSTRACT
Military negotiations leading to the formation of the new South African National Defence Force (SANDF) at midnight on 27 April 1994, and the subsequent demobilisation of non-statutory combatants who were not going to integrate into the SANDF, occurred parallel to the political negotiations capturing most of the headlines during the difficult and violent years of the negotiation period from 1990 to 1994. In this chapter, the author examines the processes followed to integrate the various statutory and non-statutory forces to create the SANDF. He discusses the demobilisation process and the experiences of women who formally integrated and demobilised. The author also examines the role of the women who remained in the SANDF as it transformed into a democratic defence force, and in particular its gender inclusivity. A key theme that arises about the challenges of the integration process is the theme of assimilation.
