APPROXIMATElast verified 2026-10-18South African Special Forces Brigade — 4 and 5 Special Forces Regiment (Recces)
Special Forces entry phase (secondary sources)
To reach pre-selection for the South African Special Forces, a soldier must pass the entry phase: push-ups, sit-ups, a 175 m fireman’s lift run, a 5 km run and a shuttle run, followed by a water test, a psychometric test and an interview. Pre-selection then lasts at least six weeks, selection about one week, and operator training about a year. The figures come from press reports citing the SANDF announcement, not from a SANDF document; the same set has been published since at least 2005.
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minimumtargetyouThe test, event by event
| Event | Minimum (same for all candidates) |
|---|---|
| Push-ups without breaking rhythm | 40 |
| Sit-ups in 2 min | 67 |
| 175 m fireman’s lift run, carrying another person | 1:05 |
| 5 km run | 24:00 |
| Shuttle run, 40 × 6 m | 1:35 |
Also required
- South African citizenship and no criminal record; completed basic military training or one year of military service — Special Forces do not recruit directly from civilian life; age 18–26, or up to 28 with a tertiary qualification (2025 announcement).
- The entry phase also includes a water training test (no distance or time published), a psychometric test requiring an above-average score and a one-on-one interview. Standards are pass/fail, with no scoring scale.
- Path: pre-selection of at least six weeks (training 6.5 days a week, up to 20 hours a day, weekly physical and theory tests, ever longer route and speed marches with ever heavier kit), selection of about one week, then about 51 weeks of operator training. The regiments are 4 Special Forces Regiment in Langebaan and 5 Special Forces Regiment in Phalaborwa.
- Minimum (same for all candidates) — defenceWeb, “SA Special Forces are recruiting” (28.02.2025, citing the SANDF announcement); confirmed by defenceWeb, “Fact file: Special Forces training” (18.01.2010) and L. Engelbrecht, A Guide to the SANDF, ch. 8 (2007, citing careers.mil.za) (2025-02-28) · APPROXIMATE
Questions
Do the standards depend on age or sex?
No. None of the sources gives different values by age or sex, and there is no scoring scale: each event is simply passed or failed. The calculator therefore uses one set of minimums for every candidate.
Why is the water test not in the calculator?
Because no source publishes a distance or time for it — only that a water training test is part of the entry phase. Combat swimming, surface swimming and diving for 4 Special Forces Regiment are taught in courses after selection, not tested at entry.
Where do the numbers come from?
From the defenceWeb article “SA Special Forces are recruiting” (28 February 2025), which reports the SANDF selection announcement. The same figures appear in defenceWeb’s “Fact file: Special Forces training” (18 January 2010) and in L. Engelbrecht’s “A Guide to the SANDF”, chapter 8 (2007, citing the official careers.mil.za portal). The SANDF websites were unreachable when we checked on 18 October 2026, so we have not seen the original document — hence the approximate label.
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