Badge 4 South African Infantry Battalion (4 SAI )

4 SAI was established on 1 January 1962, at Voortrekkerhoogte in Pretoria, but within a month was moved to Middelburg, South Africa. First troops began training in April 1962 and became an operational motorised unit in 1969.

From motorised to mechanised Infantry By 1976 infantry operations transformed drastically when the Ratel Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) was introduced for the first time and in November the first Ratel course was presented at 1 SAI. In 1982, 4 SAI converted to a mechanised infantry battalion mainly consisting of Ratel-20 IFVs.