Natal Command

Natal Command was a Command of the South African Army. It was headquartered in Durban, South Africa. By the 1980s, it was responsible for the security of the region, forming the primary level of command for military operations in support of the Police. It also provided logistic, administrative and service support to units and formations operating in its area of responsibility.

Lieutenant Colonel J. Daniel was Officer Commanding on 3 September 1939. The command included the 1st South African Brigade at Pietermaritzburg with two battalions of the Royal Natal Carabineers and the Umvoti Mounted Rifles, the 7th Infantry Brigade (South Africa), two batteries of SAPGA, and the Natal Field Artillery on 3 September 1939.

Brigadier Harold Willmott served as officer commanding Natal Command after the Second World War.

In the early 1980s, the command included headquarters at Durban, 5 South African Infantry Battalion at Ladysmith, 15 Maintenance Unit at Durban, and two Commandos, the Tugela Commando and the Umvoiti Commando, both based in Durban.

SANDF director of facilities Brigadier General G Mngadi said the property, formerly occupied by the Headquarters Natal Command and later by the Joint Operations Division's eastern Joint Tactical Headquarters, “was leased by the National Department of Public Works for the South African Defence Force on a 99 year lease from the erstwhile Durban Corporation, now known the Ethekweni Municipality.” Mngadi says that as a result of the consolidation of the facilities footprint in Durban, the beach front facility had become superfluous and was returned to the city on October 16, 2009.