6 SAI was established on 1 January 1962, at Grahamstown, Eastern Cape.[1] The new training unit was housed on the property previously used by 44 Air School established by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
The Unit was involved in quelling the 1984 Grahamstown riots.[2] The army had been called in to assist the South African Police who had failed to contain the situation.
Air Assault Infantry
The battalion has since become an air assault infantry unit specifically trained to deploy via helicopters.[1]
In 2013, 850 members of 6 SAI were part of the United Nations (UN) Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) authorised to use lethal force to achieve peace in the DRC. 6 SAIs involvement in the FIB saw the defeat of the M23 rebel group during the Battle of Kibati and other skirmishes. The first elements moved into the DRC on 28 April 2013 and the rest following from 15 June, with all 850 South African troops ready for action by 18 June.[9][10]
Special Forces elements such as snipers were also attached to 6 SAI. When the FIB came under mortar fire, 6 SAI established an observation post at the triple towers site and engaged enemy targets up to 1400 meters.
[11]
Freedom of Grahamstown
On 28 August 2014, after their return from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the battalion was honoured with a Freedom of the City parade through Grahamstown.[12]
^Olivier, Darren (29 August 2013). "The FIB Goes To War". African Defence Review. African Defence Review. Retrieved 25 September 2014. At 07h50 yesterday morning, the Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) of the United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) fired the opening shots of the first ever direct attack on rebel forces in UN peacekeeping history.
^Stupart, Richard. "The Last Days of M23". AfricanDefence.net. AfricanDefence.net. Retrieved 25 September 2014. It was an assault that few DRC cynics thought possible. Last week, with the assistance of the United Nations's newly established Force Intervention Brigade, troops from the FARDC drove the M23 rebel faction to the Ugandan border and forced what has been effectively their total and unconditional surrender.
^Olivier, Darren (30 October 2013). "How M23 was rolled back". AfricanDefence.net. African Defence Review. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
^Olivier, Darren (1 May 2014). "Casualties in APCLS attack on MONUSCO/FARDC positions". Africandefence.net. African Defence Review. Retrieved 24 September 2014. The SANDF soldiers … stood their ground and defended their position with great courage and determination.
