One of the consequences of the deeply felt need for preparation and strength through faith has been the appointment in the army of men able to give spiritual support. Clergymen were on board the ships of Bartholomew Dias (1488), Vasco da Gama (1497) and the Dutch merchant ships which were in operation before the formation of the Dutch East India Company, in the form of parsons and sick-comforters, that they might provide spiritual comfort and ministration to those on board and at trading posts. In 1652 Willem Barentsz Wylant ministered as the first sick-comforter at the Cape. In 1665 the Rev. Johannes van Arckel made his appearance as the first minister to be settled at the Cape, where he and his successors also ministered to members of the garrison.

With the First British Occupation (1795-1803) the first Anglican military chaplain, fleet chaplain J. E. Attwood, arrived at the Cape in 1795. He was succeeded by four army and navy chaplains who held divine service in the Castle and cared for the spiritual needs of the British military. During the Batavian period (1803-1806) the military were ministered to as part of the local parish. The spiritual needs of Roman Catholic soldiers were taken care of by three priests brought to the Cape.

During 1806-1814, under the Second British Occupation, there once again appeared at the Cape Anglican military chaplains who were responsible also for the erection of church buildings in Simonstown (1814), Wynberg (1821) and Cape Town (1834). During the Sixth Frontier War (1834-35) military chaplains accompanied the British troops. At the request of the governor, Sir Harry Smith, three military chaplains were sent to British Kaffraria (1848), Natal (1848) and King William's Town (1850). British military chaplains made their appearance in Natal in 1843, in the Orange River Sovereignty in 1848, and with the British troops in Pretoria in 1877.

Both during the war of 1880-81 as well as during the Second Anglo Boer War military chaplains of various denominations accompanied the British troops. At the time of the Second British Occupation of the Cape and for some time after that the Anglican Church and the Dutch Reformed Church were the only two officially recognised religious denominations. Lay preachers of British origin, such as the Methodist Ireland John Irwin and Sergeant Kendrick – followed later by recognised British military chaplains – gave spiritual care to members of their faith in the military forces at the Cape and later elsewhere in South Africa. In 1812 the Rev. G. Thom was appointed as the first part-time military chaplain to the Presbyterians among the British troops. During the Second Anglo-Boer War other denominations such as the Roman Catholic and Baptist Churches permitted their chaplains to take part in the campaign. The spiritual care of British troops by British military chaplains in South Africa ended with the departure of the last imperial troops from Roberts Heights, Pretoria (1915), and the British contingent from Simonstown (1957).

Among the Voortrekkers the Rev. Erasmus Smit and the Rev. Daniel Lindley also attended to the spiritual care of the armed burghers in time of war. During the Basuto War of 1865-66 the Free State government made provision for spiritual care in the field. During the Sekhukhune War (1876) the State President, the Rev. T. F. Burgers, held religious services in the field, while during the war of 1880-81 Transvaal ministers served as field and/or commando preachers. During the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) there were on the side of the Boers 156 chaplains, with whom a number of theological Students co-operated, in the field as well as in prisoner of-war and concentration camps. After the creation of the Union Defence Force (1912) followed by the participation of the Union in the First World War there were about 155 military chaplains, mostly fulltime, concerned with the spiritual care of the Union troops at the military bases in South Africa and on the various military fronts (German South-West Africa, German East Africa and Europe).

In 1920 the Rev. John Neethling Murray of the Ned. Geref. Kerk and the Rev. Alfred Roberts of the Anglican Church were the only two full-time chaplains in the Union Defence Force. They were assisted by a number of part-time chaplains. During the Second World War (1939-1945) 517 White and 38 non-White chaplains, representing the Afrikaans, Anglican and Roman Catholic as well as the Free Churches and the Jewish faith, laboured among perhaps 350 000 troops on the battle fronts and the home front and in prisoner-of-war camps.

In 1946 the South African Corps of Chaplains came into existence as a unit of the Active Citizen Force, while the Rev. C. F. Miles-Cadman served as adjutant chaplain-general. From 1950 to 1953 South African military chaplains were active in Korea. In 1957 it was laid down that the military chaplains, except for administrative purposes, would no longer fall under the Adjutant-General of the Defence Force, but would come directly under the Commandant General. In 1968 the Chaplain Services of the South African Defence Force, under their Director of Chaplains, began to function as a separate entity. In 1970 the rank Director of Chaplains was changed to Chaplain-General, while during the period 1960-70 the number of spiritual workers among the South African military increased to sixty.

It was decided in 1914, in imitation of British military usage in regard to military chaplains, that the Union Defence Force chaplains should not wear specific military badges of rank and should not be addressed according to rank. During the period 1914 to 1966 the badge worn was the Maltese Cross with the motto In hoc signo. During the Second World War the chaplains in the field removed their badges of rank, while in 1968 distinctive South African class C badges of rank were introduced for military chaplains. At the same time it was laid down inter alia that all chaplains would hold tile status of colonel, that they would be addressed, by their ecclesiastical titles and that the distinguishing rank badge would be a gilded Christ monogram (insert Image) on a triangle of brass with the upper surface of the triangle of purple enamel. On the cap of.a chaplain appears the cap badge, and the cap is provided with a purple cap band. The shoulders of the chaplain's uniform bear the word `Kapelaan' -for Afrikaans-speaking chaplains and `Chaplain' for English-speaking chaplains. The Maltese Cross design remains the corps badge.

Before the Union in 1910 each volunteer unit had its own regimental chaplain, and in 1914 chaplains to the forces were appointed at Roberts Heights (now Voortrekkerhoogte) on a full-time basis in what was termed the Chaplains' Department. With the outbreak of the Second World War full-time chaplains were again appointed, and since 1946 there has been a South African Corps of Chaplains in the Defence Force, with chaplains for the Dutch Reformed, Anglican, Roman Catholic and Free Churches and the Jewish faith.