Discussion group for 4 South African Infantry Battalion. 4 South African Infantry Battalion (4 SAI) was a unit of the South African Infantry Corps established on January 1, 1962, at Voortrekkerhoogte in Pretoria, but was moved to Middelburg, in the old Transvaal a month later. The first troops began training in April 1962 and the unit became an operational motorised unit in 1969. 4 SAI converted to a mechanised infantry battalion mainly consisting of Ratel-20 IFVs in 1982. The unit was deployed as a mixed force comprising of two companies of mechanised infantry, an artillery battery, and an armoured car squadron, with support company and attached elements, and later even a tank squadron was attached. It was very successfully deployed as an independent battle group (62 Mechanised Battalion Group) during the Operations Moduler, Hooper and Displace and Prone battles of 1987/88. 4 SAI reverted to a motorised infantry unit after 1994.