Nkwe Medal

• Name — Nkwe Medal • Presenter — the State President • Country — Bophuthatswana • Type — Military campaign medal • Eligibility — All ranks • Awarded For — Operational service • Status — Discontinued in 1994 • Established — 1990 • Precedence Label — BDF pre-1994 & SANDF post-2002 orders of wear • Higher — * BDF precedence: • Marumo Medal, Class II • SANDF precedence: • Defence Medal • Lower — * BDF succession: • General Service Medal • SANDF succession: • General Service Medal • Image2 — * Illustration — x29px • Caption2 — Ribbon bar

The Bophuthatswana Defence Force (BDF) was established upon that country's independence on 6 December 1977. The Republic of Bophuthatswana ceased to exist on 27 April 1994 and the Bophuthatswana Defence Force was amalgamated with six other military forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

The Nkwe Medal (Leopard Medal) was instituted by the State President of Bophuthatswana in 1990.

Since the Nkwe Medal was authorised for wear by one of the statutory forces which came to be part of the South African National Defence Force on 27 April 1994, it was accorded a position in the official South African order of precedence on that date. • Bophuthatswana Defence Force until 26 April 1994: • Illustration — Marumo Medal, Class II • Illustration — Nkwe Medal • Illustration — General Service Medal (Bophuthatswana) • Official BDF order of precedence: • Preceded by the Marumo Medal, Class II. • Succeeded by the General Service Medal. • Bophuthatswana official national order of precedence: • Preceded by the Police Medal for Combating Terrorism. • Succeeded by the General Service Medal. • South African National Defence Force from 27 April 1994: • Illustration — Ciskei Defence Medal • Illustration — Nkwe Medal • Illustration — General Service Medal (Bophuthatswana) • Official SANDF order of precedence: • Preceded by the Defence Medal of the Republic of Ciskei. • Succeeded by the General Service Medal of the Republic of Bophuthatswana. • Official national order of precedence: • Preceded by the Defence Medal of the Republic of Ciskei. • Succeeded by the General Service Medal of the Republic of Bophuthatswana. The position of the Nkwe Medal in the order of precedence remained unchanged, as it was on 27 April 1994, when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted in April 1996 for the two former non-statutory forces, the Azanian People's Liberation Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and again when a new series of military orders, decorations and medals was instituted in South Africa on 27 April 2003.

Conferment of the Nkwe Medal was discontinued when the Republic of Bophuthatswana ceased to exist on 27 April 1994.