The Africa Service Medal was awarded to members of the Union Defence Forces, the South African Police and the South African Railways Police.

To qualify for the medal, a member of those services must have volunteered for war service outside South Africa and must have served, either at home or abroad, between South Africa’s declaration of war on 6 September 1939 and 2 September 1945 inclusive, continuously for thirty days or part-time for at least eighteen hours in non-continuous training