Several months ago we looked at an example of the South African Police’s combat jacket here. A pair of blue combat trousers were issued to accompany this jacket and it is a pair of these we are looking at today:

These trousers date from the late 1980s and are very similar to the combat trousers in use by the SADF at the time, but blue in colour rather than nutria-brown. The South African Police were paramilitary in nature so it is not surprising that much of their uniform mirrored that used by the army. These trousers have large external thigh pockets with top flaps secured by a button under a fly:

The fly prevented the button from getting caught whilst on operations. Note also the expansion pleat to increase the capacity of the pocket.

The trousers have a traditional button fly at the crotch and two buttons to secure the waist band:

Note also the first field dressing pocket on the upper thigh and the belt loops. The cuff of each leg has a tie to secure it and blouse it over the boots:

These uniforms have remained in use by the police beyond the era of minority rule and here the trousers can be seen being worn by South African police on crowd control duties in Durban: