Advancement Badges
South African Scouts have numerous advancement awards to strive for during their time as a Scout, culminating in the Springbok Top Award (Equivalent of the UK Queen Scout, or the BSA Eagle Scout)
Advancement Badges
- Troop Membership – This “badge” entitles you to become a fully fledged member of the World Wide Brotherhood (and Sisterhood) of Scouts.
- Pathfinder – This is the first real advancement badge, it focuses on basic Scouting training, including such things as: “The six basic knots”, basic first aid, and introduces Scouts to camping
- Adventurer – This advancement badge continues on with the training of the Pathfinder badge, introducing the scout to basic pioneering (lashings, etc) and more advanced first aid. The scout is also required to assist in the planning of a Patrol Hike.
- First Class – It is said that a boy is only a true scout after he has achieved this badge. The First Class focuses on teaching the Scout basic training techniques. Scouts are required to teach the six basic knots, pioneering and first aid to younger Scouts. They also need to plan and run a Patrol Camp, and a Patrol Hike.
- Air/Sea/Land Explorer – This badge is split into 3 different badges for the 3 different types of Scout Troops. This badge teaches the Scout to take control of situations, and places the Scout in positions where they need to plan and run large scale activities. The requirements are the same between the 3 different kinds, except for the 6 required interest badges. All 3 badges require the First Aid badge, and then 2 other compulsory badges which differ between the 3 types.
- Springbok (Top Award) – This badge is the top scouting award in Scout Africa. It concentrates on teaching the Scout how to give back to his community, requiring him/her to do at least 40 hours of community service. The scout is also required to run a 30km+ hike in unfamiliar territory