The recruitment scam, the army said, was targeting new members for the Military Skills Development System.
The department’s spokesperson, Siphiwe Dlamini, said the system was already under way, having started this past weekend when 1552 recruits reported for duty.
“The SANDF has not issued any advertisement with regard to the recruitment of new members yet.
"The (false) advertisement for 2018 recruitment will be published in the Sunday newspapers on January21 and on the Daily Sun newspaper on January22.
“The SANDF neither sells application forms nor uses recruitment agencies,” he said.
Military recruitment scams have become part and parcel of the wider South African employment landscape, with similar scams having previously been run in the Western Cape, aimed specifically at the South African Navy, and in Mpumalanga and North West provinces.
In one previous scam, the operators “guaranteed” entry to the SANDF in return for payment of amounts ranging from R300 to R1000.
But one of the biggest scams of last year occurred in Pretoria when former SANDF private Petrus Ndaba claimed he was the leader of Amabutho Royal Defence, and lured around 260 people aged between 18 and 30 years old from KwaZulu-Natal to Gauteng with the promise of getting them into the SANDF.
The victims allegedly paid up to R800 for registration and a further R1800 for training, as well as another R200 a month from late 2016 when they arrived in Gauteng up to mid-2017, when the scam was uncovered and Ndaba arrested.
The indications are that they underwent some “military training” and took part in “military manoeuvre rehearsals”.
Ndaba had apparently said they would get positions in the defence force and earn a salary of R13000 a month.
The men and women shared a three-bedroomed house with one bathroom and also used two Wendy houses, with males and females sleeping together.
Some slept in the kitchen, while others slept in the passages, dining room and lounge.
They said they had field exercises or full-scale rehearsals of military manoeuvres as practice for warfare, after which, they said, they were forced to do household chores like cleaning, painting the walls and even plumbing and pavement installations.
The SANDF said it had its own central recruitment office, based in Pretoria, and made use of various provincial and national exhibitions and shows such as the Rand and Bloemfontein shows, for career and recruitment displays and information sessions.
“The SANDF uses national newspapers and its own website to advertise recruitment opportunities, and does not charge citizens to apply for service,” Dlamini said.
“SANDF bogus recruitment agencies have been a problem since 2010, but the Pretoria one was by far the biggest.
"We have never seen a scam of such magnitude with such a vast number of victims.
“If members of the public want more information on recruitment, they are advised to contact Lieutenant-Colonel Kenanao Lobelo at 0123395626, or Lieutenant-Colonel Rudi Oesthuizen at 0123395440,” Dlamini said.