The Ratel is a South African infantry fighting vehicle. It was the first wheeled infantry fighting vehicle to enter service worldwide and was built on a modified MAN truck chassis. The Ratel was designed in response to a South African Army specification for a light armoured vehicle suited to the demands of rapid offensives, providing maximum firepower and strategic mobility to mechanised infantry units intended to operate across the vast distances of Southern Africa. Primarily envisaged in SADF doctrine as a vehicle that could deliver mechanised infantry and supporting fire to tanks in conventional warfare, it was also anticipated that the Ratel could form the centrepiece for semi-independent battlegroups where logistics or politics precluded the use of tanks. The Ratel was a simple, economical design which helped reduce the significant logistical commitment necessary to keep heavier combat vehicles operational in undeveloped regions. It was generally regarded as an influential concept which incorporated a number of novel features, such as a mine-protected hull, an extended operating range of 1,000 kilometres, and a 20 mm autocannon fitted with what was then a unique twin-linked ammunition feed, allowing turret gunners to rapidly swap between ammunition types during combat.

The first Ratel prototype appeared in March 1972, and serial production commenced in 1976. Rights to the original prototype were also sold to Belgium, which produced an amphibious derivative known as the SIBMAS. The Ratel was produced in three distinct marks between 1976 and 1987, when production ceased. All three marks were modified for a number of diverse battlefield roles. Specialised variants of the Ratel carried mortars, anti-tank guided missiles, or a turret-mounted 90 mm rifled gun.

During the 1950s, the South African Defence Force (SADF) had been primarily organised to operate alongside the British Armed Forces in the event of a military crisis affecting the British Empire's African or Middle Eastern dependencies. This reflected South Africa's longstanding defence ties to the United Kingdom and the other member states in the Commonwealth of Nations. As a result of its strategic priorities, the SADF adopted equipment which was either British in origin or otherwise compatible with Commonwealth doctrine. South African infantry units were equipped primarily with Alvis Saracen armoured personnel carriers. This reflected traditional British infantry doctrine, which placed a disproportionate emphasis on dismounted infantry; the role of armoured vehicles like the Saracen was to function as general transporters conveying infantrymen to a battlefield. Afterwards, the infantry was expected to disembark and fight on foot rather than remaining mounted.

The deterioration of relations between South Africa and the United Kingdom in the wake of the Sharpeville Massacre marked a shift in the SADF's doctrine and strategic priorities. The SADF became more focused on the threat of domestic insurgency or limited bush conflicts rather than a major conventional war overseas. Additionally, the British government's refusal to supply the SADF with new armoured vehicles forced it to turn to alternative suppliers, namely France and West Germany. Both nations cooperated closely with South African firms like Sandock-Austral to set up the country's first armoured vehicle factory at Boksburg. West Germany was especially instrumental in the transfer of defence technology; in exchange it received a higher import quota for its automotive products to South Africa. One result was that German companies came to dominate several sectors of the South African civilian and military vehicle market, including achieving a virtual monopoly on the sale of trucks to the SADF. Much of this business was conducted through local subsidiaries such as Springfield-Büssing SA, an East Rand company which was the franchise holder for all Büssing products in South Africa. Springfield-Büssing assembled its vehicles with locally manufactured bodies and engine and chassis components imported from its German parent firm.

In 1968, the SADF began formulating a new mobile warfare doctrine which centered around the independent deployment of mechanised infantry to defend the vast borders of South West Africa (Namibia), which were deemed vulnerable to the threat of insurgency and external infiltration. Mechanised infantry mounted in their own infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) could arrive sooner at contact points, with greater firepower to engage and destroy the enemy where contact was made, as well as greater protection and convenience for troops. During wargaming exercises designed to simulate a foreign invasion of South West Africa, the SADF found none of its preexisting armoured vehicles suitable to fill this role, so development of a new dedicated IFV was undertaken. Any South African IFV had to be a simple, economical design which helped ease the significant logistical commitment to maintain armoured vehicles in border regions otherwise lacking in advanced support or transport infrastructure. Excessive track wear inflicted by the abrasive, sandy terrain of the South West African border prompted South African officials to specify a wheeled vehicle. Wheeled IFVs were also favoured because they possessed a much greater operating range than tracked vehicles, and did not require the use of transporters on South West Africa's limited road and rail network. This marked a significant departure from Soviet and Western IFV doctrine, which had rejected wheeled IFVs for their inferior cross-country capability and weight-carrying capacity, as well as the vulnerable nature of their tyres to small arms fire and artillery fragments. However, improvements in power train, suspension, and run-flat tyre technology during the late 1960s helped make the concept of wheeled IFVs more viable. The SADF initially had no other requirements other than a chassis and hull combination capable of supporting a two-man turret.

Springfield-Büssing proposed a six-wheeled IFV built on a modified MAN truck chassis; the first prototype appeared as the Springfield-Büssing Buffel in March 1972. After the SADF had evaluated and rejected a number of other designs, including the Thyssen Henschel UR-416, Berliet VXB-170, Panhard M3, and the EE-11 Urutu, the Springfield-Büssing prototype was accepted for service as the Ratel. Production was undertaken by Sandock-Austral, which produced the vehicle hulls at its shipyard in Durban before having them transported by rail to its Boksburg facility for integration with the chassis and drive train. Each Ratel was powered by a Büssing D 3256 six-cylinder diesel engine fitted in a compartment at the left rear of its hull with access panels in the roof for ease of maintenance; it could be changed by two technicians with a crane in thirty minutes. It was armed with a 20 mm autocannon, which was standard armament for most Western IFVs at the time and suitable for engaging low-flying aircraft, light armour, and dismounted personnel. The SADF had selected the Hispano-Suiza HS.820 for the Ratel's primary armament due to its prior success during trials with Eland armoured cars; however, at the time of production this was superseded by a variant of the Modèle F2 produced under licence as the Denel GI-2.

The Ratel was first tested in combat during Operation Reindeer, a major South African raid on People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) insurgents based out of neighbouring Angola. For the purposes of Operation Reindeer, the SADF experimented with an integrated combat team consisting of mechanised infantry mounted in the new Ratels, backed by attached Eland armoured cars. This caused a number of delays and complications, since the four-wheeled Elands lacked sufficient mobility to keep pace with the Ratels and had to be frequently towed out of thick sand or mud. Operation Reindeer was also complicated by the fact that the Elands utilised petrol engines, which necessitated a separate logistics tail from that of the diesel-powered Ratels.

Although PLAN possessed little conventional warfare capabilities, it was frequently backed by its allies in the Cuban and Angolan armed forces, which were skilled at constructing well-fortified defensive positions and had access to heavy armour. The addition of attached Eland squadrons to mechanised infantry units was considered necessary because they carried 60 mm breech-loading mortars or large 90 mm guns, which were more useful than the Ratel's 20 mm autocannon for engaging fixed fortifications, dug-in troops, and enemy armour as needed. However, the Eland's shortcomings in terms of mobility and logistics prompted the SADF to replace it with new variants of the Ratel carrying the same armament. The Ratel-90 fire support vehicle utilised an Eland turret with a 90 mm rifled cannon firing conventional high explosive and high explosive anti-tank shells, while the Ratel-60 mortar carrier was fitted with an Eland turret mounting a 60 mm mortar. A third variant, the Ratel Command, was introduced shortly thereafter and functioned as a mobile command post. The Ratel Command was fitted with additional radio equipment, a public address system, and map tables; it carried a 12.7 mm machine gun as its main armament. The Ratel-81 was a turretless variant with an 81 mm mortar installed in the passenger compartment. The Ratel ZT3 was the final variant to be produced and was armed with a bank of ZT3 Ingwe anti-tank guided missiles.