Military police arrested soldiers facing "various charges" at Doornkop military base south of Johannesburg on Thursday, an official said.

"The department of defence confirms that there was a military police operation at the Doornkop Military Base, south of Johannesburg, to arrest individual SANDF [SA National Defence Force] members who had been charged by the SA Army for various offences," said defence spokesperson Sam Mkhwanazi.

"The operation commenced last night [Wednesday] and continued this morning [Thursday] without any incidents of violence," he said in a statement.

SABC radio news reported that two soldiers were injured during the operation, quoting the SA National Defence Union.

But police spokesperson Inspector Kay Makhubela said no violent incidents were reported to the police.

Mkhwanazi did not give any further details on the operation, except to say that it was not related to a violent protest by soldiers at the Union Buildings in Pretoria last week.