South African Border War
Encyclopedia
The South African Border War, commonly referred to as the Angolan Bush War in South Africa, was a conflict that took place from 1966 to 1989 in South-West Africa (now Namibia
) and Angola
between South Africa and its allied forces (mainly UNITA
) on the one side and the Angolan government, South-West Africa People's Organisation
(SWAPO), and their allies mainly Cuba
on the other. It was closely intertwined with the Angolan Civil War
and the Namibian War of Independence
.
on behalf of the Allied Forces
. After five years of South African military rule, the territory was granted to South Africa as a C-class mandate
by the League of Nations
in 1920.
After World War II, the League of Nations dissolved and the South African government of Jan Smuts
hoped to be able to take over the territory. They formally applied to the United Nations in 1946 for this, but their request was refused, because the indigenous people had not been adequately consulted. The UN asked South Africa to place the territory under a trusteeship system, requiring closer international monitoring of the territory's administration, but South Africa refused. This resulted in a long-drawn out legal battle.
In 1966 the International Court of Justice
decided that it had no legal standing in the case. Upon the announcement the UN General Assembly
irreversibly terminated the mandate. In 1971 the International Court of Justice supported the UN, and agreed that South Africa's rule of the territory was illegal, and that South Africa should withdraw. In December of that same year, a general strike of workers showed South Africa the massive amount of resistance against the contract labour system. This was a new element of opposition against South African rule.
Although the South African government wanted to incorporate South-West Africa (SWA) into its territory, it never officially did so: it was administered as the de facto
fifth province, with its white minority having representation in the Parliament of South Africa
, as per the apartheid system.
Following the South African government's refusal, and the implementation of its apartheid policies in South-West Africa, SWAPO became increasingly militant, and, in 1962, formed its military wing, the People's Liberation Army of Namibia
(PLAN).
In 1966, a number of SWAPO bases had been established in neighbouring Zambia
. SWAPO's insurgents began an incursion into SWA during September 1965 and again in March 1966, but it was not until 26 August 1966 that the first major clash of the conflict took place. A unit of the South African Police
(SAP) supported by South African Air Force
(SAAF) helicopter
s exchanged fire with SWAPO forces at Omugulugwombashe
. This date is generally regarded as the start of what became known in South Africa as the Border War. The significance of this particular event is that the SAP were unable to engage in what had now become a military action, raising the issue of military intervention for the first time. This event thus triggered the first use of SADF Special Forces
, not yet formally in existence, but being run as an experiment under the leadership of Colonel Jan Breytenbach
. From these early roots the subsequent Reconnaisance Commando (Recce), 44 Parachute Brigade
and 32 Battalion can be traced. At this stage the SADF presence was technically illegal because Parliament had not yet approved their deployment, so during the Omugulugwombashe incident, SADF Special Force members were hastily deputized as policemen. On 29 September SWAPO launched an attack on Oshikango
on the Namibian/Angolan border. This attack is led by Johannes Nankudhu
who was a survivor of the abortive action at Omugulugwombashe, giving an indication that the SWAPO force had not been neutralized, again raising the issue of SAP competence in what was now a military conflict. In December 1966 a SWAPO force attacked a farm known as Maroelaboom, taking the fight into SWA for the first time. Within weeks of this incident, Umkhonto we Sizwe
(MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress
, infiltrated a small unit into Botswana under the command of Chris Hani
, regionalizing the war.
In late 1966 UNITA
joined the fight against the Angolan colonial power of Portugal
, who were already in conflict with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA). UNITA was mainly active in southern and eastern Angola, while the MPLA and FNLA were mainly active in northern Angola. SAAF helicopters were first sent to support the Portuguese against UNITA in 1967, thus beginning South Africa's decades-long involvement.
The first element of security involved in the conflict was the SAP. They mainly deployed light infantry platoons which acted as counter insurgency
units. During this time the SAP and its local adjunct, the South West African Police (SWAPOL), bore the brunt of the ground fighting on the South African side, with the SAAF backing them up from the air. In the late 1960s a special police counter insurgency unit named Koevoet
(Afrikaans
for crowbar
) was formed. When the unit was first formed it was nicknamed Koevoet to signify prying loose the SWAPO insurgents from the thick bush. The official name of the unit was South West African Police Counterinsurgency, SWAPOLCOIN. The SAP withdrew all their units, except the Uniform Branch and CID personnel which were on normal police duties, when the SADF took over the responsibility for the SWA Border.
In April 1974, the Carnation Revolution
in Portugal changed the politics of that country.
The new government announced that it would grant independence to Angola on 11 November 1975; the three rival anti-colonial forces immediately began jockeying for control of the capital Luanda
, with international intervention in support of the different factions. South Africa's first action in August was to secure the strategically important Ruacana-Calueque
hydro-electric scheme. The reason for this action at Calueque was that a major civil engineering project being financed by South Africa was at risk after a unit of ill-disciplined UNITA soldiers held some engineers against their will. This triggered a request for assistance, which resulted in an armoured column being sent to secure Ruacana. This action must also be interpreted in light of the Détente initiative then underway in South Africa. Prime Minister B.J. Vorster
was approached by certain African Heads of State, concerned that the presence of Chinese military advisors might link the local Angolan War of Liberation to the Cold War
. Anxious to show that he could be trusted as an African Head of State, Vorster authorized the action, but with no defined objectives in the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the wake of the hasty Portuguese withdrawal, this single action escalated into what became Operation Savannah
. On October 14, South Africa intervened covertly on behalf of UNITA and the FNLA through Operation Savannah
; in response, Cuba launched an operation in support of the MPLA, which was able to gain control of the most important areas of the country. The authority of the coalition government was fading until the date scheduled for the independence (November 11, 1975) and Angolan Civil War
started as the war of independence formally ended.
, who played a key role in getting the Constitutional Principles agreed in 1982 by the front-line states, SWAPO, and the Western Contact Group. This agreement created the framework for Namibia's democratic constitution. The US Government's role as mediator was both critical and disputed throughout the period, one example being the intense efforts in 1984 to obtain withdrawal of the South African Defence Force
(SADF) from southern Angola.
The so-called Constructive Engagement
by US diplomatic interests was viewed negatively by those who supported internationally recognised independence. In addition, US moves seemed to encourage the South Africans to delay independence by taking initiatives such as dominating large tracts of southern Angola militarily while at the same time providing surrogate forces for the Angolan opposition movement, UNITA
. The United States supplied UNITA with very advanced Stinger
anti-aircraft missiles
In 1987, the Angolan government with strong support from the Soviet Union
decided, against Cuban advice, to restore the territorial integrity of Angola by eliminating UNITA strongholds in the south of Angola. They undertook a serious offensive from
Cuito Cuanavale towards Mavinga. As UNITA was being driven back, the South African forces intervened on their behalf. In operations Modular
and Hooper
they decisively stopped the offensive, and went on to roll back the Angolan government forces to Cuito Cuanavale.
Cuba considerably reinforced its troops in Angola and came to the defence of the besieged FAPLA; the South African advance was stopped at the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
, the largest battle in Africa since World War II, in which both sides have claimed victory. The bulk of the Cuban forces advanced towards Namibia further to the west, threatening to cut off the SADF-Forces remaining at Cuito. On 27 June 1988, Cuban MiG-23
fighters bombed the Calueque
hydro-electric complex at 16.7367°N 14.9669°W, disabling it and killing 12 SADF soldiers. For some analysts the stalemate at Cuito and the death toll and vulnerability to Cuban MiGs was viewed with apprehension by the SADF and may have had some bearing on the fact that a peace accord was agreed soon afterwards. United Nations-mediated negotiations took place with the aim of achieving peace in and independence for South-West Africa/Namibia and the South African ground troops completed their withdrawal from Angola on 30 August 1988 before the negotiations were concluded.
, was appointed. In the eventuality of South Africa's relinquishing control of Namibia, Commissioner Carlsson's role would be to administer the country on behalf of the UN, formulate its framework constitution, and organise free and fair elections based upon a non-racial universal franchise.
In May 1988, a US mediation team headed by Chester A. Crocker, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs brought negotiators from Angola
, Cuba
, and South Africa, and observers from the Soviet Union together in London. Intense diplomatic manoeuvering characterised the next 7 months, as the parties worked out agreements to bring peace to the region and make possible the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 435
(UNSCR 435).
At the Ronald Reagan
/Mikhail Gorbachev
summit of leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union in Moscow (29 May-1 June 1988), it was decided that Cuban troops would be withdrawn from Angola, and Soviet military aid would cease, as soon as South Africa withdrew from Namibia. The New York Accords
agreements to give effect to these decisions were drawn up for signature at UN headquarters in New York in December 1988. Cuba, South Africa, and the People's Republic of Angola agreed to a total Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola. This agreement known as the Brazzaville Protocol established a Joint Monitoring Commission (JMC), with the United States and the Soviet Union
as observers, to oversee implementation of the accords. A bilateral agreement between Cuba and Angola was signed at UN headquarters in New York City on 22 December 1988. On the same day, a tripartite agreement between Angola, Cuba and South Africa was signed whereby South Africa agreed to hand control of Namibia to the United Nations.
Tragically, UN Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson, was not present at the signing ceremony. He was killed on Pan Am Flight 103
which exploded over Lockerbie
, Scotland
on 21 December 1988 en route from London to New York. South African foreign minister Pik Botha
, and an official delegation of 22 had a lucky escape. Their booking on Pan Am 103 was cancelled at the last minute and Botha, together with a smaller delegation, caught the earlier Pan Am 101 flight to New York.
, who took the place of the UN's Bernt Carlsson
, began the Namibia's transition to independence. Former UN Commissioner for Namibia, Martti Ahtisaari
was appointed United Nations Special Representative in Namibia, and arrived in Windhoek in April 1989 to head the United Nations Transition Assistance Group
(UNTAG).
The transition got off to a shaky start because, contrary to SWAPO leader Sam Nujoma's written assurances to the UN Secretary General to abide by a cease-fire and repatriate only unarmed Namibians, it was alleged that approximately 2,000 armed members of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), SWAPO's military wing, crossed the border from Angola in an apparent attempt to establish a military presence in northern Namibia. UNTAG's Martti Ahtisaari took advice from British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher
, who was visiting Southern Africa at the time, and authorised a limited contingent of South African troops to aid the South West African Police (SWAPOL) in restoring order. A period of intense fighting followed, during which 375 PLAN fighters were killed. At a hastily arranged meeting of the Joint Monitoring Commission in Mount Etjo, a game park outside Otjiwarongo, it was agreed to confine the South African forces to base and return PLAN elements to Angola. While that problem was resolved, minor disturbances in the north continued throughout the transition period.
In October 1989, under orders of the UN Security Council, Pretoria was forced to demobilize some 1,600 members of its counter-insurgency force Koevoet
(Afrikaans for crowbar). The Koevoet issue had been one of the most difficult UNTAG faced. The unit was formed by South Africa after the adoption of UNSCR 435, and was not, therefore, mentioned in the Settlement Proposal or related documents. The UN regarded Koevoet as a paramilitary
organization which ought to be disbanded but the unit continued to deploy in the north in armoured and heavily armed convoys. In June 1989, the UN Special Representative told Administrator-General, Louis Pienaar that this behaviour was totally inconsistent with the Settlement Proposal, which required the police to be lightly armed. Moreover, the vast majority of the Koevoet personnel were quite unsuited for continued employment in the South West African Police (SWAPOL). The Security Council, in its resolution 640 (1989) of August 29, therefore demanded the disbanding of Koevoet and dismantling of its command structures. South African foreign minister, Pik Botha, announced on September 28, 1989 that 1,200 ex-Koevoet members would be demobilized with effect from the following day. A further 400 such personnel were demobilized on October 30. These demobilizations were supervised by UNTAG military monitors.
The 11-month transition period ended relatively smoothly. Political prisoners were granted amnesty, discriminatory legislation was repealed, South Africa withdrew all its forces from Namibia, and some 42,000 refugees returned safely and voluntarily under the auspices of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Almost 98% of registered voters turned out to elect members of the Constituent Assembly. The elections were held in November 1989 and were certified as free and fair by the UN Special Representative, with SWAPO taking 57% of the vote, short of the two-thirds necessary to have a free hand in revising the framework constitution that had been formulated not by UN Commissioner Carlsson but by South African appointee Louis Pienaar. The opposition Democratic Turnhalle Alliance received 29% of the vote. The Constituent Assembly held its first meeting on November 21, 1989 and resolved unanimously to use the 1982 Constitutional Principles in Namibia's new constitution.
It was later revealed that the South African government had paid more than £20 million to at least seven political parties in Namibia to oppose SWAPO in the run-up to the 1989 elections. They justified the expenditure on the grounds that South Africa was at war with SWAPO at the time.
celebrations took place in the Windhoek Sports Stadium
on 21 March 1990. Numerous international representatives attended, including 20 heads of state, and the arrival of Nelson Mandela
, who had just been released from prison, caused excitement among the 30,000 spectators. United Nations Secretary-General
, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
, and the President of South Africa
, F.W. de Klerk, jointly conferred independence on Namibia. The president of SWAPO, Sam Nujoma
, was then sworn in as the first President of Namibia.
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
) and Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
between South Africa and its allied forces (mainly UNITA
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...
) on the one side and the Angolan government, South-West Africa People's Organisation
South-West Africa People's Organisation
The South West Africa People's Organization is a political party and former liberation movement in Namibia. It has been the governing party in Namibia since achieving independence in 1990...
(SWAPO), and their allies mainly Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
on the other. It was closely intertwined with the Angolan Civil War
Angolan Civil War
The Angolan Civil War was a major civil conflict in the Southern African state of Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with some interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. Prior to this, a decolonisation conflict had taken...
and the Namibian War of Independence
Namibian War of Independence
See also South African Border War.The Namibian War of Independence, also known as the South African Border War, which lasted from 1966 to 1988, was a guerrilla war, which the nationalist South-West Africa People's Organization and others, fought against the apartheid government in South...
.
Roots of conflict
The roots of the conflict can be traced back to World War I. In 1915 South Africa invaded and conquered the then German South-West AfricaGerman South-West Africa
German South West Africa was a colony of Germany from 1884 until 1915, when it was taken over by South Africa and administered as South West Africa, finally becoming Namibia in 1990...
on behalf of the Allied Forces
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
. After five years of South African military rule, the territory was granted to South Africa as a C-class mandate
League of Nations mandate
A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administering the territory on behalf of the League...
by the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
in 1920.
After World War II, the League of Nations dissolved and the South African government of Jan Smuts
Jan Smuts
Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM, CH, ED, KC, FRS, PC was a prominent South African and British Commonwealth statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various cabinet posts, he served as Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 until 1924 and from 1939 until 1948...
hoped to be able to take over the territory. They formally applied to the United Nations in 1946 for this, but their request was refused, because the indigenous people had not been adequately consulted. The UN asked South Africa to place the territory under a trusteeship system, requiring closer international monitoring of the territory's administration, but South Africa refused. This resulted in a long-drawn out legal battle.
In 1966 the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
decided that it had no legal standing in the case. Upon the announcement the UN General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
irreversibly terminated the mandate. In 1971 the International Court of Justice supported the UN, and agreed that South Africa's rule of the territory was illegal, and that South Africa should withdraw. In December of that same year, a general strike of workers showed South Africa the massive amount of resistance against the contract labour system. This was a new element of opposition against South African rule.
Although the South African government wanted to incorporate South-West Africa (SWA) into its territory, it never officially did so: it was administered as the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
fifth province, with its white minority having representation in the Parliament of South Africa
Parliament of South Africa
The Parliament of South Africa is South Africa's legislature and under the country's current Constitution is composed of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces....
, as per the apartheid system.
Conflict begins
People's Liberation Army of Namibia
The People's Liberation Army of Namibia was the active military wing of the South West Africa People's Organization during the Namibian War of Independence. It sought independence for the territory from South African rule. PLAN launched its first attack on the South African military at...
(PLAN).
In 1966, a number of SWAPO bases had been established in neighbouring Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
. SWAPO's insurgents began an incursion into SWA during September 1965 and again in March 1966, but it was not until 26 August 1966 that the first major clash of the conflict took place. A unit of the South African Police
South African Police
The South African Police was the country's police force until 1994. The SAP traced its origin to the Dutch Watch, a paramilitary organization formed by settlers in the Cape in 1655, initially to protect civilians against attack and later to maintain law and order...
(SAP) supported by South African Air Force
South African Air Force
The South African Air Force is the air force of South Africa, with headquarters in Pretoria. It is the world's second oldest independent air force, and its motto is Per Aspera Ad Astra...
(SAAF) helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s exchanged fire with SWAPO forces at Omugulugwombashe
Omugulugwombashe
Omugulugwombashe is a settlement in the Tsandi electoral constituency in the Omusati Region of northern Namibia. The settlement features a clinic and a primary school. In Omugulugwombashe the Namibian struggle for independence started in 1966...
. This date is generally regarded as the start of what became known in South Africa as the Border War. The significance of this particular event is that the SAP were unable to engage in what had now become a military action, raising the issue of military intervention for the first time. This event thus triggered the first use of SADF Special Forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
, not yet formally in existence, but being run as an experiment under the leadership of Colonel Jan Breytenbach
Jan Breytenbach
Jan Breytenbach was appointed by the Founder of the South African Special Forces Brigade - General Frits Loots - as the first commander of 1 Reconnaissance Commando - the first unit founded within the South African Special Forces...
. From these early roots the subsequent Reconnaisance Commando (Recce), 44 Parachute Brigade
44 Parachute Brigade (South Africa)
44 Parachute Brigade was an all-arms formation of the South African Defence Force founded on the 20th of April 1978 following the disbandment of 1 SA Corps...
and 32 Battalion can be traced. At this stage the SADF presence was technically illegal because Parliament had not yet approved their deployment, so during the Omugulugwombashe incident, SADF Special Force members were hastily deputized as policemen. On 29 September SWAPO launched an attack on Oshikango
Oshikango
Oshikango is a village in northern Namibia and a border post to Angola. Since 2004 it is part of the town of Helao Nafidi but still maintains its own village council. It is the district capital of the Oshikango Constituency...
on the Namibian/Angolan border. This attack is led by Johannes Nankudhu
John ya Otto Nankudhu
John ya Otto Nankudhu was a Namibian freedom fighter, army officer and politician. He was the commander of the forces of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia at Omugulugwombashe when the armed struggle for independence began there on 26 August 1968 and was later jailed for 17 years at Robben...
who was a survivor of the abortive action at Omugulugwombashe, giving an indication that the SWAPO force had not been neutralized, again raising the issue of SAP competence in what was now a military conflict. In December 1966 a SWAPO force attacked a farm known as Maroelaboom, taking the fight into SWA for the first time. Within weeks of this incident, Umkhonto we Sizwe
Umkhonto we Sizwe
Umkhonto we Sizwe , translated "Spear of the Nation," was the armed wing of the African National Congress which fought against the South African apartheid government. MK launched its first guerrilla attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961...
(MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
, infiltrated a small unit into Botswana under the command of Chris Hani
Chris Hani
Chris Hani, born Martin Thembisile Hani was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress . He was a fierce opponent of the apartheid government...
, regionalizing the war.
In late 1966 UNITA
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...
joined the fight against the Angolan colonial power of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, who were already in conflict with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA). UNITA was mainly active in southern and eastern Angola, while the MPLA and FNLA were mainly active in northern Angola. SAAF helicopters were first sent to support the Portuguese against UNITA in 1967, thus beginning South Africa's decades-long involvement.
Counter insurgency
A counter-insurgency or counterinsurgency involves actions taken by the recognized government of a nation to contain or quell an insurgency taken up against it...
units. During this time the SAP and its local adjunct, the South West African Police (SWAPOL), bore the brunt of the ground fighting on the South African side, with the SAAF backing them up from the air. In the late 1960s a special police counter insurgency unit named Koevoet
Koevoet
Koevoet , also known as "Operation K" and officially known as the "South West Africa Police Counter-Insurgency Unit" , was a police counter insurgency unit in South-West Africa during the 1970s and 1980s...
(Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
for crowbar
Crowbar (tool)
A crowbar, a wrecking bar, pry bar, or prybar, or sometimes a prise bar or prisebar, and more informally a jimmy, jimmy bar, jemmy or gooseneck is a tool consisting of a metal bar with a single curved end and flattened points, often with a small fissure on one or both ends for removing nails...
) was formed. When the unit was first formed it was nicknamed Koevoet to signify prying loose the SWAPO insurgents from the thick bush. The official name of the unit was South West African Police Counterinsurgency, SWAPOLCOIN. The SAP withdrew all their units, except the Uniform Branch and CID personnel which were on normal police duties, when the SADF took over the responsibility for the SWA Border.
In April 1974, the Carnation Revolution
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
in Portugal changed the politics of that country.
The new government announced that it would grant independence to Angola on 11 November 1975; the three rival anti-colonial forces immediately began jockeying for control of the capital Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
, with international intervention in support of the different factions. South Africa's first action in August was to secure the strategically important Ruacana-Calueque
Calueque
Calueque is a village next to a dam and pumping station on the Cunene River in the Cunene Province of southern Angola. The project is linked to Ruacana, 20 km away inside Namibia, where an underground hydro-electric power station was built. A 300 km pipeline and canal extends across the...
hydro-electric scheme. The reason for this action at Calueque was that a major civil engineering project being financed by South Africa was at risk after a unit of ill-disciplined UNITA soldiers held some engineers against their will. This triggered a request for assistance, which resulted in an armoured column being sent to secure Ruacana. This action must also be interpreted in light of the Détente initiative then underway in South Africa. Prime Minister B.J. Vorster
B.J. Vorster
Balthazar Johannes Vorster , better known as John Vorster, served as the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and as the fourth State President of South Africa from 1978 to 1979...
was approached by certain African Heads of State, concerned that the presence of Chinese military advisors might link the local Angolan War of Liberation to the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Anxious to show that he could be trusted as an African Head of State, Vorster authorized the action, but with no defined objectives in the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the wake of the hasty Portuguese withdrawal, this single action escalated into what became Operation Savannah
Operation Savannah (Angola)
Operation Savannah was the name given to the South African Defence Force's 1975–1976 covert intervention in the Angolan Civil War.-Background:...
. On October 14, South Africa intervened covertly on behalf of UNITA and the FNLA through Operation Savannah
Operation Savannah (Angola)
Operation Savannah was the name given to the South African Defence Force's 1975–1976 covert intervention in the Angolan Civil War.-Background:...
; in response, Cuba launched an operation in support of the MPLA, which was able to gain control of the most important areas of the country. The authority of the coalition government was fading until the date scheduled for the independence (November 11, 1975) and Angolan Civil War
Angolan Civil War
The Angolan Civil War was a major civil conflict in the Southern African state of Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with some interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. Prior to this, a decolonisation conflict had taken...
started as the war of independence formally ended.
Different perspectives
In the 1966-88 period, a number of UN Commissioners for Namibia were appointed. South Africa refused to recognise any of these United Nations appointees, whereas the UN declared South Africa's administration of Namibia illegal. Nevertheless, discussions proceeded with UN Commissioner for Namibia, Martti AhtisaariMartti Ahtisaari
Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland , Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work....
, who played a key role in getting the Constitutional Principles agreed in 1982 by the front-line states, SWAPO, and the Western Contact Group. This agreement created the framework for Namibia's democratic constitution. The US Government's role as mediator was both critical and disputed throughout the period, one example being the intense efforts in 1984 to obtain withdrawal of the South African Defence Force
South African Defence Force
The South African Defence Force was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act of 1957...
(SADF) from southern Angola.
The so-called Constructive Engagement
Constructive engagement
Constructive engagement was the name given to the policy of the Reagan Administration towards the apartheid regime in South Africa in the early 1980s...
by US diplomatic interests was viewed negatively by those who supported internationally recognised independence. In addition, US moves seemed to encourage the South Africans to delay independence by taking initiatives such as dominating large tracts of southern Angola militarily while at the same time providing surrogate forces for the Angolan opposition movement, UNITA
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...
. The United States supplied UNITA with very advanced Stinger
FIM-92 Stinger
The FIM-92 Stinger is a personal portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile , which can be adapted to fire from ground vehicles and helicopters , developed in the United States and entered into service in 1981. Used by the militaries of the U.S...
anti-aircraft missiles
In 1987, the Angolan government with strong support from the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
decided, against Cuban advice, to restore the territorial integrity of Angola by eliminating UNITA strongholds in the south of Angola. They undertook a serious offensive from
Cuito Cuanavale towards Mavinga. As UNITA was being driven back, the South African forces intervened on their behalf. In operations Modular
Operation Modular
Operation Modular was a military operation by the South African Defence Force during the South African Border War. It formed part of what has come to be called the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale....
and Hooper
Operation Hooper
Operation Hooper was a military operation by the South African Defence Force during the South African Border War. This operation forms part of what has come to be called the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale....
they decisively stopped the offensive, and went on to roll back the Angolan government forces to Cuito Cuanavale.
Cuba considerably reinforced its troops in Angola and came to the defence of the besieged FAPLA; the South African advance was stopped at the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale in 1987/88 was an important episode in the Angolan Civil War . Between 9 September and 7 October 1987, the Angolan Army , in an attempt to finally subdue the Angolan insurgent movement UNITA in south-eastern Angola, was decisively repelled in a series of battles at the...
, the largest battle in Africa since World War II, in which both sides have claimed victory. The bulk of the Cuban forces advanced towards Namibia further to the west, threatening to cut off the SADF-Forces remaining at Cuito. On 27 June 1988, Cuban MiG-23
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is considered to belong to the Soviet third generation jet fighter category, along with similarly aged Soviet fighters such as the MiG-25 "Foxbat"...
fighters bombed the Calueque
Calueque
Calueque is a village next to a dam and pumping station on the Cunene River in the Cunene Province of southern Angola. The project is linked to Ruacana, 20 km away inside Namibia, where an underground hydro-electric power station was built. A 300 km pipeline and canal extends across the...
hydro-electric complex at 16.7367°N 14.9669°W, disabling it and killing 12 SADF soldiers. For some analysts the stalemate at Cuito and the death toll and vulnerability to Cuban MiGs was viewed with apprehension by the SADF and may have had some bearing on the fact that a peace accord was agreed soon afterwards. United Nations-mediated negotiations took place with the aim of achieving peace in and independence for South-West Africa/Namibia and the South African ground troops completed their withdrawal from Angola on 30 August 1988 before the negotiations were concluded.
Serious negotiations
In 1988, UN Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt CarlssonBernt Carlsson
Bernt Wilmar Carlsson was Assistant-Secretary-General of the United Nations and United Nations Commissioner for Namibia from July 1987 until he died on Pan Am Flight 103, which was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland on 21 December 1988.-Social democrat:A native of Stockholm, Carlsson joined the...
, was appointed. In the eventuality of South Africa's relinquishing control of Namibia, Commissioner Carlsson's role would be to administer the country on behalf of the UN, formulate its framework constitution, and organise free and fair elections based upon a non-racial universal franchise.
In May 1988, a US mediation team headed by Chester A. Crocker, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs brought negotiators from Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, and South Africa, and observers from the Soviet Union together in London. Intense diplomatic manoeuvering characterised the next 7 months, as the parties worked out agreements to bring peace to the region and make possible the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 435
United Nations Security Council Resolution 435
United Nations Security Council Resolution 435, adopted on September 29, 1978, put forward proposals for a cease-fire and UN-supervised elections in South African-controlled South-West Africa which ultimately led to the independence of Namibia...
(UNSCR 435).
At the Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
/Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
summit of leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union in Moscow (29 May-1 June 1988), it was decided that Cuban troops would be withdrawn from Angola, and Soviet military aid would cease, as soon as South Africa withdrew from Namibia. The New York Accords
New York Accords
The Tripartite Accord, Three Powers Accord or New York Accords granted independence to Namibia and ended the direct involvement of foreign troops in the Angolan Civil War...
agreements to give effect to these decisions were drawn up for signature at UN headquarters in New York in December 1988. Cuba, South Africa, and the People's Republic of Angola agreed to a total Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola. This agreement known as the Brazzaville Protocol established a Joint Monitoring Commission (JMC), with the United States and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
as observers, to oversee implementation of the accords. A bilateral agreement between Cuba and Angola was signed at UN headquarters in New York City on 22 December 1988. On the same day, a tripartite agreement between Angola, Cuba and South Africa was signed whereby South Africa agreed to hand control of Namibia to the United Nations.
Tragically, UN Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson, was not present at the signing ceremony. He was killed on Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
which exploded over Lockerbie
Lockerbie
Lockerbie is a town in the Dumfries and Galloway region of south-western Scotland. It lies approximately from Glasgow, and from the English border. It had a population of 4,009 at the 2001 census...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
on 21 December 1988 en route from London to New York. South African foreign minister Pik Botha
Pik Botha
Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha is a former South African politician who served as the country's foreign minister in the last years of the apartheid era...
, and an official delegation of 22 had a lucky escape. Their booking on Pan Am 103 was cancelled at the last minute and Botha, together with a smaller delegation, caught the earlier Pan Am 101 flight to New York.
Transition to independence
Implementation of UNSCR 435 officially started on April 1, 1989, when the South African-appointed Administrator General, Louis PienaarLouis Pienaar
Louis Pienaar is a South African lawyer and former diplomat. In 1985, the apartheid government put him in charge of Namibia, in the lead-up to that country's independence in 1990...
, who took the place of the UN's Bernt Carlsson
Bernt Carlsson
Bernt Wilmar Carlsson was Assistant-Secretary-General of the United Nations and United Nations Commissioner for Namibia from July 1987 until he died on Pan Am Flight 103, which was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland on 21 December 1988.-Social democrat:A native of Stockholm, Carlsson joined the...
, began the Namibia's transition to independence. Former UN Commissioner for Namibia, Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland , Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work....
was appointed United Nations Special Representative in Namibia, and arrived in Windhoek in April 1989 to head the United Nations Transition Assistance Group
United Nations Transition Assistance Group
The United Nations Transition Assistance Group was a United Nations peacekeeping force deployed from April 1989 to March 1990 in Namibia to monitor the peace process and elections there. Namibia had been occupied by South Africa since 1915, first under a League of Nations mandate and later...
(UNTAG).
The transition got off to a shaky start because, contrary to SWAPO leader Sam Nujoma's written assurances to the UN Secretary General to abide by a cease-fire and repatriate only unarmed Namibians, it was alleged that approximately 2,000 armed members of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), SWAPO's military wing, crossed the border from Angola in an apparent attempt to establish a military presence in northern Namibia. UNTAG's Martti Ahtisaari took advice from British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, who was visiting Southern Africa at the time, and authorised a limited contingent of South African troops to aid the South West African Police (SWAPOL) in restoring order. A period of intense fighting followed, during which 375 PLAN fighters were killed. At a hastily arranged meeting of the Joint Monitoring Commission in Mount Etjo, a game park outside Otjiwarongo, it was agreed to confine the South African forces to base and return PLAN elements to Angola. While that problem was resolved, minor disturbances in the north continued throughout the transition period.
In October 1989, under orders of the UN Security Council, Pretoria was forced to demobilize some 1,600 members of its counter-insurgency force Koevoet
Koevoet
Koevoet , also known as "Operation K" and officially known as the "South West Africa Police Counter-Insurgency Unit" , was a police counter insurgency unit in South-West Africa during the 1970s and 1980s...
(Afrikaans for crowbar). The Koevoet issue had been one of the most difficult UNTAG faced. The unit was formed by South Africa after the adoption of UNSCR 435, and was not, therefore, mentioned in the Settlement Proposal or related documents. The UN regarded Koevoet as a paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
organization which ought to be disbanded but the unit continued to deploy in the north in armoured and heavily armed convoys. In June 1989, the UN Special Representative told Administrator-General, Louis Pienaar that this behaviour was totally inconsistent with the Settlement Proposal, which required the police to be lightly armed. Moreover, the vast majority of the Koevoet personnel were quite unsuited for continued employment in the South West African Police (SWAPOL). The Security Council, in its resolution 640 (1989) of August 29, therefore demanded the disbanding of Koevoet and dismantling of its command structures. South African foreign minister, Pik Botha, announced on September 28, 1989 that 1,200 ex-Koevoet members would be demobilized with effect from the following day. A further 400 such personnel were demobilized on October 30. These demobilizations were supervised by UNTAG military monitors.
The 11-month transition period ended relatively smoothly. Political prisoners were granted amnesty, discriminatory legislation was repealed, South Africa withdrew all its forces from Namibia, and some 42,000 refugees returned safely and voluntarily under the auspices of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Almost 98% of registered voters turned out to elect members of the Constituent Assembly. The elections were held in November 1989 and were certified as free and fair by the UN Special Representative, with SWAPO taking 57% of the vote, short of the two-thirds necessary to have a free hand in revising the framework constitution that had been formulated not by UN Commissioner Carlsson but by South African appointee Louis Pienaar. The opposition Democratic Turnhalle Alliance received 29% of the vote. The Constituent Assembly held its first meeting on November 21, 1989 and resolved unanimously to use the 1982 Constitutional Principles in Namibia's new constitution.
It was later revealed that the South African government had paid more than £20 million to at least seven political parties in Namibia to oppose SWAPO in the run-up to the 1989 elections. They justified the expenditure on the grounds that South Africa was at war with SWAPO at the time.
Namibian independence celebrations
Namibia's Independence DayIndependence Day
An Independence Day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's assumption of independent statehood, usually after ceasing to be a colony or part of another nation or state, and more rarely after the end of a military occupation...
celebrations took place in the Windhoek Sports Stadium
Independence Stadium (Namibia)
The Independence Stadium in Windhoek is the national stadium of the Republic of Namibia. It holds 25,000 spectators and is mainly used for football events....
on 21 March 1990. Numerous international representatives attended, including 20 heads of state, and the arrival of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
, who had just been released from prison, caused excitement among the 30,000 spectators. United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....
, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar y de la Guerra is a Peruvian diplomat who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1, 1982 to December 31, 1991. He studied in Colegio San Agustín of Lima, and then at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. In 1995, he ran unsuccessfully...
, and the President of South Africa
President of South Africa
The President of the Republic of South Africa is the head of state and head of government under South Africa's Constitution. From 1961 to 1994, the head of state was called the State President....
, F.W. de Klerk, jointly conferred independence on Namibia. The president of SWAPO, Sam Nujoma
Sam Nujoma
Samuel Daniel Shafiishuna Nujoma is a Namibian politician who was the first President of Namibia from 1990 to 2005. He led the South-West Africa People's Organisation in its long struggle against South African rule and took office as President when Namibia obtained independence on 21 March 1990...
, was then sworn in as the first President of Namibia.
See also
- Angolan Civil WarAngolan Civil WarThe Angolan Civil War was a major civil conflict in the Southern African state of Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with some interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. Prior to this, a decolonisation conflict had taken...
- Cuba in Angola
- List of operations of the South African Border War
- Portuguese Colonial WarPortuguese Colonial WarThe Portuguese Colonial War , also known in Portugal as the Overseas War or in the former colonies as the War of liberation , was fought between Portugal's military and the emerging nationalist movements in Portugal's African colonies between 1961 and 1974, when the Portuguese regime was...
- Rhodesian Bush WarRhodesian Bush WarThe Rhodesian Bush War – also known as the Second Chimurenga or the Zimbabwe War of Liberation – was a civil war which took place between July 1964 and December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia...
- Mozambican Civil WarMozambican Civil WarThe Mozambican Civil War began in 1977, two years after the end of the war of independence. The ruling party, Front for Liberation of Mozambique , was violently opposed from 1977 by the Rhodesian- and South African-funded Mozambique Resistance Movement...
- Military history of South AfricaMilitary history of South AfricaThe history of South Africa chronicles a vast time period and complex events from the dawn of history until the present time. It covers civil wars and wars of aggression and of self-defense both within South Africa and against it...
- Military history of AfricaMilitary history of AfricaThe military history of Africa is one of the oldest and most eclectic military histories. Africa is a continent of many regions with diverse populations speaking hundreds of different languages and practicing an array of cultures and religions...
- South Africa and weapons of mass destructionSouth Africa and weapons of mass destructionFrom the 1960s to the 1980s, South Africa pursued research into weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. Six nuclear weapons were assembled...
Lectures
- Commandant Dick Lord, public lecture, University of Stellenbosch, 14 December 2001.
External links
- 32 Battalion - The Terrible Ones
- Willem Steenkamp's book - South Africa's Border War 1966-1989
- Accounts of both sides: A South African Soldier and an MK operative
- Military Memories of ex-SADF rifleman - D.R. Walker
- The Stick (1987) synopsis on IMDB
- Steenkamp, Willem. Borderstrike! South Africa into Angola. 1975-1980., Just Done Productions , Durban, 2006
- South African Roll of Honour