SOUTH AFRICAN BORDER WAR

The 'South African Border War' refers to the 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, SWAPO (''South-West Africa People's Organisation'') and their allies (mainly the Soviet Union and Cuba) on the other.

Contents

Roots of the conflict

Beginning of a 23-year conflict (1965–1974)

Angolan independence: Cold War theatre of war (1975–1988)

Cold War & Border War end: 1989

Namibian independence: 1990

See also

References

External Links

Roots of the conflict

The roots of the conflict can be traced back to World War I, when South Africa invaded and conquered the then German South-West Africa on behalf of the Allied Forces. In the aftermath of the war, the League of Nations gave South Africa a mandate to administer the territory.
After World War II, South Africa refused to surrender its mandate for replacement by a United Nations Trusteeship agreement requiring closer international monitoring of the territory's administration. Although the South African government wanted to incorporate South-West Africa into its territory, it never officially did so, although it was administered as the de-facto fifth province, with the white minority having representation in the (whites-only) Parliament of South Africa.

Beginning of a 23-year conflict (1965–1974)

In the wake of the South African government's refusal and the implementation of its apartheid policies in South-West Africa (SWA), SWAPO became increasingly militant and in 1962 its military wing, the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), was formed.
In the mid-1960s, a number of SWAPO bases had been established in neighbouring Zambia and its insurgents began infiltrating SWA. The first such incursion took place in September 1965 and the second in March 1966 but it was only on 26 August 1966 that the first major clash of the conflict took place, when a unit of the South African Police (SAP) — supported by South African Air Force (SAAF) helicopters — exchanged fire with SWAPO forces. This date is generally regarded as the start of what became known in South Africa as the "Border War".
The chaotic situation in Angola and the discovery of Cuban weapons dumps near the SWA border, combined with clashes between South African troops and Angolan insurgents at the Calueque pump station — an important site in a combined South Africa-Portuguese hydro electric project — convinced South Africa to enter the fray, with the covert backing of the United States of America, to assist the anti-MPLA movements, UNITA and the FNLA.
In late 1966 UNITA joined the fight against the Angolan colonial power of Portugal, who were already in conflict with the MPLA and 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.
During this time the South African Police and its local adjunct, the South-West African Police, 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 police counter insurgency unit named ''Koevoet'' (Afrikaans for Crowbar) was formed.

Angolan independence: Cold War theatre of war (1975–1988)

The MPLA of Angola declared independence on November 11, 1975 and by February 29, 1976 all Portuguese forces had left the country. Cuban forces and Soviet advisors had begun to enter Angola on invitation of the MPLA in April 1975 and South Africa thus faced the prospect of a communist state on the border of SWA. As a result South Africa, with covert assistance from the United States' Central Intelligence Agency, began assisting UNITA and the FNLA against the MPLA and its allies.
A major incursion by South Africa into Angola occurred during Operation Savannah, when South African forces advanced 3,159 km in 33 days to within artillery range of the Angolan capital of Luanda. South Africa was forced to withdraw when its covert Western support (mainly from the United States) was withdrawn. After its withdrawal, South Africa continued to support UNITA in order to ensure that SWAPO did not establish bases in southern Angola from where they could launch attacks into SWA.
The first air-to-air combat in which SAAF jet fighter aircraft were involved since the Korean War took place on 4 May 1978 at Cassinga in Angola. During the same operation the SAAF's aircraft also took part in numerous sorties to support the troops on the ground, which were mainly drawn from its airborne and special forces.
During the late 1970s there were numerous ground and/or air operations by the South African forces into Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique. South Africa also became involved in the conflict between UNITA and the Cuban-assisted MPLA forces.

Cold War & Border War end: 1989

In the 1966-88 period, seven UN Commissioners for Namibia were appointed. South Africa refused to recognize any of these United Nations appointees. Nevertheless discussions proceeded with UN Commissioner for Namibia N°5 Martti Ahtisaari 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, while to others US policy seemed to be aimed more towards restraining Soviet-Cuban influence in Angola and linking that to the issue of Namibian independence. In addition, US moves seemed to encourage the South Africans to delay independence by taking initiatives that would keep the Soviets-Cubans in Angola, such as dominating large tracts of southern Angola militarily while at the same time providing surrogate forces for the Angolan opposition movement, UNITA. Finally, in 1987 when prospects for Namibian independence seemed to be improving, the seventh UN Commissioner for Namibia Bernt Carlsson was appointed. Upon South Africa's relinquishing control of Namibia, Commissioner Carlsson's role would be to administer the country, formulate its framework constitution, and organize free and fair elections based upon a non-racial universal franchise. Following operations Modular and Hooper in 1987 and 1988, United Nations-mediated negotiations took place with the aim of achieving peace in and independence for South-West Africa/Namibia.
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 maneuvering characterized the next 7 months, as the parties worked out agreements to bring peace to the region and make possible the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 435 (UNSCR 435).
After the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, Fidel Castro was keen to make a big show of force before the peace was agreed so that the Cuban forces would be seen to be leaving Angola victoriously. An offensive was planned against the Calueque hydro-electric plant at , and on 27 June 1988, Cuban Mig 23 fighters bombed the complex, disabling it and killing 12 SADF soldiers there. The high death toll and vulnerability to Cuban Migs sent shockwaves through the South African military, and must have had some bearing on the fact that a peace accord was finally agreed soon afterwards.
The final withdrawal of South African ground troops from Angola (in particular, the town of Cuito Cuanavale) was completed on 30 August 1988.
At the Reagan/Gorbachev summit on September 29, 1988 it was agreed that Cuban troops would be withdrawn from Angola, and Soviet military aid would cease, as soon as South Africa withdrew from Namibia. 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 December 22, 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 N°7 Bernt Carlsson was not present at the signing ceremony. He was killed on flight Pan Am 103 which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 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 Pik Botha, together with a smaller delegation, caught the earlier Pan Am 101 flight to New York.)
Implementation of UNSCR 435 officially started on April 1, 1989, when the South African-appointed Administrator General, Louis Pienaar, began the territory's transition to independence. Former UN Commissioner N°5 and now UN Special Representative Martti Ahtisaari arrived in Windhoek in April 1989 to head the UN Transition Assistance Group's (UNTAG) observer mission.
The transition got off to a shaky start because, contrary to SWAPO President 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 authorized a limited contingent of South African troops to aid the South West African police 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 Koevoet (Afrikaans for ''crowbar''). The Koevoet issue had been one of the most difficult UNTAG faced. This counter-insurgency 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 unit which ought to be disbanded but the unit continued to deploy in the north in armoured and heavily armed convoys. In June 1989, the Special Representative told the Administrator-General that this behavior 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 Africa 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.[1]
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, just short of the two-thirds necessary to have a free hand in revising the framework constitution that had been formulated not by UN Commissioner N°7 Bernt Carlsson but by the 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.
(According to ''The Guardian'' of July 26, 1991, Pik Botha told a press conference 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. He justified the expenditure on the grounds that ''South Africa was at war with SWAPO'' at the time.)

Namibian independence: 1990

Namibia's Independence Day took place on 21 March 1990 and was attended by numerous international representatives, including the United Nations Secretary-General and the President of South Africa, who jointly conferred independence on Namibia. The president of SWAPO, Sam Nujoma, was sworn in as the first President of Namibia.

See also

★ Angolan Civil War

★ List of operations of the South African Border War

★ Portuguese Colonial War

★ Rhodesian Bush War

★ Mozambican Civil War

★ Military history of South Africa

★ Military history of Africa

★ South Africa and weapons of mass destruction

References

★ Commandant Dick Lord, public lecture, University of Stellenbosch, 14th December 2001.

External Links

★ [2] 32 Battalion "The Terrible Ones"

★ [3] Willem Steenkamp's book "South Africa's Border War 1966-1989"

★ [4] Accounts of both sides: a South African Soldier and an MK operative

★ [5] Military Memories of ex-SADF rifleman D.R. Walker

★ [6] The Stick (1987) synopsis on IMDB

★ [7] Steenkamp, Willem. Borderstrike! South Africa into Angola. 1975-1980., Just Done Productions , Durban, 2006

★ [8] South African Roll of Honour