South African Border Wars

A podcast by Desmond Latham

Categories:

Society & Culture History

113 Episodes

  1. Episode 113 - More details about the fierce fighting when PLAN invaded Namibia in April 1989

    Published: 7/10/2023

  2. Episode 112 - SWAPO's Sam Nujoma pulls a fast one and UNTAG struggles to cope

    Published: 7/3/2023

  3. Episode 111 - Two Scorpions in a bottle and peace after 23 years

    Published: 6/25/2023

  4. Episode 110 - Cuban MiG-23s bomb Calueque Dam and 11 SADF troops pay the price

    Published: 6/19/2023

  5. Episode 109 - A Bosbok survives a missile near miss as both the SADF and the Cubans gear up

    Published: 6/11/2023

  6. Episode 108 - Cubans start heading towards Calueque Dam and another South African POW

    Published: 6/5/2023

  7. Episode 107 – Reagan, Gorbachev, Ulysses the Bull, Fidel Castro: Diplomacy Breaks Out

    Published: 5/28/2023

  8. Episode 106 – Operation Packer/Tumpo 3 and Castro’s obsession

    Published: 5/23/2023

  9. Episode 105 – Citizen Force ou-manne train for the third Battle of Tumpo while Russians drink rice-vodka to forget

    Published: 5/16/2023

  10. Episode 104 – The SAAF raids Lubango and a tired 61 Mech launches the Battle of Tumpo II

    Published: 5/7/2023

  11. Episode 103 – The First Battle of Tumpo Triangle where 61 Mech faced a fierce FAPLA bombardment

    Published: 5/1/2023

  12. Episode 102 – 32 Battalion strikes Menongue Airfield and a Mirage is shot down

    Published: 4/23/2023

  13. Episode 101 – The Valentines Day assault on 59 Brigade and a Cuban tank ambush

    Published: 4/16/2023

  14. Episode 100 – FAPLA pushed from their positions along the Chambinga High Ground on Friday 13th

    Published: 4/11/2023

  15. Episode 99 – The SAAF tests a top secret weapon while new recruits come to terms with giant moths and skulking MiGs

    Published: 4/2/2023

  16. Episode 98 – Hougaard goes marauding and a Russian commander dies as an ammunition bunker explodes

    Published: 3/26/2023

  17. Episode 97 – Castro starts to talk peace but along the Cuito River all hell rains down

    Published: 3/19/2023

  18. Episode 96 – The Chambinga Gallop and the end of Operation Moduler

    Published: 3/12/2023

  19. Episode 95 – 21/25 Brigade makes a dash for the Chambinga Bridge amidst heroics by 32's Van Zyl

    Published: 3/5/2023

  20. Episode 94 – South African and Russian tanks go toe-to-toe at the Chambinga river in southern Angola

    Published: 2/26/2023

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Much has been written about the South African Border war which is also known as the Namibian War of Independence. While the fighting was ostensibly about Namibia, most of the significant battles were fought inside Namibia’s northern neighbour, Angola. South Africa’s 23 year border war has been almost forgotten as the Cold War ebbed away and bygones were swept under the political carpet. South African politicians, particularly the ANC and the National Party, decided during negotiations to end years of conflict that the Truth and Reconciliation commission would focus on the internal struggle inside South Africa. For most conscripts in the South African Defence Force, the SADF, they completed matric and then were drafted into the military. For SWAPO or UNITA or the MPLA army FAPLA it was a similar experience but defined largely by a political awakening and usually linked to information spread through villages and in towns. This was a young person’s war which most wars are – after all the most disposable members of society are its young men. Nor was it simply a war between white and black. IT was more a conflict on the ground between red and green. Communism and Capitalism. The other reality was despite being a low-key war, it was high intensity and at times featured unconventional warfare as well as conventional. SADF soldiers would often fight on foot, walking patrols, contacts would take place between these troops and SWAPO. There were many conventional battles involving motorised heavy vehicles, tanks, artillery, air bombardments and mechanised units rolling into attack each other. The combatants included Russians, American former Vietnam vets, Cubans, East Germans and Portuguese.