Podcasts · History · Society & Culture

South African Border Wars

Desmond Latham

113 episodes

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.

More about the show

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.

Episodes page 1 of 3

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

    · 24 min

    This is episode 113, we’re wrapping up the series with the final days of South West Africa as the country became Namibia. I’ll talk about the SADF’s departure later in this episode. First we need to go over the events…

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

    · 23 min

    So here we are, the sound of peace settled over Ovamboland, it was the end of 1988. The South Africans were actually in a much better position than it appeared. Yes, they were losing Namibia, and were going to also…

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

    · 27 min

    This is episode 111, in cricket the number is known as Nelson, it’s unlucky for the batting side, and players are expected to stand on one leg as the bowler launches his ball. It’s perhaps symbolic that we get to…

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

    · 21 min

    When we left off last episode, the Cubans and Angolans were gearing up to face another invasion by 61 Mech and 4SAI, Operation Excite as it was to become known. But for once, the Cubans had decided that they’d seize…

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

    · 21 min

    We left off last week hearing that the Cuban 50th Division had been moved towards the SWA Border, a clear message to Pretoria that Fidel Castro was no longer going to tolerate the losses that he and FAPLA had endured…

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

    · 20 min

    This is episode 108, it’s the 23rd June 1988 and the south Africans, Cubans, Angolans, Americans and Russians had gathered in Cairo for negotiations over the future of Namibia and the Cubans were seething. American…

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

    · 21 min

    Operation Hooper had ended in failure for the SADF and back in Pretoria, it was time to reassess the political and military situation. What had been achieved after 23 years of war - fighting ostensibly to stop SWAPO…

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

    · 21 min

    More than two decades of conflict in Ovamboland and southern Angola had worn down South African military domination - tactical superiority was no longer certain. The initial approach which had been innovative and…

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

    · 21 min

    The Third Battle of the Tumpo Triangle was about to begin - the date - 23rd March 1988. The weary 61 Mechanised battalion had withdrawn, the men exhausted after 4 months of shifting about and fighting FAPLA, while…

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

    · 21 min

    Last episode we heard about the failed first battle of the Tumpo Triangle, officially known as Tumpo one which took place on February 25th 1988. You know that things aren’t going well when battles are numbered, and…

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

    · 24 min

    It was D-Day for the next attack across the open ground east of the Tumpo Triangle, just outside Cuito Cuanavale in southern Angola. The town was now regarded as a moral prerequisite rather than strategic necessity,…

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

    · 22 min

    The South Africans were attacking FAPLA’s 59 Brigade, but had run into an ambush - Cubans operating Soviet tanks had laid up waiting for 4SAI to cut across their hull down positions. These were the T55s of the 3rd…

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

    · 23 min

    It’s the second week of January 1988 and FAPLAs 21st, 59th and 25th Brigades had taken up the front line in what was to be a three layered defenses ahead of the Tumpo Triangle, where two roads joined just north of the…

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

    · 22 min

    D-Day for the renewed attack on FAPLA’s 21 Brigade was reset from January 5th to January 13th 1988 - a Friday, for those who suffered from triskaidekaphobia - a fear of Friday the 13th, it merely served to increase…

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

    · 23 min

    We’re approaching the date of Operation Hooper, but first a bit of bad news for the SADF regarding disease. The heavy rains through November and December of 1987 had created a perfect breeding ground for the flies and…

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

    · 21 min

    When we left off last episode it was the end of Operation Moduler, and Cuban Leader Fidel Castro had begun to consider a negotiated solution to the Namibian and Angolan war. There was a side-show planned before the…

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

    · 23 min

    We’re wrapping up Operation Moduler this episode and throwing forward to the next assault on Cuito Cuanavale which was to fixate the South African political leadership at a time when the Cold War was melting away. This…

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

    · 25 min

    FAPLAs 21 and 25 Brigades were manoeuvring around the western edge of the 1370 meter high Viposto high ground which lay south of the Hube and Chambinga Rivers before dawn on the 16th November 1987- and those rivers…

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

    · 24 min

    We’re into the final phase of Operation Moduler in November 1987, and the SADF was lining up FAPLAs 16 Brigade after giving them a bloody nose on the 9th. Combat Group Bravo was going to draw FAPLAs attention between…

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

    · 21 min

    It’s early morning November 9th 1987 and the SADF was advancing towards FAPLAs 16th Brigade based at the source of the Chambinga River. The Angolan brigade had received orders to shift eastwards, and the units were…

  21. Episode 93 – Russians claim chemical weapon attack as the SADF pounds FAPLA

    · 21 min

    Colonel Deon Ferreira was putting the final touches together for the next phase of Operation Moduler, in late October 1987. The South Africans had reorganised themselves into three combat groups for the upcoming push…

  22. Episode 92 – An indebted Pretoria fixates on Cuito Cuanavale

    · 22 min

    At the beginning of October 1987 One Recce moved into the southern Angolan region replacing Five Recce and by the time the SADF top brass had decided the final course of action, a group of 30 Recces flew by C-130 from…

  23. Episode 91 – Russians on the Lomba and the Olifant Battle Tank

    · 26 min

    FAPLA had taken a battering at the Battle of the Lomba River on 3rd October 1987 - the SADF had crushed 47 Brigade, and they had also dealt t21 Brigade a serious blow earlier as you’ve heard. Operation Modular had led…

  24. Episode 90 – FAPLAs 47th Brigade shattered as Operation Moduler continues

    · 22 min

    One of the most crucial periods of the Border War was under way - although military strategists didn’t realise this until a little later. It was imperative for FAPLA to take Mavinga, this would have pushed the South…

  25. Episode 89 – Mirages, MiGs, missiles & the Lomba River tango to the death

    · 23 min

    We heard last episode how Operation Modular had begun, and how FAPLAs 21st Brigade had been stopped from crossing the Lomba River by Major Hannes Nortmann and his squadron of Ratels using the experimental ZRT3 rockets…

  26. Episode 88 – Operation Moduler begins with T54/55s taking on Ratels at the Lomba

    · 23 min

    The first phase of Operation Modular has begun. 32 Battalion, the Recces and UNITA are facing 8 FAPLA Brigades in southern Angola, four of these have advanced towards Mavinga. As you hear last episode, FAPLas 21 and 47…

  27. Episode 87 –Crocodiles attack Recces and the Lomba River heavy metal clash looms

    · 25 min

    The SADF was now facing a crisis as the MPLA government in Angola was growing increasingly determined to crush UNITA in the south east. The Apartheid government was also facing an internal uprising and new…

  28. Episode 86 – The SAAF harried in Angola and Soviets import arms from Afghanistan

    · 21 min

    We are traveling with 5 Recce and they are planning to attack the SWAPO base that was discovered by some systematic sleuthing by Koos Stadler and Jose da Costa as you heard last episode. The base was north of…

  29. Episode 85 – Small teams missions behind enemy lines and the courage of 7 Med

    · 23 min

    We’ve heard about the 1 Recce and 4 Recce and the covert war throughout this series, and at times, I’ve included the voices or the individual stories where possible. Unfortunately there is just not enough space and…

  30. Episode 84 - FAPLA renew their offensive against UNITA at Mavinga

    · 20 min

    It’s early 1986 and the SADF had learned a great deal through 1985, particularly what FAPLA were up to. In the time of the Joint Commission you heard about, both sides were actively collecting intelligence about each…

  31. Episode 83 – The most ambitious Op involving SADF special Forces hits Namibe

    · 25 min

    By January 1986 internal unrest in South Africa that had started in 1984 was in full swing – with the security forces hard pressed to cope. The SA Police were largely responsible for dealing with the ANC and PAC…

  32. Episode 82 – More Russian choppers down and 32 learns how to use SATNAV

    · 21 min

    It’s September 1985, and the SA Air Force and ground forces have already shot down two Russian helicopters and an Antonov transport plane. That was an attempt at slowing down an MPLA ground assault using it’s PLAN…

  33. Episode 81 – The MPLA attacks UNITA and the SAAF shoots down Russian choppers

    · 19 min

    By mid-1985 air traffic between Lubango on the Atlantic coast and Cuito Cuanavale in southern Angola had grown exponentially. Since the railway line running east had been rendered useless by UNITA, the MPLA was relying…

  34. Episode 80 – An SA Navy sub damaged at the end of the failed Cabinda raid

    · 20 min

    We’re picking up where we left off in Episode 79 with Captain Wynana Du Toit captured, two Recces dead, and six others hiding in a coastal thicket surrounded by FAPLA intent on capturing or killing them. Operation…

  35. Episode 79 – A shootout on a Cabinda beach and the capture of Cpt Wynand du Toit

    · 23 min

    Last episode we covered one of 32 Battalion’s darkest days, the mauling they received at the hands of SWAPO on 11th February 1985, where Charlie Company walked straight into one of the better prepared SWAPO bases after…

  36. Episode 78 – Operation “foreskin” and 32 runs into a SWAPO firestorm

    · 19 min

    We’re traveling with 32 Battalion’s Echo and Golf companies which had entered Angola and were deployed in pseudo-operations – something called Operation Forte was on the go in 1984. When we left off, the convoy of…

  37. Episode 77 – The Recces blow up locomotives and 32 Battalion dresses like UNITA

    · 20 min

    By the second half of 1984 the Joint Monitoring Commission was virtually on its last legs and the SADF Special Forces were involved in a number of missions both by sea and across the cutline. The first we’re going to…

  38. Episode 76 – Turned SWAPO cadres, Recce pseudo-operations & Soviet air strategy

    · 19 min

    It’s 1984 and the special forces have been busy as you heard in the last episode. The waterborne operations were on the go, but so too were ops into southern Angola with 32 Battalion changing its colours so to speak.…

  39. Episode 75 – Russian OSA2 missile boats targeted in 1984’s Operation Nobilis

    · 20 min

    This is episode 75 and we’re covering events in 1984 where various issues had arisen. The South Africans and the Angolans had been jointly patrolling southern Angola in what was supposed to be the preamble to peace in…

  40. Episode 74 – FAPLA/SADF joint patrols hit a wobble & Recce Op Bouganvilia

    · 21 min

    We just finished hearing about Operation Askari, and a quick note. I said that the Eland armoured would no longer be used for cross -border operations after Askari, but that’s incorrect. A listener who was on board an…

  41. Episode 73 – A 1984 cease-fire as the SADF and FAPLA conduct joint patrols

    · 23 min

    Operation Askari has ended but not the recriminations. While on the surface the SADF gave off a great deal of positive propaganda, the loss of 21 men and equipment including three Ratels, and the haphazard manner in…

  42. Episode 72 – Cuvelai III: A Ratel destroyed by a T54 and an Impala narrow escape

    · 22 min

    The Battle of Cuvelai two was a blood letting of note, with FAPLAs 11th Brigade now bottled up in the town, with the SADF Task Force Victor and X-Ray on their doorstep. 32 Battalion had pulled off a bloodless takeover…

  43. Episode 71 – The Battle of Cuvelai II: Bundu-bashing into Soviet T54/55s

    · 22 min

    It’s the first days of January 1984 and Operation Askari has hit a few hiccups. Task Force Victor failed to take Cuvelai in the first Battle for the town at the end of December as you heard last episode and Combat Team…

  44. Episode 70 – Operation Askari missteps at Cahama and Cuvelai

    · 25 min

    It’s operation Askari, and 61 Mech’s has fulfilled the first part of the plan, driving FAPLA out of Quiteve and now were approaching Cahama, which is 96 kilometers north west of Xangongo. This was going to be a tough…

  45. Episode 69 – Operation Askari begins with a reconnaissance drone

    · 18 min

    By November 1983 the SADF was prepping for the significant operation called Askari, and the Air Force was playing its part. The original plan was for the op to start on the 9th November but political negotiations had…

  46. Episode 68 – UNITA overruns Cangamba with SAAF help but Russia gets proactive

    · 20 min

    By April 1983, SADF intelligence picked up that SWAPO had begun improving its military position in Angola and that their armed wing PLAN had managed a major incursion into Ovamboland. Then things went very quiet and…

  47. Episode 67–A rifle grenade in a ribcage, an Ionde minefield mishap and a Dragon

    · 22 min

    By now, 32 Battalion had setup their HQ at Ongiva airport, a few kilometers outside the town, and 40 kilometers north of the cutline. But the Battalion was going to move their mobile Task force HQ further into Angola…

  48. Episode 66 – Another MiG shot down and Russian VIPs arrive

    · 19 min

    We heard last episode about Operation Meebos and the shooting down of a Puma with the loss of 15 men. The SADF was now determined to follow-up the company of SWAPO who’d been based near the Mui river and who’s…

  49. Episode 65 – Ops Meebos where SWAPO AA fire downs a Puma

    · 20 min

    We’re back in 1982 after a hiatus covering the seaborne operations and an update from the SA Air Force which had had a busy May as you heard in Episode 64. Things on the ground in SWA showed that SWAPO was almost fully…

  50. Episode 64 – Another Maputo raid and Hearts and Minds in the Kavango

    · 21 min

    It’s 1980 and in February Robert Mugabe’s ZANU movement was about to win the first Zimbabwean election - managing to scape a small majority – they won 57 seats out of 100. Not exactly a landslide then. In April, Mugabe…

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