#51
Post
by Boeta » 22 Nov 2005, 01:04
Lasting 137 days, the biggest battle fought in Africa was arguably the battle between the South African supported security forces and the joint Angolan/Cuban forces at Cuito Cuanavale during 1988/89. Following this battle, South Africa finally withdrew her forces following the start of peace negotiations.
Unfortunately for South Africa, the Angolans/Cubans were much better at propaganda resulting in the South Africans being depicted as having suffered a major defeat. Proof exists, though, that the opposite actually happened. The South Africans used both G5's and - the then prototype - G6's to hole up the Angolans in and around Cuito Cuanavale. Occupying Cuito Cuanavale would have proven a major political risk for the South Africans, and as a result no effort was made to occupy the town. A decision they might now regret.
A number of misconceptions about the Angolan War still exist:
1. South Africa was never at war with Angola. Neither were the South Africans interested in occupying the country. South Africa was interested only in preventing Swapo from infiltrating and operating in the northern parts of South West Africa (now Namibia), protecting its own interests in the process.
2. Following the coup d'etat in Lisbon (1974), South African troops were first deployed in southern Angola during August 1975 to protect construction teams working on the Calueque and Ruacana hydro-electric and irrigation scheme which had become a target for Swapo.
3. Under pressure from other African countries concerned with the situation in Angola - particularly the Ivory Coast, Zambia and Zaire (now the DRC) - South Africa was requested by her normally hostile neighbours to intervene. Similar requests were received from Jonas Savimbi (Unita) and Holden Roberto (FNLA). South Africa agreed to supply both Unita and the FNLA with weapons and equipment. Later, at their request, South Africa also provided the necessary instructors and training for these groups. The South Africans provided support during clashes with the MPLA, unfortunately at times being drawn into the fighting.
4. Unita and the FNLA also received support from other western countries - the USA in particular - when it became known that the Angolan government has requested Soviet assistance. A number of Eastern Bloc countries provided the Angolan government with the necessary support, chief amongst who was Cuba who provided weapons, equipment and personnel.
5. This being the era of the so-called Cold War, South Africa also found herself under pressure from the West to oppose a Marxist regime coming to power in Angola. Pressure which, ultimately, led to Operation Savannah mentioned earlier on these pages.
6. Urged on by other African countries, and the USA promising at least passive support, the South African government decided to ignore its own policy of not interfering in the internal affairs of others and decided to actively intervene. A decision which they possibly regretted when, following a fast sweep through the southern parts of Angola in support of the combined Unita/FNLA forces, the political situation in Washington changed and Pretoria found itself under continuing pressure to remove its forces from Angola, the western nations having given up on Angola as "a lost cause".
What was to be a covert operation, became a public embarrassment when several South African soldiers were captured and put on display.
The support South Africa enjoyed from the OAU (the Organisation for African Unity) were withdrawn when the OAU could not decide whether to recognise an MPLA government in Angola. Not willing to shoulder the burden of Angola alone, Pretoria decided to withdraw. This decision did not endear the South African government to the South African forces on the outskirts of Luanda, especially not when their withdrawal was claimed by the Angolans to be a major victory over the South Africans (having convenietly forgotten that Unita, the FNLA and the SWATF (to an extend) was also involved, and that the opposing forces had devastated their positions in some areas).
7. The South Africans started withdrawing on 22 January 1976. The obsessive secrecy surrounding the operation - even when it became public knowledge in the rest of the world - did not do the image of the South African Defence Force (SADF) and the government any good, neither internationally or nationally. To this day, those who were there are extremely unhappy about Pretoria's ultimately political decision about an obviously military affair.
8. Unable, or maybe unwilling, to accept that the forces operating against them during the war that lasted some 23 years were not always South African, the Angolan government and its Soviet backed propaganda machine nevertheless continuously blamed South Africa for battles fought, even claiming victories over South African forces when the South Africans were not involved. Defeats sometimes suffered by the Unita forces were attributed to the South Africans. Unfortunately for South Africa, other countries shared this opinion.
Whilst South African backed, and supportive of Unita, the security forces operating against Swapo consisted of the South African Defence Force, the South African Police, the South West African Territorial Force and the South West African Police. Large numbers of Portuguese/Angolans also served with the security forces, notably in 101 Battalion and the notorious 32 Battalion .
9. Pointing out the security forces' ability to hit at (Swapo) targets in the northern parts of Angola virtually unhindered (e.g. Casinga), independent analysts have in the past pointed out that, had South Africa been interested in occupying Angola, she would have been able to do so within a very short period of time.
With regards to the statement above that South Africa has, at present, a communist government, the following:
10. Following the first democratic elections in 1994, South Africa implemented a new constitution in 1996 which is, arguably, one of the best in the world. At least, nobody is joking about it.
11. Whilst it is true that both Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki were democratically elected, it is a fact that the present government has communist ties and an affiliation with the South Africa Communist Party.
12. This would explain why some, if not most, civilians (white, coloured and black) serving in or with the former security forces are uncomfortable and treat their government with distrust. They were, after all, thought to be fighting against communism. A fact which most western countries now ignore - whilst they were passively involved in the Cold War, the security forces were actively fighting the Cold War, sometimes coming up against the most modern of Soviet weaponry not even known to the west to exist...
Regards.