Move the Border

An account which strives to place the war which South Africa fought in Angola in a historically meaningful perspective. Although the conflict initially centered on the opposing agendas of the SADF and People’s Liberation Army of Namibia of SWAPO, it was to escalate and take on an international Cold War character as Angolan, Cuban, and Soviet protagonists appeared on the stage of the unfolding drama. Apart from the political resolution which was subsequently achieved in South Africa, the war represented the last African liberation struggle for independence from colonial rule. The aim of this book is to present a concise history of the Angolan Border War from 1966 to 1989. It supplements previous books which have covered periods of the war by breaking the entire duration of the conflict down into six distinctive phases and meticulously reconstructing twenty specific military operations in Angola which changed the course of the war. The perspective which the strategy affords should enable readers to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the individual phases of the war and the context which they provide for its final outcome. Two highly significant events of the war, the battles of Cuvelai (1983/84) and the battle at Indungo (1987), are subjected to particular scrutiny in the overall narrative. The battle at Indungo has been relatively neglected by writers and historians prior to the publication of this book. The information included in some six chapters of this book forms part of a dissertation for the degree M SocSci at the University of Pretoria which the author completed under the supervision of the acclaimed historian, Professor Fransjohan Pretorius, at the end of 2019. The study carries the title: The Battle at Indungo, 31 October 1987: An SADF military venture against SWAPO in the Angolan Border War.