South African Exile Armies: Spear of the Nation and Other Weapons in the Anti-Apartheid Movement

Abstract

A striking feature of South African history is the diversity of its military antecedents. One of the most celebrated of these is that of the Zulu people who visited such a crushing defeat on the forces of the British Empire in the battle of Isandhlwana in 1879.³ Within a few years those same forces were being opposed by an even more tenacious and tactically astute foe: that of the Boer commando.^4,5 When the Union Defence Force was created in 1912, it was formed out of eight military traditions. Coincidentally, it would also be eight military units, which would eventually form the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) when it eventually came into being in the democratic South Africa.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the RMA Sandhurst or the UK Ministry of Defence.

I am grateful to Mark Shaw of the South African Institute of International Affairs for suggestions made during discussions at Jan Smuts House in March 2001.