 The webmaster has been collecting interesting links about the SADF since this website first went online in 2004. Please note that the views expressed in external documents are not necessarily those of the webmaster. If you have any interesting links that you feel should be listed here, please email them the webmaster! |
| ANC’s Cuito Cuanavale myth a bridge too far The myth goes that the South African (SADF and Namibian SWATF) forces, and their Unita-Angolan allies, were hellbent on capturing Cuito Cuanavale and the valiant Cubans (with a bit of help from MK, of course) “defeated” them. |
| South Africa returns MiG-21 fighter jet to Angola Under a cloak of secrecy, the South African government has returned to Angola a MiG-21 fighter jet that it acquired during the Border War conflict in 1989. |
| South African Contractors Take the Fight to Boko Haram While the world remains fixated on the “ISIS crisis” in the Middle East, a small group of South African soldiers-for-hire are once again proving what it takes to fight, and win, against terrorists and insurgents. |
| Eeben Barlow Speaks Out (Pt. 1): PMC and Nigerian Strike Force Devastates Boko Haram |
| Eeben Barlow Speaks Out (Pt. 2): Development of a Nigerian Strike Force |
| Eeben Barlow Speaks Out (Pt. 3): Tactics Used to Destroy Boko Haram |
| Eeben Barlow Speaks Out (Pt. 4): Rejecting the Racial Narrative |
| Eeben Barlow Speaks Out (Pt. 5): The External Drivers of Nigeria’s War |
| Eeben Barlow Speaks Out (Pt. 6): South African Contractors Withdraw from Nigeria |
| The unspoken pain of white youths who fought for apartheid The impact that conscription had on the white men who became both pawns and agents of the apartheid state has seldom been publicly acknowledged. An article in the Rand Daily Mail |
| Cape Corps Veterans Associations to be launched Defence and Military Veterans Deputy Minister Kebby Maphatsoe says after a six year journey, the department will formally launch the South African Cape Corps Military Veterans Association (SACCMVA) during a three-day conference. |
| SA Army making effort to ensure equal demographic representation The South African Army is striving to recruit whites into the landward arm of service of the South African National Defence Force in order to ensure accurate demographic representation and to avoid having the Army dominated by one race group. |
| SANDF ill-discipline sticks its head out in Kruger Ill-discipline in the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) is reaching critical levels, opposition Freedom Front Plus party defence spokesman Pieter Groenewald maintains. |
| SWATF/Koevoets not 'war veterans' WARNING - CONTAINS DISTURBING PHOTOS! The government of Namibia has dismissed as nonsensical and insulting current attempts by former members of the South West Africa Territory Force, SWATF, and the brutal counter insurgency unit, Koevoet, to have them recognised as war veterans and receive lump-sum payouts currently being given to former freedom fighters. |
| ISS: Africa in 2014 - the good, the bad and the ugly 2015 promises to be another challenging year for Africa, with its share of high drama and high-risk politics. |
| Paramount invests in military veterans Paramount Group has announced a multi-million rand high technology skills development programme with the Department of Military Veterans, aimed at advancing the South African defence industry. |
| Still no answers on the Battle for Bangui Defence in a democracy does apparently not extend to supplying Parliament with supposedly sensitive information, even when there is a precedent. |
| SANDF planning for implementation of Defence Review The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has set up a planning committee for the implementation of the Defence Review as it slowly inches its way from concept to reality. |
| Securing SA's borders today SA's 4862 kilometre land border is currently protected by just 684 police officers, which is “the equivalent of approximately one police officer deployed every seven kilometres…”. According to a new study, patrolling South Africa’s land borders will require at least 20 infantry companies! |
| Annals of unknown wars: The South African border war of 1966-1989 There aren’t many truly unknown wars these days. Military history writing, scholarly and popular and in between, has mushroomed over the past several decades to reveal more and more about the South African Border war, which went by mostly unnoticed in the Western world during the time. |
| The South African Military History Society The SA Military History Society is a non-profit society of enthusiasts dedicated to the study, recording and dissemination of military aspects of South Africa's history. |
| Ditsong National Museum of Military History The museum in Johannesburg was officially opened by Prime Minister Jan Smuts on 29 August 1947 and is the only museum of its kind in South Africa. |
| SADF Living History Group The SADF Living History Group was created to commemorate and honour those who served, and in some cases, gave their lives in the Border War. |
Now that the War is Over  Ex-combatants Transition and the Question of Violence: A literature review by Sasha Gear |
| Wishing Us Away A document drawn up in 2002 about the challenges facing ex-combatants in the 'new' South Africa |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Our war in South West Africa and Angola, which involved at least 50.000 South African troops, ended in 1989 but its emotional consequences continues to haunt us for longer than we care to think. |
The War Within (Audio stream)  This is an audio stream that was recorded in 2001 and documents the very real effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder on ex SADF servicemen. |
| South Africa's Vietnam An interesting comparison between Vietnam and South Africa's Nam. A point of reference for those guys who served in the SADF during the Border War |
| The Namibian Border War An appraisal of the South African strategy, by Dr Leopold Scholz, extraordinary Professor of the Department of History at the University of Stellenbosch. |
| Fidel Castro explains why Angola lost the war By late 1987 Castro had concluded that the MPLA regime was an irredeemable military and economic basket case |
| Declassified Report on security and terrorism Soviet, East Germany and Cuban involvement in formenting terrorism in South Africa |
| The Cuban side of the story An interesting perspective on the Angolan war as seen from a Cuban point of view. The originator of this document is unknown. |
| The Russians in Angola A range of photos documenting Russian involvement in Angola. |
| Russian Union of Angola Veterans A website created by Russian veterans of the Angola conflict. The site is in Russian so try and translate it through Google Translate. Very interesting! |
| The Cassinga Raid - by Edward George McGill Alexander In 1978 the SADF carried out an airborne assault on Cassinga in Southern Angola, claiming that Cassinga was a key SWAPO military headquarters. SWAPO claimed it was a refugee camp and that the approximately 600 people who died in the attack were innocent civilians. |
| Brug 14 The Battle of Bridge 14 took place in December 1975 during Operation Savannah in Angola and is little-known outside of South Africa, although it represented a major defeat of communist forces in Angola by South African troops. |
| Ops Modular and Hooper (1987 -1988) An article about the South African mechanized force operating in support of UNITA in south-eastern Angola from September 1987 to March 1988. |
| SA Roll of Honour (ROH) A roll of SADF personnel who died for their country from the establishment of the republic until 1994. |
| South African Defence Force Association The association aspires to the upholding of the pride of the former SA Defence Force, for what we have done and achieved, and the safeguarding of our history for our descendants. |
| South African Special Forces League The official website of South Africa's elite battalions. |
| South African Reserve Forces website The official Reserves website of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). |
| Buffalo Battalion A homepage dedicated to 32 Battalion, a premier reactionary unit of the old South African Defence Force. |
| 61 Mechanised Battalion Group Veterans Association The 61 Mech Group Veterans Association acts as a forum through which former members of this battle force can share their memories and accounts of events that transpired during their service with the unit. |
| Airborne Soldier A homepage about South Africa's Airborne Units, the Parabats. |
| Ops Medic A homepage about the SADF's Ops Medics. |
| KOEVOET! Koevoet (Afrikaans for crowbar), and officially known as the "South West Africa Police Counter-Insurgency Unit" (SWAPOL-COIN), was an elite police counter insurgency unit in South West Africa (now Namibia) during the 1970s and 1980s. |
| The Cape Town Highlanders An informative homepage covering this historic regiment. Join them now! |
| South Africa War Graves Project In Remembrance of South Africa's War Dead. A project that documents the graves of South Africa's fallen heroes worldwide. |
| Women, the Military and Militarisation Some questions raised by the South African case (1992) |
| Further publications on the militarisation of South Africa More interesting academic documents published by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) |
| From the SADF to the SANDF Safegaurding South Africa for a better life for all? A proper thesis about the transition of the SADF, and the role of a militarised SA. |
| The South African Army's Stabilization Role in Africa This monograph by Professor Deane-Peter Baker outlines ways in which the United States can contribute to the SA Army’s Vision 2020 program to help optimize South Africa’s potential contribution to the emergence of a peaceful and stable Africa. |
| Creating a common identity in the SANDF An interesting thesis about the impact of the new SANDF rank insignia and "the missed opportunity of enhancing a unified corporate identity" |
| The SANDF today An interesting article about the structure of the South African National Defence Force as she appears today. |
| SA military is "unravelling" The SA National Defence Force is in an "appalling" state of readiness. It could not handle much beyond the most trivial crisis, the Sunday Tribune reports! |
| From iron fist to atrophied paw The SANDF has moved in the course of a mere decade from being hated but feared as the iron fist of the apartheid state, to being hated and derided as the atrophied paw of the new South Africa. |
| AIDS in South Africa's army At least one in five of the 70 000 SANDF members are infected with AIDS. What has become of Africa's most formidable army? |
| Small Arms in Southern Africa Southern Africa is awash with small and light weapons. Most of these weapons are the material legacy of the Cold War. |
| Fighting Columns in Small Wars A 171 page analysis of South African military excursions into Angola, particularly Operation Modular |
| SOS in Pomfret Angela McIntyre writes this official analysis of the current situation facing ex-32 Battalion members in Pomfret. |
| Apartheid Grand Corruption Assessing the scale of crimes of profit in South Africa from 1976 to 1994 |
| Living History.RU A group of Russians dedicated to military history. Besides an SADF group, they also do WWII, and Napoleonic wars. |
| Airsoft Russia A group of airsoft enthusiasts from Russia who do battle in true South African defence Force genre. |
| War in Angola a website where veterans of all the participating sides may post their stories and upload the photos, and obtain more information on all sorts of aspects of the war. Full of interesting stuff! |
| Roan's Collection Roan Gouws has been collecting militaria for 12 years and specializes in uniforms and equipment from Southern Africa. An excellent collection indeed! |
| Die Kaplyn by Bok van Blerk The Kaplyn (cutline) was a thin strip of land cleared of any growth up on the border between SWA and Angola. This is a link to the YouTube video by South African artist Bok van Blerk. |
| Armed Assault - Bush War A Bush War mod for the Armed Assault PC games. Looks awesome! |
| Sentinel Projects Sentinel Projects is a collection of personal accounts of South African conscripts involved in the SADF between 1975 and 1994. |
| South African History Online A short history lesson on the origins of the SADF |
| South African Department of Defence The official website of the South African Department of Defence. |
| Bush Warrior Publishers and distributors of fine books and products relating to the Bush War and established in 2006 by Manie Grove, at the behest of Colonel Jan Breytenbach DVR, SD, SM, MMM, the founding OC of the "RECCES", 32 Battalion, 44 Parachute Brigade and the Guerrilla Warfare School. |
| Galago Military Books A website where you can buy a wide range of SADF related books. |
| Good Books A website offering a wide range of SA and SADF related books. |
| South African Militaria A reliable source for buying and selling Southern African militaria. |
| South African Military Badges and Insignia Another source for buying and selling South African military badges and insignia. |
| Militaria Marketplace in Gauteng An online shop offering German and South African militaria |
| The Warstore An online shop offering militaria from mainly Southern African regions. |
| Camocorp A South African online Camo store specialising in military camo clothing, militaria, hunting supplies, camping gear, survival items, hiking equipment and outdoor equipment. |
| Defenceweb defenceWeb is an excellent provider of news, views and research on African security and military matters. Subscribe to their weekly newsletter! |
| Soldier of Africa This is an interesting blog authored by an infantry major at 6 SA Infantry Battalion (Air Assault) whose work has taken him from the rain forests of Burundi and the DRC to the deserts of Sudan and Chad helping to create sustainable peace. |
| DENEL The largest manufacturer of defence equipment in South Africa |
| ARMSCOR The Armaments Corporation of South Africa Ltd website |
| REVA Armoured Personnel Carriers REVA Armoured Personnel Carriers are manufactured in South Africa, the plant provides ongoing training, houses a service centre to ensure uninterrupted parts supply and the maintenance of vehicles currently in operation. The manufacturing capabilities in South Africa currently equates to 30 vehicles per month. |
| Army-Guide.com A very comprehensive website detailing equipment and statistics of armies worldwide |
| African Defence Review An informative website on African military affairs |
| Milkor Milkor (Pty) Ltd is a privately owned South African company internationally known for it’s 40mm Multiple Grenade Launcher which are used in more than 30 countries worldwide. Over the last 25 years, Milkor has supplied in excess of 50 000 weapons to law enforcement and military agencies around the world ranging lethal and less-lethal weapons. |