The SADF in the Border War

What led to the Border War, how did it develop – and who won? Military historian Leopold Scholtz offers the first comprehensive analysis in over twenty years of the South African Defence Force’s (SADF) role in this war. Drawing on declassified documents, including form the SADF and the State Security Council, he sheds new light on the NP government’s true objectives in Angola and the former Southwest Africa, on the SADF’s strategy and on its cross-border operations in Angola. Interviews with high-ranking former SADF officers and eye-witness accounts by soldiers who were there contribute to a detailed depiction of operations and battles such as Cassinga, Savannah, Reindeer, Sceptic, Protea and Moduler. Research from the Cuban archives was also consulted. Scholtz offers a fresh take on long-standing and contentious questions, such as what really happened at Cuito Cuanavale. By exploring the objectives of each of the parties and the extent to which it was achieved, he offers a unique answer to the question: Who won the war?