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Government by Deception By Jan Lamprecht Government by Deception - Psychopolitics in southern Africa - Why South Africa could become another Zimbabwe This is the book that nobody believed could be true. It has since had the most successful track record of predictions of any political book ever written in South Africa. Readers comment that even in 2007, it is as if it were written yesterday! The book touches on many aspects of life in South Africa, but with a psychological warfare emphasis. It describes guilt as a racial weapon. It predicted many things which have since come to pass. It was probably the first book to discuss crime in S.Africa as a clandestine war against Whites. Its predictions about Zimbabwe have been borne out, including the chapter, The Marxist Brotherhood. In that chapter it was predicted that Mugabe's evil would spread and that other African countries would support him. In 2007, the world was stunned when the 14 SADC countries supported Mugabe in his "war against the Western world!" Included in the book are chapters on propaganda, Semantic warfare and The Whites' Last Stand - the final battle for South Africa! This book examines the many frightening parallels between the ANC (African National Congress) which rules South Africa and ZANU(PF) which rule Zimbabwe. Their background, ideology, etc are explored in depth. It includes interviews with ex-ANC operatives as well as former white military and intelligence people. It contains much information you will never see anywhere else. Click here to read book reviews and comments about this book. Reader reviews in 2007:- Reader: Your Weird Book Government by Deception still valid in 2007 S.Africa: Reader: I read Government by Deception TWICE! Reader: I read Government by Deception... This book is 316 pages long. NB: The Rand Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa. NB: The US Dollar Price includes shipping costs to America & Canada NB: For South African orders: If 3 or more copies are ordered, you get them for only R50 each (including shipping). 
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R95.00 | |
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Government by Deception (eBook) By Jan Lamprecht Government by Deception - Psychopolitics in southern Africa - Why South Africa could become another Zimbabwe This is the book that nobody believed could be true. It has since had the most successful track record of predictions of any political book ever written in South Africa. Readers comment that even in 2007, it is as if it were written yesterday! The book touches on many aspects of life in South Africa, but with a psychological warfare emphasis. It describes guilt as a racial weapon. It predicted many things which have since come to pass. It was probably the first book to discuss crime in S.Africa as a clandestine war against Whites. Its predictions about Zimbabwe have been borne out, including the chapter, The Marxist Brotherhood. In that chapter it was predicted that Mugabe's evil would spread and that other African countries would support him. In 2007, the world was stunned when the 14 SADC countries supported Mugabe in his "war against the Western world!" Included in the book are chapters on propaganda, Semantic warfare and The Whites' Last Stand - the final battle for South Africa! This book examines the many frightening parallels between the ANC (African National Congress) which rules South Africa and ZANU(PF) which rule Zimbabwe. Their background, ideology, etc are explored in depth. It includes interviews with ex-ANC operatives as well as former white military and intelligence people. It contains much information you will never see anywhere else. Click here to read book reviews and comments about this book. Reader reviews in 2007:- Reader: Your Weird Book Government by Deception still valid in 2007 S.Africa: Reader: I read Government by Deception TWICE! Reader: I read Government by Deception... This book is 316 pages long.
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R50.00 | |
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How South Africa built Six Atom bombs (And Then Abandoned its Nuclear Weapons Program) Author: Al J. Venter 238pp 85 illustrations, sketches, diagrams, photos, cutaways, etc How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs is the definitive account of how a maverick government was able to secretly develop and test atom bombs. South Africa – then still dominated by Pretoria ’ s apartheid-orientated regime. That objective was achieved within six years – or roughly half the time it took Pakistan to test its first nuclear weapon. More salient, it did so with only a fraction of the number of scientists, technicians and specialists involved in other nuclear programs, such as those of India, Pakistan and North Korea: there were never more than a half-dozen nuclear physicists involved in the actual weaponization of the South African bombs. The same analogy holds for the medium range intercontinental missile program that South Africa launched with strong Israeli help. Before it was abruptly terminated by Washington, Pretoria managed to launch at least one of its RSA-3 missiles into the South Indian Ocean: it landed within a few hundred metres of its designated target. With Israeli involvement – this cooperation that dated back to the early 1970s - there was a plan in the works for a satellite launch (illustration page 118). Al Venter argues that if a small country like South Africa could achieve so much – while using only the limited human resources drawn from its five or six million whites - then it is axiomatic that other countries – or radical political groups - will ultimately be able to do the same. Al-Qaeda has already signalled its intention in a series of web-based nuclear weapons lectures, with examples of this trend (pages 12 and 13). It is also significant that Dr Mohammed AlBaradei, head of Vienna ’ s International Atomic Energy Agency, said in 2007 that it was of grave concern that there were currently more than 30 countries involved in nuclear matters, quite a few of them clandestinely. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Dr Helen Purkitt, Professor of Political Science at the United States Naval Academy and a Research Associate for the Center for Technology and International Security at the National Defense University, Washington D.C. comments on How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs: ‘ This analysis provides valuable insights about how a government can secretly develop, test and store an array of sophisticated nuclear strategic and tactical weapons underground, The alternative history of South Africa ’ s former weapons program also provides invaluable clues and indicators of whom, among the three dozen plus nation-states in the world today capable of developing nuclear weapons and long-range delivery systems are pursuing covert programs [and] offers interesting insights about possible weapons and delivery systems that terrorist networks [like al-Qaeda] are likely to attempt to obtain in the future. ’ C O N T E N T S: HOW SOUTH AFRICA BUILT SIX ATOM BOMBS (And then Abandoned its Nuclear Weapons program) Acknowledgments Prologue Chapter 1: South Africa ’ s Atom Bomb Program: Historical Perspective Chapter 2: Background to the Bomb Program Chapter 3: Lead Up to the Bomb Chapter 4: The Nuclear Program Gets Underway Chapter 5: What the South African Atom Bomb Program was all About Chapter 6: The Early Approach Chapter 7: What the Bomb Meant to South Africa Chapter 8: Missiles: Stoking the Forge of Fire Chapter 9: The Vela Satellite Conundrum Chapter 10: The Search for a Tactical Nuclear Weapon Epilogue: Putting the Genie Back into the Bottle Appendix A Glossary of Nuclear and Related Terms and Phrases Appendix B How Saddam Hussein Almost Built his Bomb Appendix C Seminal Documents in the Development of the Atom Bomb Appendix D The American View: South Africa ’ s Secret Nuclear Weapons INDEX NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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R280.00 | |
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Without Honour (eBook) By Robb Ellis Without Honour - A Policeman's Story in Mugabe's Zimbabwe This is the true story of a young White Policeman in Mugabe's Zimbabwe in the early 1980s. It details his funny as well as horrific experiences as a Policeman and prosecutor. He becomes embroiled in the genocide of the time. At a time when the Western Media was lauding Mugabe as a moderate, Robb and other Policemen were picking up the dead bodies and parts of bodies of people murdered by his 5th Brigade and CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation). One day Mugabe sees him at a parade and calls him over to speak to him. In the end, he gives up his Police career due to threats. You can download a Free Sample of a small portion of the book by clicking here: Click here for Free Sample PDF Mugabe's notorious North Korean Trained 5th Brigade killed between 20,000-30,000 Matabele people in the 1980's. You can download the only film footage ever taken of this military unit. The footage also shows the North Korean communists in Zimbabwe. It includes a short piece where you can see them beating someone: Click here for the Free Video of 5.9Mb. Robb Ellis was interviewed by The Right Perspective in New York. You can download and listen to the one hour interview here.. Click here to read the first review by a Reader of Without Honour This eBook is 250 pages long, 76,000 words & contains dozens of photographs.
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R75.00 | |
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The Kevin Woods Story By Kevin Woods The Kevin Woods Story - In the Shadow of Mugabe's Gallows Kevin was in the Rhodesian BSAP Police force during the bloody bush war preceding Mugabe's rise to power. He later moved to the CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation) which is the most important, powerful and feared state security organ in modern Zimbabwe. While Robert Mugabe was in power Kevin eventually ran the CIO in Matabeleland during the Genocide of the Ndebele people in the 1980's known as the Gukurahundi. Mugabe's notorious North Korean-trained 5th Brigade killed over 20,000 people. Kevin attended the crime scenes and wrote reports directly for Robert Mugabe. Kevin is the first person to document, from a high-level perspective what the CIO and Robert Mugabe knew about the Matabele genocide. He details for the first time what Joshua Nkomo was up to and reveals the previously unknown activities by South African Military Intelligence in training and infiltrating "Super ZAPU" forces into Zimbabwe. The story about "Super ZAPU" has never been told before. This is an account by a man who saw first-hand a horror that was carefully hidden for years about which very little documentation exists. Kevin became a double-agent for South Africa in order to combat the ANC's (African National Congress) terror campaign against civilians in South Africa. In the process he saved many innocent lives in S. Africa, but paid the price for it when he was caught and jailed for treason in Zimbabwe. He was in the notorious Chikurubi prison. He was jailed for a total of 19 years, spending 5 of them on death row waiting to be hanged. He heard the screams of others who were hanged. Here are some articles about Kevin Woods:- EXPOSED: Zim: Mugabe's CIO Death List - Kevin Woods Analysis Radio Interview: Kevin Woods, An African James Bond in Mugabe's CIO Zim: Kevin Woods - Mugabe's EndGame - Creating his own Coup! Zim: Kevin Woods: How Mugabe Fakes it... Of Face Lifts & Filled Stadiums... [3 Pics] Ian Smith & Kevin Woods, African James Bond meet SA: I was at the launch of Kevin Woods' book... Fabulous... Kevin Woods, ex-Death Row Prisoner for 5 years is 100% in favour of the Death Penalty [19 Pics] Important: African Animal Posters for Sale by Kevin Woods [Pic] Kevin Woods speaks out regarding Vlok's attempted poisoning of Chikane Zim: Kevin Woods comments on The Water Crisis in Bulawayo This book is 304 pages long and contains many photos as well as artwork drawn either by Kevin in jail or depicting his experiences. NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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R285.00 | |
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Jambanja (eBook) By Eric Harrison Jambanja - (jam-ban'-jah), verb, shona language - meaning: "Fighting, chaos and terror" Dedication: This book is dedicated to the farmers, their families and their workers who have lost everything. Do not give up - the wheel always turns a full circle. This book tells a first-hand story of the intimidation and murder sponsored by the Mugabe Regime. This was the norm during Robert Mugabe's so-called "Fast Track Land Reform". The book contains an Appendix with details of the 16 White Commercial farmers who were murdered in the period 2000-2006. There is no accurate data available, but during this period hundreds of black farm workers were also slaughtered. Harry, a white Zimbabwean farmer, has fought to create a life out from under the shadow of a war. From meagre beginnings, he carves a successful citrus farm from the 'dirt' of a newly built settlement, only to have it ripped away in a series of vicious and shocking attacks. His family, friends and faith is sorely tested as he struggles to fight back 'by the book' - a book that has become a very sick joke in Zimbabwe. Eric Harrison has farmed in Zimbabwe for over 30 years. He recently relocated to Harare to continue his fight towards restitution of the rights, dignity and self respect of himself, and the many affected families and staff, after losing his farm, 'Maioio'. He was inspired to write Jambanja after realising how un-informed those outside Zimbabwe are about the thuggery and intimidation policies implemented by the government of Zimbabwe in the name of land redistribution. This eBook is 211 pages long.
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R75.00 | |
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Die, the Beloved Country? By Jim Peron Jim Peron is an American and an internationally renowned Libertarian. He is a regular writer many major foreign newspapers. He came to live in South Africa in 1990. However, when he saw what the ANC was doing after its first term in office he wrote this book, packed up and left for New Zealand where he now lives. His book did not stay on the shelves of South African book stores for long. They were sold out, but no new stocks were put in. This book also has some amazing crime statistics going back to 1974. The owner of AfricanCrisis, Jan Lamprecht used those statistics to produce an article entitled: [9 Graphs] How Nelson Mandela brought Crime & Murder to South Africa This book takes a critical look at the ANC's first term in power and how all power is being consolidated into the hands of party officials. Local Govt is under attack as is private medicine, sports, etc. It shows why Apartheid-like policies are being revived by an elite bent on taking control. It discusses ways of untangling this mess before it is too late. Quotes from this book: "There is going to be interference from the Government in every sphere of life and activity in South Africa..." - Steve Tshwete, Minister of Sport "It is imperative to get rid of merit as the overriding principle in the appointment of public servants." - Mario Rantho - ANC MP President Mandela said the ANC wants a two-thirds majority "to ensure that we are not interfered with by Mickey Mouse (opposition) parties". This book is 190 pages, published in 1999. NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Racism, Guilt, Self-Hatred & Self-Deceit (eBook) by Dr. Gedahlia Braun African Journal: A Philosopher’s Hard-Headed Analysis Of His Years On the Dark Continent. (Note: The Author is a Liberal American Academic who came to Africa in 1975. He travelled, lived and lectured in Philosopy at universities in Africa. He now lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. This is what he learned during that time from his many discussions with Black people across the continent. This book is unique in its subject matter and its message. It will shock many people both inside and outside Africa) At Last – A Book That TELLS IT LIKE IT IS and Speaks of Truths You've Always Known But About Which You’ve Been Cowed Into Silence! This thought-provoking book, written by an American philosopher who’s lived in black Africa for thirty years including almost twenty in South Africa, explores the realities behind these questions, and asks why almost no one – from the far left to the far right – ever talks about them. It exposes the phenomenon of white guilt and the gigantic con game based upon it. It is guaranteed to make you rethink some of your most bedrock assumptions about race and racism.
This book was reviewed by the American Renaissance website. Click here for the AmRen review: Then read: 'Light on the Dark Continent' Click here to download or view the full Table of Contents of this book. The book is 167 pages long.
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R90.00 | |
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Terminal Africa (eBook) By P. F. Erasmus M.A., D.Phil. (Clin. Psych.) (The author is a Clinical Psychologist) TERMINAL AFRICA: the curse of the ancestral cord TABLE OF CONTENTS o Is this the platform of Good and Evil from which The 'New' South Africa is governed? o How New is the 'New' South Africa really? o The Resurrection of Racism o The Ancestral Code o "Kill the Boer! Kill the Farmer" o White Genocide in the making? o Who are the Afrikaners? o What Kind of Leadership awaits South Africa? o The Power of the Ancestral Womb o The Ethnic Ethos o Africa: The Future? o STOP PRESS o Postscript o Photo Gallery This book is about Africa's ethnic realities, and more particularly their taxing southern and South African implications and consequences. The author is a clinical psychologist. He made a life-long study of black African culture and mythology, especially that of the Zulu. His first language was isiZulu, in which he still dreams. Both Erasmus's M.A. dissertation and his doctorate covered his in-depth studies on the personality of the black African, more specifically in regard to the Jungian and Szondian psychoanalytical and psychogenetic models of behaviour. Hence his concern with the pressing question: is Africa in the grip of some kind of spiritual curse too devastating to unravel or overcome, inevitably resulting in the torturing and killing of the innocent, for racial and ethnic reasons, to appease some greedy ancestral spirits in the 'after- world' of the forefathers? His research and practical experience among black Africans convinced him that ethnicity and its deep-seated rivalry are critical in an understanding of the varied and often opposing African futures, particularly in their southern African context against a socio-political background of brewing uncertainty and conflict, violence and crime. Racism, violence and genocide are still Africa's worst dividers and the killers of its people. If Africa fails to overcome its ethnic prejudices and conflicts across the barriers of race, colour and creed, the consequences could indeed be devastating. The author concludes that Africa is in dire need of a new ethos towards a common destiny. The pressing question in the final analysis is: is Africa unequivocally on its way to disaster too ghastly to contemplate or is there still some hope even at this late stage? Book Reviews:- [Afrikaans] SA: Lukas Swart on: Terminal Africa - Curse of the Ancestral Chord ISBN 978-0-620-38604-3 This eBook is 131 pages long and contains 4 pages of graphic photos of farm murders (from the AfricanCrisis website).
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Afrika Totsiens (eBoek) By P. F. Erasmus M.A., D.Phil. (Clin. Psych.) (The author is a Clinical Psychologist) AFRIKA TOTSIENS ‘n kontinent in die laaste loopgraaf Afrika Totsiens gaan oor hierdie kontinent se etniese werklikhede, meer bepaald die moontlike implikasies daarvan vir suidelike en Suid-Afrika. Die skrywer is ‘n kliniese sielkundige wat diagnosties eerder as beskrywend na Afrika en die toekomstige lotgevalle van die mense van hierdie beleërde kontinent kyk. Hy het ‘n lewenslange studie van swart Afrika-kultuur en -mitologie gemaak. Sy eerste taal was Zoeloe, die taal waarin hy vandag nog droom. Sowel sy MA-verhandeling as doktorale proefskrif het oor die gedrag van die swart “Afrikaan” gehandel. Erasmus se beskouïnge met betrekking tot Afrikagedrag sluit nou by Carl Gustav Jung se kollektief- onderbewustelike en Lipot Szondi se psigogenetiese drangdiagnostiese benaderings aan. Die skrywer bemoei hom hier met die volgende kernvrae: is Afrika in die greep van die een of ander spirituele vloek wat teen die agtergrond van eskalarende misdaad, geweld, verkragting en die genadelose uitwissing van sekere etniese minderhede tevergeefs om ontknoping roep? Is al die geweld en anargie, die “Kill the Boer! Kill the farmer!” en alles wat daarmee saamgaan die gevolg van ‘n soort psigogeneties neergelegde kollektiewe waan dat die voorvaderlikes in ‘n baie nabygeleë ‘naaswêreld’ op volgehoue wyse sadistiese bevrediging vir hul inherente afguns en naywer soek? Bestaan daar ‘n soort skisofreniese geloof in persoonlike beloning vir die mens wat aan hierdie eis van die gestorwenes voldoen? In die finale instansie vra die skrywer hom die vraag af of Afrika onafwendbaar op ‘n ramp vir al sy mense afstuur, of is die kontinent eerder op die drumpel van wonderbaarlike versoening vir almal, ongeag ras, kultuur of geloof? INHOUDSOPGAWE o Voorwoord o Is dit die ‘nuwe’ Suid-Afrika se Basis van Goed en van Kwaad? o Is dit die Afrikavariant van ‘n moderne ‘democracy’? o HOE NUUT IS DIE ‘NUWE’ SUID-AFRIKA INDERDAAD? o DIE ‘ADRIAAN VLOK’-SINDROOM o DIE WEDERKOMS VAN RASSISME o DIE VOORVADERLIKE KODE o “KILL THE BOER! KILL THE FARMER!” (“…it is our culture”) o PLAASMOORDE – OF [BLANKE] UITWISSING? o WIE WERKLIK IS AFRIKANERS? o AFRIKALEIERSKAP: WAT HOU DIE TOEKOMS IN? o DIE VLOEK VAN DIE VOORVADERLIKE o NAELSTRING o DIE ETNIESE ETOS o AFRIKA WAARHEEN? o AFRIKA: IS DAAR ‘N TOEKOMS? This eBook is 215 pages long and contains 4 pages of graphic photos of farm murders (from the AfricanCrisis website).
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Straight Talk: The CIA Series (eBook) NB: This purchase is for issues 1, 2 & 3 of Straight Talk Newsletter wherein the story is serialised. It is a eBook. Straight Talk - The History of the CIA Intervention in South Africa This is a series of 3 newsletters which together tell the story of CIA activity in S.Africa. The story is told from the CIA's point of view. It tells the story of the CIA's alternating support for Apartheid and then the ANC, and the CIA's theory that it could "moderate" the ANC. The sources are books and magazines published in the USA NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Live Fire (DVD) Produced by: GOSA - Gun Owners of South Africa Live Fire - Is there a Politically-motivated plot to disarm private citizens in South Africa? This video was shot in South Africa. It contains presentations done by Larry Pratt, who came to South Africa specially for the launching of GOSA. Larry Pratt is a pastor who runs the 300,000 strong Gun Owners of America. He is a firm believer in an armed citizenry who can defend themselves. Several prominent speakers discuss private gun ownership versus the disarming of society which they say will only increase the amount of violent crime. Historically, the disarming of a society has often led to genocide and ethnic cleansing. Running time: 63 minutes. NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Conditioned Victim? Richard Wesson Conditioned Victim? - A handbook to help you survive a violent and misguided society This is the book no South African should be without. This book is a survival guide to defending yourself in the modern crime-ridden South Africa. It was published by: Community driven Crime Prevention Initiative in Johannesburg. "Everybody who takes personal safety seriously should read this book thoroughly." Professor Herman Conradie - Dept of Criminology, University of South Africa. "Any citizen could become a victim of violent. This book comprehensively lists scientific and practically based methods, by which ordinary people may reduce their chances of becoming one. Professor Coen Marais, HOD Criminology Dept, University of South Africa. This book is 170 pages. NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Confrontational Politics Senator H.L. Richardson Ret Senator Richardson was a 22 year veteran in the California State Senate. He was the founder of Gun Owners of California and Gun Owners of America. Inbetween his business and political activities, he also wrote two other political books. In this book he explains how the Conservatives (Republicans) can counter Liberals (Democrats) and can defeat them without having to resort to "nasty tactics". The book discusses Christian values and defeating the Radical Left. This book is 135 pages, published in 1998. NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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In the Killing Fields of Mozambique By Dr Peter Hammond Note: Dr Peter Hammond is persona non grata in Mozambique because of what he discovered and dared to write in this book. Dr Peter Hammond runs the Frontline Fellowship which does brave Christian work in Africa. A Shocking Expose! During the dark days of oppression and civil war in the 1980's when Soviet-backed dictator Samora Machel had free reign to pursue his mad dream of turning Mozambique into "the first truly Marxist country in Africa," Christian missionary Peter Hammond ventured into the killing fields. As he traveled throughout Mozambique, showing the Jesus film, preaching the Gospel and delivering relief aid to suffering Christians, he discovered a very systematic campaign of terror and persecution. The shocking, yet unreported true stories inside this book document the atrocities committed and shares inspiring testimonies of Christians who faced the cruelty and carnage, including the capture and prison experience of the author and his missionary team. The book concludes with the vital historic facts and important lessons learned from the scorched earth campaign, man made famine and abuse of relief aid caused by the communist forces. Plus a positive programme of action for the future. This book is 95 pages long. NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Holocaust in Rwanda By Dr Peter Hammond Note: Dr Peter Hammond runs the Frontline Fellowship which does brave Christian work in Africa. Countdown to Genocide On 6th April 1994, one of the most dreadful campaigns of mass murder was unleashed upon the Tutsi people of Rwanda. In just 100 days, more people had been slaughtered with machetes and clubs than had died from atomic weapons in all of history. The horrific massacres in homes, hospitals, churches and on the streets, are documented with shocking photographs in Holocaust in Rwanda. More importantly, the author, Dr. Peter Hammond, relates the events leading up to the intense and widespread violence and documents the reasons why this systematic slaughter was unleashed. Missionary, Peter Hammond, also examines the disgraceful involvement of liberal church leaders, gun control, media manipulation, the French and US governments and the United Nations in the crisis. Most importantly, the lessons we need to learn from the genocide in Rwanda are clearly and courageously presented. This book has been out of print for some time and is much in demand. Holocaust in Rwanda has been translated into French and now this new English edition of Holocaust in Rwanda with 20 photographs, maps or charts. This book is 63 pages long. NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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The Greatest Century of Missions By Dr Peter Hammond Note: Dr Peter Hammond runs the Frontline Fellowship which does brave Christian work in Africa. The Greatest Cenury of Missions is an inspiring and motivating story of how God worked through the lives of faithful men and women willing to sacrifice all for Him. Christians serious about fulfilling the command to all of us to fulfill the Great Commission will be encouraged to become active in spreading the gospel to those within their reach. This easy to read, succint, and accurate summary of the lives and vision of the 19th century missionaries is a must read for Christians of any age including students in home schools , Christian schools, and colleges. The Greatest Century of Missions, is a treasure trove of incredible adventures, inspiring exploits and unbelievable achievements of some of the most extra-ordinary people in the most momentous era of Christian advance. This book will be an invaluable resource for pastors and missionaries and a textbook for senior homeschoolers, Christian schools and Bible colleges. It should be required reading for prospective missionaries. "Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God." This battle cry launched the most incredible movement in history. As Church historian, Kenneth Scott Latourette, declared: "Never had any other set of ideas, religious or secular, being propagated over so wide an area by so many professional agents, maintained by the unconstrained donations of so many millions of individuals." In the words of Alexander Somerville, this was "a new enterprise on behalf of the noblest object that can engage the enthusiasm of man - the salvation of millions!" The obstacles, dangers and difficulties they had to face and overcome were staggering. By an act of British Parliament, missionaries were illegal in India. In China, not only was all missionary activity completely illegal, but so was attempting to learn the Chinese language! There was a ban on any Chinese teaching their language to foreigners. The Chinese tutors to Robert Morrison carried poison on their bodies so that if they were discovered, they could end their lives quickly and escape torture. Because the Chinese forbade foreign women, Robert Morrison had to live apart from his wife, Mary, for most of their lives, once for six years. America’s first foreign missionary, Adoniram Judson, was captured on the high seas and incarcerated in a French prison - from which he escaped. Later he was imprisoned and tortured in 'Death Prison', in Burma, for eighteen months. When pioneer missionary to Persia, Henry Martin, sought to present his Persian New Testament to the Shah, he was challenged with an ultimatum to declare that 'Muhammad is the prophet of God.' Henry Martin boldly refused and asserted instead that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. His opponents were enraged and threatened to have his tongue torn out for 'blasphemy'. When Robert Moffat first applied to the London Missionary Society, he was rejected. His proposal to marry Mary Smith was also refused by her parents. Yet, Robert persevered and on his first missionary trip to South Africa, succeeded in bringing to Christ the most notorious bandit and murderer in the country. Finally, Mary Smith’s parents relented and gave permission. She sailed to South Africa, where they married and for the next 50 years, the Moffat’s became one of the greatest husband-wife teams in missionary history. Robert Moffat succeeded in being the first to translate the complete Bible into an African language. Human life in the Pacific Islands was cheap and cannibalism was rife when the missionaries arrived. In Fiji, two-third’s of all the children were boiled and eaten. Every village had a human butcher. Aged parents were butchered and eaten by their friends. Men would even cook their best wife or child as a special feast for friends. The widows of chiefs and warriors were strangled or hung, so that they could 'accompany their husbands to the next world', there to continue serving them! John Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, witnessed women killed in human sacrifices to secure the recovery to health of the chief, and was encircled by threatening cannibals 'in a deadly ring and one kept urging another to strike the first blow.' Yet Paton could write: 'my heart rose up to the Lord Jesus; I saw Him watching all the scene, my peace came back to me like a wave from God. I realised that my life was immortal till my Master’s work with me is done.' John Paton had the privilege of leading many of these cannibals to Christ and seeing the entire populations of some islands won to Christ. Mary Slessor was born in a poverty-stricken family. Their one-roomed home had no water, lighting or toilet and hardly any furniture. Mary slept on the floor and began work at 10 years old. When two brothers, who had been dedicated to becoming missionaries to Africa, died, Mary resolved to take their place and to sail for Calabar. Mary established many schools and Churches and successfully brought an end to the killing of twins and the practice of slave trading in Calabar. Hudson Taylor’s parents dedicated him to missionary work in China before he was even born. During a time of momentous upheavals in China, Hudson succeeded in launching the largest missionary organisation in the world, which brought many tens of thousands of Chinese to Christ. C.T. Studd was a famous cricket captain, who became a pioneer missionary to China, India and later the Congo. CT Studd wrote: 'Christ’s call is to capture men from the devil’s clutches and snatch them from the very jaws of hell, to enlist and train them for Jesus and make them a mighty army of God. But this can only be accomplished by red-hot, unconventional, unfettered Holy Spirit religion, by reckless sacrifice and heroism in the foremost trenches.' Samuel Crowther was captured by African slavers and sold to a Portuguese trader for transport across the Atlantic. But he was rescued by a British Naval Squadron and became the first African Bishop of the Church of England. His pioneer missionary work in Yorubaland succeeded in establishing an Evangelical Anglicanism that was truly African. When Britain was the greatest economic and military power in the world, Queen Victoria was asked by a visiting African prince what the secret of England’s greatness was. She presented him with a Bible, saying: 'Here is the secret of England’s greatness.' Samuel Zwemer chose to oppose the only faith that had caused Christianity to beat a retreat - Islam. He also resolved to engage the enemy on the soil of Arabia - the birthplace of Muhammad. The Greatest Century of Missions presents many unforgettable pictures and stories about these and other fascinating missionaries of the 19th Century. Dr. George Grant in his Introduction to the Greatest Century of Missions writes: "As missionaries circled the globe, penetrated the jungles and crossed the seas, they preached a singular message: light out of darkness, liberty out of tyranny, and life out of death. To cultures endemic with terrible poverty, brutality, lawlessness, and disease, those faithful Christian witnesses interjected the novel Christian concepts of grace, charity, law, medicine, and the sanctity of life. They overturned despots, liberated the captives, and rescued the perishing. They established hospitals. They founded orphanages. They started rescue missions. They built almshouses. They opened soup kitchens. They incorporated charitable societies. They changed laws. They demonstrated love. They lived as if people really mattered. Wherever missionaries went, they faced a dual challenge: confront sin in men’s hearts and confront sin in men’s cultures. "Thus, the 19th Century missions movements was more than simply a great era of Biblical preaching. It was a great era of Biblical faith. Appropriately, Dr. Hammond beautifully captures this remarkable multi-faceted legacy in The Greatest Century of Missions. Not only does his fluid narrative make the individual missionaries come to life, he highlights their vision, their motivation, their theological faithfulness, and their long-term cultural impact." "It is my prayer that as modern Christians read this much needed book, they will see the great pioneers, these culture-shapers, these soul-winners and nation-builders of the 19th Century in a entirely new light and that we will model our own 21st Century efforts after theirs. I am convinced that if we do, we too will see a glorious transformation of men and nations - perhaps heralding an even greater century of missions. Lord, may it be so." The Greatest Century of Missions with 90 photographs, pictures and maps. This book is 150 pages long. NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Dummy Alarm This little device can be used to fool criminals into thinking you have some kind of armed alarm at home or in your car. Before criminals strike in your neighbourhood they often walk or drive around and size up possible targets and the ease with which they can be robbed. For more info see: [Pic] Important: Police warning about Criminal Coded markings This is really a bit of a psychological trick to make them think your home is a harder target than it really is so that they turn their attentions elsewhere. The idea is to place it somewhere where criminals will spot it and think it is an armed alarm (e.g. on the inside on the windowsill). You can of course use more than one strategically placed device. This device is a little black plastic box with a flashing red LED light which is powered by a single AA battery for a few months. Its dimensions are: 8cm x 3cm x 2cm. The LED light flashes and looks exactly like the LED lights on a real alarm. You can place it in a window or somewhere where criminals will be able to see it when they are scoping out your neighbourhood. It will give them the impression that you have some kind of armed alarm. At night the little flashing red light is visible from a distance. The price does include postage within South Africa. The price does NOT include a battery.
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Dummy CCTV Camera This is a Dummy CCTV camera which is used to fool criminals into thinking you have some kind of Closed Circuit TV surveillance of your home. Before criminals strike in your neighbourhood they often walk or drive around and size up possible targets and the ease with which they can be robbed. For more info see: [Pic] Important: Police warning about Criminal Coded markings This is really a bit of a psychological trick to make them think your home is a harder target than it really is so that they turn their attentions elsewhere. You can of course use more than one strategically placed device where it will be seen. The Dummy CCTV takes 3 AA sized batteries so that a red light appears which will make the criminals think it is real. The price does include postage within South Africa. The price does NOT include the batteries.
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Emergency Lighting in a Plug This is a clever new South African invention. It is a 3-pronged electric plug which you can plug into a wall or adapter as normal. It works like this: You plug it into a plug anywhere in your house and you switch the plug on. A small red light then displays to show that it is charging. The very second when the power goes out a small (but very bright) light inside the plug starts emitting a constant light. This light will remain bright for 5 hours. After that it will become gradually dimmer. So even when the lights go out, you are not caught in total darkness. You can also pull the plug out and walk around with it using it as a light. I have tested it and used it. It can light up a room with a light somewhat brighter than a candle. It works off a rechargeable battery so it is always ready and fully charged whenever the lights go out. It also switches itself on so you are never left in total darkness when the lights go out. NB: Its technical specifications state that its light output is: 4000 MCD. The plug contains a battery and the electronics which charge it. Whenever its power supply is cut it switches on the light. The price does include postage within South Africa. The price does NOT include a battery.
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Transforming the Difficult Child The Nurtured Heart Approach Authors: Howard Glasser, MA and Jennifer Easley, MA 224pp; size 210 X 145mm; tables Trade paperback; ISBN 0-958-46112-0 Therapists and educators in effect give up when they accept that some trauma a child has experienced as an etched ‘circuit board for the child’s life. Parents give up, too, because it’s hard to get the right combination of advice and tips that work with intense children. A child on the playground spends much less time being angry, upset and making the world an ugly place for himself and others. He is playing more, getting along beautifully and learning life skills that will continue to extend success everywhere he goes: at school, at home, in relationships and even later in business. That’s a lot brighter future for a child who seemed destined to become a life-long bully. How did this transformation happen. The Nurtured Heart Approach techniques developed and refined by Howard Glasser create small, daily miracles in the lives of children and the people who care for them. And how is it done? No secret ingredients are required – all you need is love – as the Beatles used to sing. And that is something that every parent and teacher has in abundance. All you need to know is how to apply that love and Howard Glasser provides his unique formula. Howard Glasser, a family therapist and behavioural strategist has been training parents, teachers and therapists in Tucson USA for many years and now conducts workshops and seminars throughout the world. His important Transforming the Difficult Child is now available to teachers and parents in South Africa through Galago for the first time. It is an essential book for parents and teachers. The principles apply to children from toddlers to teenagers. .... Media reviews: It’s frustrating for parents when their child is under-performing, or constantly misbehaving despite all efforts to discipline them. Glasser and Easley maintain, however, if you have a ‘difficult child’ or one with ADHD, the secret is not in punishment or drug therapy but rather the correct parenting approach. By concentrating on the positive aspects of the child and their behaviour, you can drastically reduce the negative, and by doing so, you’ll transform your child into a successful, obedient, pleasant person. Your Family, South Africa Readers' Comments: This is the approach I recommend . . . Patch Adams, MD, renowned US physician. I love your book. I wish I had read it years ago when I adopted two difficult boys, now 19 and 21. Barb Deltgen — USA I am filled with hope for my seven-year-old grandson who has been diagnosed as having ADHD. I am also filled with remorse that no such approach was available for me to pursue with my eldest daughter who is now almost 40. Sonja Heimich — USA As an administrator of a learning centre for students with emotional disturbances, I have witnessed the amazing impact the Nurtured Heart Approach has had on our students. Pamela Harsacky — Director Warren County Learning Centre, USA Our nine-year-old grandson has been diagnosed with ADHD and Aspberger’s Syndrome. A wonderful counsellor Susan Bayne introduced us to the Nurtured Heart Approach . . . the changes in our home have been absolutely amazing. Doug and Carol McGachey — USA NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Executive Outcomes Against all Odds Author: Eeben Barlow 552pp, 32 pages colour photographs Six in-text maps and other in-text illustrations Trade paperback ISBN/Bar code: 978-1-919854-19-9 Executive Outcomes is the model on which all Private Military Companies (PMCs) operating in Iraq and Afghanistan are based. Founded by author Eeben Barlow in the early 1990s he originally offered courses in intelligence to South Africa’s Special Forces and security work to De Beers’ diamond mining industry. This was greatly expanded in 1993 when an oil company offered EO a contract to provide security for its staff while they recovered valuable drilling equipment stranded at the Angolan oil port of Soyo — after its capture by UNITA rebels. Barlow recruited ex-members of South Africa’s elite military units for the job. EO was contracted for a month, but this ended up being extended and EO spearheading an Angolan Army assault on Soyo and its capture from UNITA. This highly successful operation led to a contract to retrain the Angolan Army. Both UNITA and MPLA had taken part in UN supervised elections in 1992, but UNITA had rejected the results after losing and it had returned to civil war. During a hard-fought campaign, retrained Angolan Army units led by EO captured Cafunfu — the diamond producing area that funded UNITA’s war effort. Eventually, international pressure spearheaded by the UN and the ‘blood diamond’ lobby, forced EO’s withdrawal from Angola which quickly sank back into chaos. The UN’s efforts to restore the situation achieved by EO for US$35 million, cost the world body many billions of dollars. EO’s next contract was in May 1995 when 200 men were despatched to Sierra Leone where RUF rebels, chopping off people’s limbs and engaging in cannibalism, were marching on Freetown. EO smashed the rebels and this led to free and fair elections with a new government being elected. Pressures were again exerted which resulted in EO’s withdrawal. In the place of its 200 troops the UN deployed 18 000 soldiers at a cost of US$1 billion per year. The rebels regrouped, frequently taking UN troops as hostages, and the country again sank back into an orgy of cannibalism and limb chopping. There is much, much more to the Executive Outcomes’ story and Eeben Barlow tells it the way it was in this no-punches-pulled account. .... Media Reviews: Interviewing Eeben Barlow is not an experience you would describe as comfortable. it’s not because he is a former CCB operative nor the fact that he is proficient in multiple ways of killing and maiming. It’s because what he says not only makes a lot of sense, it also makes you somewhat ashamed of both yourself and your profession, journalism. He doesn’t like most journalists, whom he accuses of helping his enemies wage a vicious disinformation war against him and his company, Executive Outcomes, for many years. “All that shit you wrote, all the garbage you passed on from the so-called ‘sources’ – where was even the slightest bit of evidence to back it up?” In his newly-published book – Executive Outcomes, Against All Odds – Barlow savages many local and international journalists who, he says, willingly did “hatchet jobs” on EO. I’m one of them. Back in 1993, my byline was one of three which appeared on a piece quoting former SA Defence Force Colonel Jan Breytenbach as saying EO was “training ANC hit squads” in Angola . (At the time, EO had been given a contract by the Angolan government to re-train the army – a project which effectively spelled the beginning of the end of Jonas Savimbi and his UNITA movement, as the Angolan forces were better trained and prepared for battle.) The alleged ANC squads had a hit list of prominent people, including himself, claimed Breytenbach. I don’t even remember the story, save to know that Breytenbach was never one of my sources or contacts. But my byline was on the story and I must have contributed to it. Did we ever try to get corroboration or confirmation of Breytenbach’s claims? No. Why would we? Barlow and his bunch of ex-SADF “mercenaries” could only have been up to no good in Angola . After all, we told ourselves, why would they help the people who were once their enemies, unless they were being paid huge amounts and were involved in oil or diamond deals? Barlow sits across from me in a Pretoria coffee shop, his blue eyes accusing. I have no answers. He has a point. In conversation, Barlow echoes the litany of accusations and claims which were levelled against EO in the eight or so years it operated as a private military company in Africa and elsewhere: they committed atrocities, they were given huge diamond and oil concessions, that they were a front for Britain’s MI6 secret service, that they fronted for the American CIA; that they were incompetent buffoons. “Take the case of Sierra Leone (where EO helped the Freetown government crush RUF rebels): we were accused of committing atrocities against the local people. No proof. Nobody ever charged. No witnesses. The opposite was the case. As we went into action against the rebels in a new country and environment, we realised that we needed intelligence and information. And we got that from the local people, who realised that we were bringing stability and security after years of rape and murder by the rebels. We gave them some medical help and we made it safe for their (them) to go back to their normal lives. They helped us with the information we needed to mount our operations. Think about it – if we had been slaughtering them, would they have helped us?” Barlow is correct. Neither the United Nations, whose peacekeeping troops replaced EO and who then virtually lost the country back to the rebels; nor the Sierra Leone government, has made any atrocity charges against the company. “A professional journalist,” Barlow says with just a hint of a sneer, “visited the country and wrote that the people were happy with our presence and what we achieved.” Angola , likewise, was an area where EO was repeatedly under fire, mainly from journalists in South Africa. “You people,” he says, “ignored everything we provided you in terms of intelligence about who was really benefiting from the continuation of the war between UNITA.” Those people were senior officials in the former SA government, companies and businessmen. Barlow believes that UNITA’s supporters in South Africa were making a fortune out of the diamonds-for-arms trade which saw the rebel movement exchanging gems for weapons which were flown into Angola from South African airfields. “When General Ita (the then head of the Angolan military intelligence) told journalists this was happening and even provided registration numbers of the aircraft, nobody followed up on it.” They actually verbally attacked Ita, claiming he was lying and then attacked the government for attacking UNITA. He adds: “There are people who have a lot of blood on their hands – by prolonging the Angolan civil war, tens of thousands of people died. “But I’m proud of what we in EO did and the sacrifices we made.” Undoubtedly, Barlow and the company made a lot of money contracting out their military expertise – he has long since ceased to care about being labelled a “mercenary” he says – but the costs of the EO intervention were miniscule when compared to that bucket loads of money spent by the UN and African Union whose troops replaced the South African company in Sierra Leone. “What the Executive Outcomes experience proved was that there is a place in Africa – and the rest of the world – for private military companies. In our case, we did jobs that others either couldn’t do or didn’t want to do. And we did those jobs well, without any bias, because we were employed by legitimate governments.” In Angola , the company started off training the Angolan Army’s 16 Brigade, but was also involved in some of the heavy fighting against UNITA. Barlow says that it was more the comprehensive training given to the Angolans which enabled them to turn the tide against UNITA, rather than EO’s own combat team: “we had only 500 people, spread out around Angola and you can’t win a war like that with that number of soldiers...” In Sierra Leone , EO’s combat-hardened veterans – white and black, former SADF and from the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe – didn’t pussy-foot around when hitting the RUF rebels. Using highly mobile teams on foot and in vehicles, and backed up by air support which included a Russian-made Mi-24 helicopter gunship, EO decimated the rebels’ jungle hide-outs after initially saving the capital, Freetown, from what looked like a certain surrender to the rebels. “It is a great pity that EO did not continue, because it would have been a very effective instrument for change in Africa – and it would have enabled South Africa to project its influence to far corners of the continent. It wasn’t long before the US and European governments stepped into to the vacuum we left. So, again, it’s outsiders sorting out African problems...” Ironically, many people are not aware that EO played a major role in drafting South African legislation which controls the private military industry, the Foreign Military Assistance Act – and that, so far, EO is the only company to have been licensed by the government to offer military assistance and know-how outside the borders of this country. Although EO has been shut down, Barlow gets a number of calls from abroad, “asking me if I’d start it up again.” One such was for assistance ahead of the Iraq invasion in 2003 which, Barlow says, “I turned down because that is not legitimate, it is just about oil and resources.” It pains him to think that the expertise of thousands of former South African policemen and soldiers has been lost to this country, as they apply their skills and experience all around the world. “Those in the military field know just how good the former SADF was and how capable some of our people were. It is a great pity that this government, in the name of transformation, has turned its back on those skills.” Barlow, in common with many ex-SADF officers, doesn’t have a high opinion of the current SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and especially in its peacekeeping missions around Africa. “Our guys seem more interested in theft, robbery, rape and murder than they do in carrying out their jobs.” These days, sitting in retirement in Pretoria, Barlow watches cynically from the sidelines at developments. Like the fiasco of the abortive Equatorial Guinea (EG) coup, where scores of South African ex-soldiers were detained in Zimbabwe en route to EG and later served jail sentences in Harare. “Simon Mann (the coup plot leader who now sits in jail in Harare awaiting extradition to EG) is an arsehole and from my dealings with him, I regarded him as incompetent. So I’m not surprised at what happened.” But, that disaster also brought down the curtain on the 60s-style cowboy mercenaries, thinking that with a few people and a few guns they could take over a country. “We were accused of that sort of plotting all the time. We could have overthrown governments, sure, but we were professional suppliers of military services, not hired guns.” Barlow still keeps a jaundiced eye on the media: “I can see the disinformation and bullshit all over the place.” The reports on the Pikoli/Selebi/Zuma sagas should all be looked at with extreme caution and cynicism, he says. “There are some many different agendas at play and there are so many people involved who are past masters at spinning a lie: some of the people who put together smears against us are still at it and the ANC is also highly experienced at the art of disinformation.” He says he can see the media being used and manipulated. “Some things never change...” Brendan Seery – The Star, Johannesburg “I first met Eeben Barlow in 1982 … (as) a young and eager reconnaissance officer with 32 Battalion …” writes the old South African Defence Force’s former Intelligence chief, General R (Witkop) Badenhorst, in his foreword to this book. A quarter-century later Barlow still looks surprisingly young, but definitely not so eager. Wary, perhaps. Surely the founder of the first private military company to place this type of business in an ethical framework that saw him contracting only to legitimate governments – the man credited with paving the way for the expansion of similar operations around the world – could afford to look a little more satisfied with those achievements? Why not is suggested by the second part of the title, “Against All Odds”, as well as at the back, in a tailpiece. There he confesses: “Today, I have little interest in the misery and chaos that is spreading across Africa . I have come to realise that any attempt to stem the tide is viewed as sinister – especially by those who are pursuing alternative agendas for personal gain. ...I still receive calls from governments asking if I would be prepared to assist them to resolve their problems. They have totally lost faith in the UN and even in South Africa , whose ‘peacekeeping’ missions have become tainted with gross misconduct, poorly disciplined troops and political partiality. To them, my answer is always ‘No’.” (Prior to publication, Barlow reiterated the above comment, confirming continuing approaches from African, European and Far Eastern governments, hoping he would revive Executive Outcomes.) To read the pages in between is to travel a journey that started with Barlow as a sapper – an engineer – in then South West Africa clearing mines (and getting wounded in the process), before moving to 32 Battalion, patrolling deep, and dangerously, into Angola. Then came a transfer to the Directorate of Covert Collections (DCC), where he built an agent network in Botswana and “controlled people within the SACP, the ANC, the PAC and the BDF”. Later counter-intelligence work included spotting, developing and recruiting an agent with the US Embassy in Pretoria , before resignation from the military to join the Civil Co-operation Bureau, the CCB. In the not-yet-notorious CCB his responsibility was for the United Kingdom , Europe and Middle East . However the actions of its Region 6 (within South Africa ) as a sort of “Murder Incorporated”, in Barlow’s words, led to the organisation’s collapse. So sudden was this that Barlow ended up using his own money to bring home four of his overseas agents … leaving him both “broke and heavily indebted”. Thus was laid the road to Executive Outcomes. But first came (among others) a request from a South American country to enter the field of drug enforcement (stymied by the US); training for the SA Army’s Special Forces, mainly in covert operations but also counter-espionage; and assisting De Beers to curb the illegal diamond trade. Then in early 1993 Barlow was presented with “a very delicate problem”. It led to the Executive Outcomes operations which made that company’s name and brought invitations to operate far and wide. With South Africa out of Namibia , there was no reason for Pretoria to be hostile to Angola. It was thus entirely legitimate for South African citizens to accept a contract to protect recovery teams extracting heavy equipment from a Unita-controlled area in Angola’s far north, in “a little town called Soyo”. Barlow’s description of the fighting that ensued is a classic of its kind: descriptive, detailed and vivid, at times passionate, without moving at any time into Soldier of Fortune bravado. It displays also the compassion and understanding which mark a true soldier. But while this was going on, the South Africans doing their job for the government of Angola – a country with which this country was officially now at peace – were being shafted. “In Pretoria , I received a frantic telephone call from London at about 05:00 South African time. It was one of my old CCB agents. “ ‘Eeben, you guys are in big shit’, Richard declared. ‘A friend of mine works at GCHQ, Cheltenham . They intercepted a telephone call last night from the South African Parliament building in Cape Town to the Unita representative in London …” Both Barlow and his company had been mentioned, together with the advice “by someone in your government” that Unita hang on to Soyo regardless of cost. Meanwhile, fed by leaks from both Military Intelligence and the Department of Foreign Affairs, a media war was unleashed back at home, with very little consideration being given to what EO might have to say, or indeed as to whether the material being “fed” was in the least reliable. Much more – both triumph and tragedy – followed in Angola . Then came the challenge of Sierra Leone. Suffice it to say that a small group of South Africans restored peace, at minimal cost and loss of life, only to see these achievements negated following international pressure. For around US$31-million a year, Barlow tells us that EO defeated the rebels on the battlefield, saw the child soldiers who had been a tragic feature of that conflict demobilised, the government regain control of the country’s mineral wealth, a cease-fire in place and fair elections. Enforced replacement of EO with the UN force Unamsil cost some US$600-million a year, lost Sierra Leone to a coup, led to thousands of civilians being killed, the capital overrun, floods of refugees and massive infrastructural damage. With presumably no sense of irony, the UN rated Unamsil as a “most successful” mission. In 1996 Barlow mounted a low-profile and extremely successful mission at the request of the Indonesian government to rescue hostages from an irredentist group. Invitations were extended by other governments with whom SA has friendly relations to assist in various projects, but these did not come to fruition. EO closed its doors at the end of 1998, when “the South African Government lost a perfect vehicle for projecting force and bringing about stability in Africa ”. Far too often we tolerate behaviour that should be unacceptable; put up with that which should be insupportable. If the written word has a sound, in Executive Outcomes this would reflect the quiet rustle of a coat being trailed. Barlow freely names his villains. They come chiefly from the old Military Intelligence, the old Department of Foreign Affairs, and ambitious businessmen with multiple agendas. They also include journalists. There is no way this reviewer can comment on the accuracy or otherwise of such charges. But they cannot be ignored. Shortly before this book appeared there were rumours that one journalist was asking for help in seeking an interdict to prevent publication. More to the point would be an action for libel, mounted perhaps by one or more of the “eminent” businessmen and former top public servants whose characters and activities are also ripped to shreds here. Yet Barlow appears to have been a compulsive acquirer, and keeper, of sometime incriminating records. What would happen if those suing him, lost? And what would the media do about some of those who have been employed and trusted for so long as opinion-formers, if – in court – the records and documents which Barlow says he has safely cached “off-site”, substantiate his allegations? Overall, this is an extremely important contribution to our understanding of recent political and military history, both here and throughout Africa . It would be a great pity if, because of the many cans of worms it exposes, it was ignored. James Mitchell: The Star, Johannesburg This is the story of the birth and demise of Executive Outcomes. It is also the side of the story of Eeben Barlow, founder of EO, and he does not mince his words… Barlow was a Lt Col in the Army and served in the Engineer Corps, 32 Battalion, Military Intelligence and he later entered the shadowy world of the CCB. He was a spy with a network of agents overseas and in southern Africa . He knew a lot about sensitive issues and especially who was involved. This was probably the reason why he and EO were castigated when they sold their talents to the “enemy” in Angola. Barlow presented courses to the SADF’s “Recces” until shortly before EO accepted a contact with an oil company in Angola. Due to their success, EO was asked to aid the Angolan Armed Forces to train its troops in order to break the stranglehold of UNITA on parts of that country in order to establish a government of national unity. Due to the fact that South Africa had supported UNITA, EO and Barlow were branded as traitors. It was however the continued support from South African diplomats, businessmen and other highly-placed members in UNITA – even after the UN implemented sanctions against UNITA – that clearly had a sobering effect on Barlow. Disinformation campaigns, threats and even an attempt on his life made him realize that big money was fuelling the war behind the scenes. The police regularly investigated EO but never found any reason to prosecute the company. This did not stop the South African government and MI’s determined efforts to destroy EO. Indeed, Barlow used his contacts in MI to brace himself for the continued attacks on his person and that of the company. The book stretches from EO’s Angolan operations to those in Sierra Leone , as well as smaller contracts tackled by the company. He writes frankly about the alleged ineptitude of MI, the Defence Force, Foreign Affairs, Armscor, the UN. He does not shy away from using documentation to name those officials involved – nor those he identified as double agents. Ironically enough, some of the senior military officers who apparently helped to hound the company, are themselves now in security jobs abroad, where they do exactly the same work… Beeld - Erika Gibson, Military Correspondent Readers' Comments: I believe that I, like many other people, only knew what we read about you and your company on the internet or in the newspapers. Thankfully, I now know differently. I must confess that I was initially somewhat concerned that your book would be an attempt to whitewash EO’s role but with the evidence you provide in your book, I will no longer believe anything the media write about either you or EO. You have made – and proven – your point, something they never did. I am however sure that soon someone from the media will attempt to write a different account – without bothering to check their facts and in an attempt to justify their nefarious actions. I only hope that you will take them to task. The book is a riveting read from page 1 and packed with information that very few of us were ever allowed to know. Not only has it exposed the many lies that have been published about you and EO, it also made me realize just how powerful a tool the media was in misleading all of us. As you wrote in your book: “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for everything”. Apart from exposing some esteemed members of the media, Military Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and numerous other specialists at lying, you have covered a period of our history that has remained shrouded in secrecy for many years. You have also exposed the UN as a massive, “puffed-up-with-self-importance”, ineffectual organization that only has its own interests at heart. What a great pity you were never allowed to play a larger role in bringing peace to our continent. I hope the many self-styled specialists on you and EO have the decency to hang their heads in shame and apologise for the grave injustices done to all of you. Thank you for a terrific book! May your next one, which I understand you are writing, be equally riveting. Mary Strauss, UK I was given your book as a gift by someone who attended a talk you recently gave and have just completed it in a reading session that lasted a couple of days. Firstly, I want to say that it is an outstanding piece of work. As someone who has a great interest in contemporary African politics, I found this book to be a true eye-opener. Indeed, it spills over into the international political arena and the way in which we are constantly being fooled by those elected to higher office and their big business associates and backers. Secondly, the book, although somewhat disturbing at times, has raised a few questions I would like to ask: Are those agents-of-influence (regardless of whether they were witting or unwitting) still working in the media, and if so, why? Has the media taken any action against them, and if not, why not? Has the media ever had the decency to apologise to you? Why did the SADF not win the war in Angola ? Surely, if your involvement led to an end of hostilities in Angola – I recall Unita almost destroyed on the battlefield after EO had only been in Angola for a year – someone needs to question what the SADF was doing, or not doing. How many lives were needlessly sacrificed by the SADF in order to cover up the actual aim of the war in Angola? Has the UN apologized for using such a powerful forum to slate you? Has the SA intelligence community taken action against those who fabricated intelligence reports about you and your company – or even apologized to you? Has anyone offered to reimburse you and the company for the financial losses they cost you through their campaigns to mislead all and sundry? Why hasn’t the UN approached you for help? Surely they must realize that you achieved far more, with far less, than they have ever achieved? Has the SA government realized that by trying to prevent your company from working, they simply opened the field to all the foreign companies and denied South Africa any form of influence? The SANDF is obviously a bad joke that no-one can take very seriously and has on numerous occasions proved itself incompetent and definitely not impartial. I have many, many more questions from this extraordinary book that need answering. But, in typical fashion, those that can give the answers will no doubt remain silent and wish it all away. I feel that the world owes you a massive apology. I look forward to the day the UN approaches you to help them achieve something positive in DRC, Darfur, Chad, Ivory Coast and so on. This is one manuscript that ought to be compulsory reading at all military institutions, across the world. Well done on a superb piece of work. As the old saying goes: “EO is dead, long live EO”. Michael van Reenen - South Africa This has to be one of the best books I have read in a very, very long time! At times, I could feel my adrenaline racing, my heart pounding and my head throbbing – it was as though I was able to relieve every second of that amazing company of men. A true band of South African brothers, black and white, if ever there was one. I, too, like most people, became of victim of the disinformation about you and your company. I recall almost being physically ill when I read the headline that you were going to be training MK members to take out prominent white South Africans. And now, it was all just a lie, propagated by the media to serve someone else’s interests. How those journalists ought to hang their heads in shame!! And to think, that none of us even considered the fact that all of the disinformation might just have been one big fat lie aimed at neutralizing you. I shudder to think how many millions of dollars your company must have lost due to such shameful actions. Even more shocking to me were the Military Intelligence reports, along with the other so-called intelligence services, that you placed in your book. To think that these were the people who provided the decision makers with intelligence – and on their lies, more propaganda was aimed at you. Absolutely disgusting!! Even more nauseating is that their lies cost the lives of good men, both black and white. Despite the true story of Executive Outcomes finally seeing the light of day, perhaps the time has come to see who will have the courage to apologise to you. I can bet you no-one will. The manner in which you and your men were treated is reprehensible, to say the least. For allowing those liars in the media and the intelligence services to expend their lies, you have certainly come back with a bang and exposed their nefarious actions. This fast-moving book ought to be compulsory reading to all military buffs, strategists, tacticians, soldiers, airmen – and yes, politicians and journalists. Thank you for finally setting the record straight on what must surely be considered one of the most professional PMCs ever to tread the earth. I salute you and if ever you need men for a similar venture, no matter where or when, or how grave the dangers may be, I shall answer your call. I cannot wait for another book from you. Jason Stone - South Africa Executive Outcomes – Against All Odds… what a company, what a story, what a book. While I would change no part of it, I’d like to propose, however, that it be given a new name. To steal from that American bunny-hugger, Gore, Executive Outcomes - An Inconvenient Truth would have been a far more appropriate title. Inconvenient indeed for the many so-called journalists, double agents, government sycophants and other such lowlifes who now, thanks to Eeben Barlow, have had their duplicitous agendas torn open and exposed, like soiled underwear, to a very gullible world. Inconvenient also for all those self-proclaimed EO experts who swallowed the lies, who sat at mid-90’s dinner parties and regaled guests with wild stories of cannibalism, rape, overthrown governments, merciless mercenaries and other such immoral horrors. Shamed they must be now. In a truly gripping account, written in a style that makes you feel like you’re having a beer with a pal, Barlow tells an astonishing story of an extraordinary life – filled with experiences you wouldn’t believe. No sooner have you begun when you’re whipped up into an underworld of real-life spies – some quite professional, others a little uncomfortable in their suits – a world of betrayal, disinformation, espionage, hostage dramas, international men of mystery and a war that was fought and won by brave, thick-skinned heroes. Barlow names names, with evidence to back him up, and puts a human side to a company which for so long has been a kind of enigma, shrouded in much faulty guesswork. All this, sprinkled with a few wild assassination attempts, a crooked peace-keeping force, politicians and their pawns gone mad, makes you feel like you’re caught up in a movie – a kind of Bond meets Tarantino. Except this was real life and real people were being killed every day. Read it. If not merely to set the record straight, then for the fact that you need to know what really goes on behind closed UN and big business doors. What monies exchange hands for not very much, and how selfish, twisted government agendas control how our great continent is led down a very destructive path. When SA banned the existence of firms such as EO, one has to at least entertain the thought that by inference, those clever paper-pushers effectively banned lasting peace in Africa – an Inconvenient truth indeed. Daniella Louw - Publisher I have just read Executive Outcomes – Against all Odds and thought that you might be interested in some of my impressions with regard to this truly remarkable book. Many of us who served in EO, and more specifically some of my fellow senior officers, were vaguely aware of the fact that you and EO’s other directors were enmeshed in a struggle to overcome the efforts of numerous shadowy persons, intelligence gathering organizations and less than objective media representatives who were all trying to discredit the company and force its closure by fair means or foul. However, it was not until I had read your book that I was able to understand just how widespread and intense these attempts were and how unsavoury these characters, their deceitful actions and hidden agendas actually turned out to be. Having said that, and notwithstanding the 'bad' press and disinformation campaign aimed at yourselves, the fact that EO was able to successfully fulfil its contractual obligations by achieving each and every goal that had been set, speaks absolute volumes about the calibre of person that served on your board and the resoluteness of the men that were employed by the company. Although I may only comment on the Angolan operations, I was impressed by the factual and historical integrity of the information that is recorded in the book. The way in which all aspects of the training, the deployments, the build up to the operations and their successful execution are described makes for riveting reading. Even readers who were not involved in any way and who may have no knowledge or recollection of either the South African or the Angolan political situations at the time will develop a sense of urgency as they read about the difficulties which had to be overcome, both physical and ideological and, later, geographical as well, before the enemy could be engaged. In all probability, many of EO’s men saw their contract as just another 'job' for which they had been well trained, while most were grateful for the employment opportunity that the contracts offered during a rather uncertain period in the South African labour market. To my way of thinking, however, what started out as a job, per se, irrevocably turned into a personal mission aimed at ending the hostilities for the sake of the povo, not so much the Angolan Government, since it is they who had borne the brunt of the misery, that only civil war can bring, since 1975. There was no doubt in our minds that UNITA had to be defeated at all costs! One need not be familiar with the science of logistics to be able to appreciate the enormous effort that was required to, for example, mobilize and transport EO’s personnel to their training bases, set up all the training facilities, then move mechanized combat groups, complete with certain support elements and an air wing, hundreds of kms across enemy held terrain, before the offensive over a wide front could commence. The enormity of these tasks and the continued logistical support accorded to EO on the ground throughout the entire campaign are well documented in the book and provide some insight into the level and scope of the task that was undertaken by the 'loggies'. I believe that EO’s successes in the field can be attributed directly to the individual military training and combat experience of its men as well as to the perseverance they displayed in getting to understand the way in which their FAA allies thought and reacted during both the training and the active deployment phases of the entire campaign. The cooperation between EO and FAA, from being rather tense and untenable at the outset to being highly efficient when it really mattered, is graphically described in the advance to and inevitable capture of Cafunfu. This was a truly remarkable operation and all the credit for its successful outcome must go to the EO combat team commander, his leader group and men as well as to the, often heroic, accomplishments of the aircrews of EO’s air wing for the close air support that they provided throughout the operation. There was an incredible feeling of accomplishment among these men at the conclusion of the operation since UNITA’s decisive defeat at Cafunfu truly signaled the beginning of the end to the Angolan civil war, protracted though it was. But one has to remember that this victory came at considerable cost to EO in terms of the lives that were lost. In this instance, the book once again captures the “feel” of the combat situation by telling the story on the ground and in the air as it was; both the happy and the sad endings, the feelings of elation and desolation. Such was the comradeship, communication and cohesion among the men that the reader can almost feel how the resolve and determination of EO’s combatants, to decisively defeat the enemy, increased with each casualty. As any person who has been under fire will confirm, only Hollywood can try and convince an audience that war is 'glamorous' - there is no such thing! The resolution of the conflict in Angola can only be described as an arduous affair. Incidentally, I find the term Private Military Company (PMC) as it pertains to EO most fitting since that is exactly what EO was. Many of us who served in the company at the time felt uncomfortable with the mercenary tag because this conjured up a picture of a motley bunch of rabble rousers who were up to no good as opposed to a dedicated, well trained and disciplined grouping of soldiers whose bona fides were impeccable and who were involved in legitimate work of a military nature, as EO was. Ironically enough, this is exactly how EO eventually came to be portrayed once the positive and irrefutable results of its ongoing endeavours in Angola and elsewhere in the world could no longer be refuted. The book is much more than a coffee table narrative. It should be read by all persons, scholars and laypersons alike, with an interest in the military and social history of Africa, because the events that unfold in its pages truly record the transition between anarchy and stability in Angola between 1993 and 1995. One can only speculate about what would have happened in this beautiful African country had EO not been requested to intervene by the MPLA Government of the day or been prevented from accepting the contract to do so by those warmongers in the RSA and elsewhere who were bent on continuing to destabilise Angola at all costs in order to profit financially from the misery that they had sown within its borders! There is no doubt in my mind that all former members of Executive Outcomes will share my sentiments, namely, that “This is a must read”. Mike Herbst: former senior officer Executive Outcomes I would urge all South Africans and any person interested in world history to read Executive Outcomes – Against All Odds by Eeben Barlow. Any person that was a member of the old SADF or had a loved one in the SADF who wondered why they were never told the truth about what was happening on the ‘Border’ need look no further. The answers are here. This is a gloves-off account of how a small group of committed people achieved in a few months what the powerful SADF and its’ masters did not want to achieve in Angola . Not only is this book a well-told narrative of military history, international business, intelligence and counter-intelligence; it is never tedious and moves at a pace equal to that of any best-selling novel. Only after reading this book have I come to realise how much we were victims of the massive disinformation and brainwashing machine that the apartheid government had at its disposal. I regret that I and so many thousands of South Africans were so naïve and gullible. At 552 pages this is a big book in more ways than one that has far more hitting power than a 155mm howitzer. The perpetrators of the misinformation, deceit and lies that were fed to the public of South Africa should be exposed. Well done for sticking to the courage of your convictions and for a thoroughly enjoyable book. Tony Nienaber: ex-32 Battalion, SADF I am reading your monograph with all my might and I don't get enough sleep because of it. It is fascinating reading material, especially the Angola part since the names and places and events ring more than bells in my memory. I realised early on during my stint as service chaplain in the SAMS that all this Light against the Darkness ideo-theology was not as simple as that. Especially after been asked by a SWAPO commander who came in wounded into the Ondangwa Air Force Base sickbay, to read to him from Psalm 23 - from his own Bible. Wow. That woke me up. I must say that reflecting on your experiences (I am now at chapter 33) I have learnt a lot and I remain your student. Allow me to share some valuable lessons learnt so far: * get sufficient, relevant, reliable and current intelligence * look after your support group (your "men") no matter what * take the fight to the enemy * be honest in alll your doings (this is why you are reaping the reward now after many years - referring to The Star article) * let those who fall by the wayside due to fear or cowardice, go home ("fit in or fuck off") * look ahead at possible future opportunities (this job/contract is not going to last forever). Oh I don't want to bore you with things you already know. It's just to say that you and your book have made a lasting impression on my life. Thank you. I am proud to know you. Chris le Roux It is always easier for people to condemn and to blame and forget the sacrifices made when they are feeling like they have lost. I thought the closing of EO was a loss to Africa as a whole. It would have been nice to have some form of stabilizing factor involved somewhere. Richard York : UCS Software Manufacturing (Pty) Ltd Developer Support Manager I have just finished reading your very, very long book. Congratulations! J Whilst I found it extremely disturbing, it was also fascinating and enlightening. I champion truth and found the clarity you shared and the relentless onslaught against you very thought provoking. Strangely for a white South African 44 year old male, I did not really have a strong opinion on EO prior to reading your book. Whilst I was an opponent of apartheid, I was also a victim of much of the misinformation that was being fed to me. Now I understand so much more of what was going on during my teens and beyond. Thank you. On a more personal level, reading your book also challenged me in terms of my own journey in to maturity and manhood. I doubt if this was your intention, however for that I also thank you. Once again I congratulate you for this achievement and your courage in sharing it at personal risk. That sort of guts is what this wonderful country of ours so badly needs. Ian Hatton: Strengths Revolutionary: See Learndo I recently bought a copy of the newly published book ‘Executive Outcomes’ with keen interest. While I do not have a military background, in my research I stumbled on the EO/Sandline conspiracy many years back and certainly was left with the impression that they were not one of the good guys and not agents for positive change in Africa . As is the case with many topics that are left unchallenged in the system you don’t know better until someone tells you otherwise. And then I read your book. With the last chapter in the Angolan conflict finished, I decided to Google key-words in the search for a ‘balanced’ account of what took place. In reading article after article I certainly became more sympathetic with the author as I saw firsthand the vast and growing difference between the truth ‘of free and fair’ reporting and what he had written in his own words. I am reminded of the daily barrage of news, print and online ‘news’ that we are forced to regurgitate. Certainly the more I read and compared it I believed the author’s account of what transpired more than the UN Reports, Government Reports and that which appeared in the media regarding any of the events, people or places mentioned in the book. Just like the negative publicity by the media attracted candidates for employment so many years back, these negative reports further spurred my curious mind to finish the next chapter and the next so that I could finish the story and find out what really happened at EO. While I understand how the tone of any writer is influenced by the experiences of the story, I looked past the ‘ah gee-shucks’ of everyone being the best and brightest as if we lived on Sesame Street and teamwork is the requirement to live rather than air, I found it easy to read and thoroughly enjoyable. In the 2 days that it took I was captivated from the first page to the last. The logical flow of a progressive story made sense and ultimately you almost forgot that this was real-life unfolding in front of you and wasn’t a novel by Forsythe or Clancy. Thank you for probably the best non-fiction book I have read so far this year. I have bought copies for two friends and for the lending library at the Rand Club, Johannesburg for other members to read. Grant Davison - Houghton, South Africa NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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My Life with the SA Defence Force Author: General Magnus Malan 510pp; size 227 X 154mm Numerous black and white pics and maps in text Hardcover Published by Protea ISBN/bar code 978186919146 (English and Afrikaans versions available) After graduating from the University of Stellenbosch in 1949 Magnus Malan joined the South African Defence Force as a candidate officer. During 1962-1963 he spent a year at United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. He would have an illustrious military career. Commissioned as a lieutenant in the South African Marine Corps in 1953 he rose rapidly through the ranks. He was appointed Deputy Chief of the Army in 1972, Chief of the Army shortly afterwards and as Chief of the SADF in 1976. In 1980 he retired from the SADF and became the Minister of Defence in the National Party government. There is little that occurred during South Africa’s ‘total onslaught’ years that General Malan didn’t have knowledge of. As Army Chief he oversaw Operation Savannah when South Africa sent troops into Angola to support the UNITA and FNLA liberation movements which were fighting the Soviet and Cuban supported MPLA which was trying to grab power after Portugal, the colonial power, pulled out of its African colonies. By 1976 when he became SADF Chief it had become evident from the Angolan experience that it was essential the SADF re-arm and expand with modern weapons for its troops had often been outgunned (although never outfought) during the Angolan intervention. This was rapidly achieved by Armscor under Malan’s direction. He was responsible for the launch into Angola of various SADF raids commencing with Operation Reindeer — a daring raid by paratrooper forces on SWAPO’s main base at Cassinga deep inside Angola . He directed the expansion of the State Security Council by creating a secretariat and a working committee and he introduced the much criticised National Security Management System. Although not initially involved, once the political decision had been made, he explains the involvement of the military in the development of South Africa’s nuclear capability. As Minister of Defence he oversaw numerous offensive operations against SWAPO bases in Angola. The war escalated until there were some 30 000 Cuban troops and at least 3 000 Soviet and East German specialist fighting on the side of SWAPO and the Angolan army. By 1988, however, South Africa with US support was negotiating an end to the border war with the Angolans and Cubans. He relates how Commander Dieter Gerhardt of the SA Navy passed military secrets to the Soviet Union from 1963 to 1983, until he was arrested and gaoled. He also gives his version of the controversial air crash in which President Samora Machel of Mozambique was killed and much, much, more. This book is essential reading for those interested in southern Africa ’s military history. .... Media Reviews: This book will strike a chord among many, but one doubts whether it will really be taken notice of in today’s corridors of power. As can be expected from the man in overall charge of South African strategy against the ‘total onslaught’, there are formative chapter on various aspects of the Angolan War and the country’s decision to make its own nuclear weapons. He also writes about master spy Dieter Gerhardt from a to-be-expected point of view. This sheds more light on a subject that many people are still not clear on. What comes through clearly is that Malan was at no time a dove. His hawkish stance is reinforced by many observations throughout the book which is in character with the public image many South Africans had of him. The Citizen — Johannesburg NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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My Lewe saam met die SA weermag Author: General Magnus Malan NB: This is the Afrikaans version of: My Life with the SA Defence Force. (Despite the image of the english version, this entry is for the Afrikaans version of the book). 510pp; size 227 X 154mm Numerous black and white pics and maps in text Hardcover Published by Protea ISBN/bar code 978186919146 (English and Afrikaans versions available) After graduating from the University of Stellenbosch in 1949 Magnus Malan joined the South African Defence Force as a candidate officer. During 1962-1963 he spent a year at United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. He would have an illustrious military career. Commissioned as a lieutenant in the South African Marine Corps in 1953 he rose rapidly through the ranks. He was appointed Deputy Chief of the Army in 1972, Chief of the Army shortly afterwards and as Chief of the SADF in 1976. In 1980 he retired from the SADF and became the Minister of Defence in the National Party government. There is little that occurred during South Africa’s ‘total onslaught’ years that General Malan didn’t have knowledge of. As Army Chief he oversaw Operation Savannah when South Africa sent troops into Angola to support the UNITA and FNLA liberation movements which were fighting the Soviet and Cuban supported MPLA which was trying to grab power after Portugal, the colonial power, pulled out of its African colonies. By 1976 when he became SADF Chief it had become evident from the Angolan experience that it was essential the SADF re-arm and expand with modern weapons for its troops had often been outgunned (although never outfought) during the Angolan intervention. This was rapidly achieved by Armscor under Malan’s direction. He was responsible for the launch into Angola of various SADF raids commencing with Operation Reindeer — a daring raid by paratrooper forces on SWAPO’s main base at Cassinga deep inside Angola . He directed the expansion of the State Security Council by creating a secretariat and a working committee and he introduced the much criticised National Security Management System. Although not initially involved, once the political decision had been made, he explains the involvement of the military in the development of South Africa’s nuclear capability. As Minister of Defence he oversaw numerous offensive operations against SWAPO bases in Angola. The war escalated until there were some 30 000 Cuban troops and at least 3 000 Soviet and East German specialist fighting on the side of SWAPO and the Angolan army. By 1988, however, South Africa with US support was negotiating an end to the border war with the Angolans and Cubans. He relates how Commander Dieter Gerhardt of the SA Navy passed military secrets to the Soviet Union from 1963 to 1983, until he was arrested and gaoled. He also gives his version of the controversial air crash in which President Samora Machel of Mozambique was killed and much, much, more. This book is essential reading for those interested in southern Africa ’s military history. .... Media Reviews: This book will strike a chord among many, but one doubts whether it will really be taken notice of in today’s corridors of power. As can be expected from the man in overall charge of South African strategy against the ‘total onslaught’, there are formative chapter on various aspects of the Angolan War and the country’s decision to make its own nuclear weapons. He also writes about master spy Dieter Gerhardt from a to-be-expected point of view. This sheds more light on a subject that many people are still not clear on. What comes through clearly is that Malan was at no time a dove. His hawkish stance is reinforced by many observations throughout the book which is in character with the public image many South Africans had of him. The Citizen — Johannesburg NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Publish and be Damned Two Decades of Scandals Author: Chris Steyn-Barlow 368pp; size 242 X 168mm 32pp of black and white and colour pics Trade paperback Published by Galago ISBN 9781919854205 Bar code: 9-7819-854205 Chris Steyn-Barlow became a journalist by an unexpected twist after she took a secretarial post at the Sunday Tribune's Johannesburg's bureau. She proved herself a useless secretary but her boss, the legendary Viv Prince, sent her out on stories instead of firing her. Her first job was to interview British fashion guru, Mary Quant, and ask if it was true she had her pubic hair shaved into a heart shape. Horrified at the prospect, she still passed her first journalistic test by asking that question. Quant answered in the affirmative! Her short stint on the Sunday Tribune was followed by two-and-a-half years under The Citizen's very difficult Johnny Johnson. The late Johnson had started his career as a copy boy at 13 and went on to become the longest serving editor in SA press history. She learned the craft of investigative journalism the hard way under his tutelage; on the city's back streets writing stories about politics, crime, disasters and tragedies; rubbing shoulders with criminals, drug addicts and prostitutes. Poached by the Rand Daily Mail she continued to develop her own hard-nosed style of reporting. Spells at The Star and the Cape Times followed. She was subpoenaed to give evidence against witnesses to the so-called zero-zero hand grenade incidents in the East Rand where the fuses had been covertly converted to instantaneous settings by the Security Branch C later admitted by them at a TRC hearing. Chris fled to the UK and worked for The Times of London to avoid giving evidence until the subpoena was withdrawn and she was able to return home. After her return she was arrested for taking part in a demonstration where journalists protested the new emergency regulations that had placed onerous restrictions on press freedom. For many of her stories she dug in sensitive political areas where many editors were afraid to trespass, one describing her as an 'unguided missile'. After a second spell at The Citizen she spent time writing murder mysteries and freelancing for magazines. In her final years as a reporter Chris was appointed editor of the Independent Newspapers Investigative Unit where she uncovered major political and criminal scandals. Media Reviews: Do you remember the headlines about the Stander gang, paedophile Gert van Rooyen, the security police’s dirty tricks around the Boesak affair or the National Intelligence Agency bugging scandal? The Bronberger interviewed Chris Steyn Barlow about the crime, cruelty and corruption uncovered by this newshound who married the founder of Executive Outcomes and started the Cowboy School near Rayton with him. Chris Steyn reveals all in her book Publish and be Damned with the tantalising sub-heading Two decades of Scandals. Bronberger - Pretoria Publish and be Damned contains saucy stories of South African scandals. As a seasoned journalist the author saw and experienced a lot. This book presents a unique insight into news occurrences. Sarie Magazine Chris Steyn-Barlow entered the world of journalism the way women have always entered the career world — as a secretary. But her incompetent fielding of phone calls and her uncanny knack for finding the truth in a story led her through SA’s newspapers and politics and into its courtrooms and legal system. Somewhere between exile and arrest, Steyn-Barlow investigated stories she believed needed to be printed whether scandalous, outrageous, politically incorrect (and from both sides) or just plain seditious. Steyn Barlow went behind the lines, below the belt, over the top and slipped under the fence to get to the truth. In this biographical look at her own life, we can join her on a journey of 20 years of eye-opening journalism that helped shape the country we have today. The Citizen — Sheana Campbell If you really enjoy reading detective thrillers and novels about undercover secret agents plus scandal at the very highest level, you will certainly want to read this book. The one great difference is that everything you read is based on fact and deals with real life South Africans who had been front page characters in all of our media over many years. Facts are revealed that were often suppressed and even played down by some in the media. Few journalists were willing to dig as deep as Chris Steyn-Barlow did. The fact that she is still alive to tell all the shocking details is a bit of a miracle. We also learn how difficult it is to run a newspaper and for editors to take decisions that could land them in serious trouble. Often they are criticised by fellow editors for taking a stand and publishing details of corrupt and shady dealings of high profile personalities that some media would prefer to ignore. There is no doubt that after reading this work one must have greater respect for journalists, their editors and their papers. They are in the forefront of a battlefield filled with landmines. Chris started in a secretarial post at the Sunday Tribune’s Johannesburg bureau but was sent out by her boss, Viv Prince, to interview British fashion expert Mary Quant. That proved a success and from there she moved to The Citizen under Johnny Johnson, who was a tough relentless editor who started his career at the age of 13 as a copy boy and became the longest serving editor in South African press history. From him she learnt the craft of investigative journalism the hard way, to cover stories on the back streets, writing about politics, crime, disasters, and tragedies, rubbing shoulders with criminals, drug addicts and prostitutes. She later also worked for the Rand Daily Mail, The Star, The Cape Times and for a while, The Times in London. She was eventually appointed editor of Independent Newspapers’ investigative unit, where she uncovered major political and criminal scandals. She writes that some stories are quickly forgotten, even by those who write them, if not by thosethey are written about, Other stories are neither forgotten nor forgiven. The ‘Boesak Affair’ was such a story. She had no way of knowing that it would transform her from an accidental journalist into an enemy of the state. She adds that many staffers at The Star doubted that Harvey Tyson would have the guts to publish the Boesak story. They were wrong because he ran with the story. Then there is a chapter titled Sex and Death in the Cabinet which concerns the then Minister of Environment and Water Affairs, John Wiley, who apparently committed suicide, and the sexual goings on at Bird Island. A great deal is written about her close links with General Hendrik van der Bergh of BOSS, whom she respected highly and who often gave her inside information that few other journalists were privileged to. Then there is the sensational bugging story that appeared on February 21 1995 when the National Intelligence Agency had tried to spike, under headlines such as ‘Govt bugging exposed’ and ‘Big Brother is listening’. The introduction to the story read: ‘Thousands of international of international as well as local telephone calls and fax communications are being intercepted — many unlawfully and unconstitutionally — by the South African intelligence community from a to secret facility.’ Steyn-Barlow also revealed that even the office of the Commissioner of Police George Fivaz was being bugged. The Minister of Justice, Dullah Omar, reacted by stating that the story was false and ‘he accused critics, including private espionage companies run by agents of the former government and the media, of trying to undermine South Africa’s newly integrated intelligence service’. To this the Pretoria News, amongst others, commented: ‘Equally predictable Mr. Omar took refuge in politics in answering to parliament last week. It was a hoary political dodge, trying to shift attention from the issue at hand by raising suspicions about the motive for disclosures. It is known as shooting the messenger. This newspaper and others in the Independent stable published the report because the State activity was news, unlawful and unconstitutional.’ These are only a few titbits of the personalities and events that she so professionally covers and that should be of great value, not only the toe average reader but to anyone doing research on the events of the past half century. Cyrus Smith — Pretoria News She (Steyn-Barlow) relates her role in reporting matters as diverse as the Stander bank robbery gang, the Van Rooyen paedophile horror and the NIA bugging scandal where government was caught spying on its own ministers. She recounts the progression of her stories in minute detail . . . What comes out of such blow-by-blow reporting is an insight into how all parties — editors, reporters and government officials — respond to emerging facts and how they all work their separate agendas, sometimes courageously, often not. The bugging story for example shows up the bravery and cravenness of prominent media figures and Mo Shaik is revealed as the bullyboy who’s quick to intimidate in his attempts to have a story quashed. Steyn Barlow spent some years in exile after police ordered her arrest over her refusal to give evidence on the Duduza dirty tricks mission in which rigged explosives killed eight liberation fighters . . . Publish and be Damned has some interesting nuggets on stories that made the headlines from the late apartheid era into the transition to democracy. The Witness, Natal This is a peek behind the headlines. Chris Steyn-Barlow’s journalistic career started as a secretary at the Sunday Tribune. Twenty years later she’s one of South Africa ’s best investigative journos and this book chronicles the fascinating stories behind some of her scandalous headlines. Woman & Home, South Africa We're rather short of investigative journalists in this country,with reporters preferring, as a whole, to sit at desks and wait for the phone to ring rather than go out and shake the bushes until the rats start running. What a pity that Chris Steyn-Barlow, with whom I once worked, is no longer active in the field. When I first met Chris she was very young, very keen and quite unhyphenated. When last encountered, at the funeral of our former editor, Johnny Johnson, she was accompanied by the cause of the nominal modification, husband Eeben Barlow, the Executive Outcomes founder. Talking of names, I'd better make it clear at this point that I wasn't the naughty sub-editor who, she complains here, once changed her by-line on The Citizen to Christ Steyn. Anyone who worked for Johnson, and who picks up Publish and be Damned, is guaranteed to first check every index reference to this malign but hugely talented editor. We can't help it. He was that kind of person. But it's a mark of Steyn-Barlow's maturity that she's able to be fair about him without pulling her punches. Some of his behaviour was detestable and she bore the brunt. But she admits, too, just how much she learned. There are eerie precursors of present-day scandals in Publish and be Damned. Take, for instance, the photo of smarmy drug dealer Vicky Goswami in an ingratiating close-up with Nelson Mandela. Goswami became one of Chris Steyn's targets and her disclosures effectively forced him out of South Africa when the usual police ineptitude would have let him continue his foul work. As for the title of Steyn-Barlow's book, on the surface it's flippant, even irresponsible. It comes, of course, from the famous retort of the Duke of Wellington, when top tart Harriet Wilson threatened to publish her memoirs and his letters. But if you think investigative writers like Steyn-Barlow don't give a damn about the effects of their writing, then I urge you to read her account of the Boesak affair. She's utterly honest about the excitement of being the first to break a major story; equally so about the agonies of introspection., the fears of being used for someone else's agenda, or being set up to take a fall. In the Boesak affair case, of course, the old SA Police Security Branch were unveiling the man's tacky behaviour for their own ends. For both journalists the activists, the fact that Boesak was a courageous, effective fighter against apartheid should have secured him for exposure by the liberal, English language press. The editor of The Star at the time, Harvey Tyson, thought otherwise. And events much later, which culminated in a prison sentence for the Teflon cleric, confirmed that no one, however eminent his struggle credentials, should be exempt from critical examination. When I knew her at The Citizen, and later at The Star Chris Steyn came in for a lot of flak, usually from those who hadn't a fraction of her dedication, or confused political correctness with journalism.Malicious and very silly gossip sought to make a point about the fact that she was, and is, attractive. Yes, I saw some hugely talentless women get jobs with Johnny Johnson because he fancied them and while slavering after them, would write and re-write their mediocre copy. Steyn, however, had both talent and application. Another allegation was that Steyn was a government spook. Curious, calling someone an apartheid spy when she caused as much embarrassment and chagrin to the old regime as anyone else. But that's what jealousy does. She comments, after putting up with such nonsense: 'I also have the small satisfaction of having found out that some struggle journalists who looked down on me had themselves unwittingly worked for the Security Branch and other apartheid spy agencies. They had been false flagged to believe they were in fact working for the British or another foreign agency. Serves them right for wanting to join an intelligence agency in the first place while working as a journalist!' Well said. I also enjoyed the way Steyn personalised her account and wrapped up the story. Anyone who takes up fencing and manages to become a national repesentative in her 40s, as she did, is tough. Read this book to understand the thrill of the chase for the truth. Jim Mitchell, The Star NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Never Quite a Soldier A Rhodesian Policeman's War 1971-1982 Author: David Lemon 268pp; size 242 X 168mm 32pp black and white and colour pics & map Trade paperback; ISBN 9781919854215 Bar code 978191854212 The author was a Rhodesian policeman during the Bush War days. His first involvement with the war came when he was member-in-charge of Macheke Police Station. Groups of infiltrating ZANLA guerrillas moved into the area and embarked on a murderous campaign targeting both black and white civilians. The war throughout the country escalated and indiscriminate acts of terror like the bomb detonated in a Woolworths branch in Salisbury that killed 12 black shoppers and wounded another 76, the June 1978 massacre by ZANLA of nine white missionaries and four children — one a three week old baby, the shooting down of a Viscount airliner and the subsequent massacre of survivors and countless other terrible incidents decided him to join the elite Police Support Unit which comprised 12 companies of fighting policemen, most of them black. The Black Boots, as the were known, were as smart or smarter than the Brigade of Guards on parade, and as fighting men they matched or surpassed any elite fighting unit anywhere in the world. Lemon fought through numerous engagements and contacts until the war ended with the elections in 1980 that brought Robert Mugabe to power and Rhodesia became the new state of Zimbabwe. But for him the war was far from over and in November 1980 his fighting Charlie Company and the Rhodesian African Rifles were engaged in serious fighting attempting to keep ZIPRA and ZANLA guerrillas away from each others throats in Bulawayo. Fighting again broke out in February 1981 when ZIPRA forces failed in their bid to capture Bulawayo from government forces. Meanwhile, Mugabe had formed his 5-Brigade (the Gukuruhundi) — comprising ex-ZANLA guerrillas trained by the North Koreans — which embarked on a campaign of genocide against Ndebele civilians in Matabeleland. They murdered their way through the province killing an estimated 15 000 to 30 000 people. Appalled by this terror campaign and frustrated by the drop in standards the author resigned from the police and left the country in 1983. This book contains important information as well as photographs regarding President Robert Mugabe’s attempted genocide of the Ndebele nation using his notorious Northern Korean-trained 5-Brigade. Media Reviews: Lemon was born in Rhodesia but moved to England in 1963 hoping to become a school teacher. Burt things did not turn our as planned. On December 16 1964 he joined the British police and was quite happy until November 11 1965 — the day Ian Smith declared UDI, effectively starting the Rhodesian War. After listening to the Rhodesian Prime Minister’s speech on the radio, Lemon decided to return home, where he joined the British South Africa Police as a patrol officer. Over the years he worked his way up in the ranks not really affected by the war, which was escalating out of control. His direct involvement came as member in charge of Macheke police station when ZANLA guerrillas moved into the area and started threatening black and white civilians alike. This led to the transition from policeman to ‘soldier’. Lemon joined the BSAP Support Unit known as the Black Boots after nearly being court-martialled, fought with the unit until the 1980 elections when Robert Mugabe became president. Peace did not mean the end of Lemon’s war for quite some time as he was now caught up in the action surrounding two newly-elected political parties who appeared set on tearing each others’ throats out. Finally, dismayed by all that was going on around him, he resigned his commission in the Zimbabwe Republic Police in 1963. Lemon’s recollections are based on a diary he kept during the time. I found this a chilling book that tells the reader just how a country fell apart around the author as he tried to maintain law and order. Pretoria News — Andrew Beet. Lemon makes no bones of the fact that Ian Smith was militarily and politically defeated. He used the same ruthlessness to destroy Joshua Nkomo’s incompetent ZIPRA and to crush the Ndebele during the War of Gukurahundi when the North Korean-trained 5th Brigade used counter-insurgency techniques that would have impressed Timur Land (1336-1405) the Turkoman Mongol conqueror . . . In passing Lemon also shows the tenacity and intelligence of the foe they were up against. IN an incident at the Chimurenga’s end, when ZANLA cadres go on the rampage at Enkeldoorn; order is restored when a commander steps forward. ‘One man stood apart from the rest . . . he stepped through the unruly throng and walked across to me. ‘Do you want my help Mr Lemon?’ The copper then realised he was facing Sachiweshe, his enemy for several years in the Wiltshire of whom he knew next to nothing, not even his real name. The reverse, however, was not true. He knew his name, his call sign in the BSAP Support Unit (Charlie Nine), his nickname amongst his troops (magirazi — one with spectacles), where he was based, where he lived and where his children went to school. ‘. . . in spite of all my research, he obviously knew a great deal more about me that I knew about him’, said an abashed Lemon. In contrast with Mugabe and ‘Sachiweshe’, the Rhodesian war effort was marked by a lack of seriousness. ‘Two days before the [1980] election, I was called to Enkeldoorn for a meeting with General Peter Walls [the Rhodesian Combined Operations commander]. Discussing the likely election result, Walls told Lemon and his colleagues the Wiltshire was ‘probably a borderline case[‘ and ‘could still be won by Bishop Abel Muzirewa, who Lemon considered incompetent and inept. ‘I listened to this mounting drivel with mounting incredulity. This man was the man leading the fighting forces of my country . . . This was the man I would have died for and he was lying through his teeth. I knew he was lying. We all knew he was lying and he must have known. His lies were totally pointless in the circumstances and he lost all my respect at that moment.’ Lemon spins a highly readable yarn, using good humour to describe his career from 1971 when he returned home to Rhodesia from Britain , to 1982 when he resigned from the Zimbabwe Republic Police in disgust. Much of the story involves Lemon overcoming his aversion to soldiering as the Chimurenga intensifies around him. At first he was so averse to things military that he refused to become involved with his station’s Police Anti-terrorist Unit. Gradually he finds he enjoys soldiering and musketry and joins in the war all the less reluctantly, eventually taking transfer to the Support Unit (the Black Boots) a 12-company counter-insurgency unit with the British South Africa Police. As commander of Charlie Company (the companies were named Alpha to Lima ). In that capacity he served from 1978 until the war’s end and beyond. Armed Forces Journal, Johannesburg Readers' Comments: Your book is one of the best I have read about Rhodesia and what it went through. You must have many more stories to tell – any chance of a sequel? Chris Murcott – South Africa I have just put your book down and not without a few tears in my eyes. I am the richer for having read it. John Davison – Pinetown Your book was a great but emotional read. I really felt that you gave an honest representation of those days. You were fair to the situations and your honesty about your own feelings and involvement were heart breaking as you did not shy away from some hard truths. It really was an emotional travel back in time to those ward days. Jane Van der Westhuizen – Perth Congratulations; your book is a unique record of life in the BSAP at the time, well written and pretty gut wrenching. I hope that one day all Zimbabweans will be able to read it with an appreciation of what a dark period of Zimbabwe’s history it represents. Jero Young – Australia I have to tell you that I haven’t enjoyed a book quite so much for a long time. Allan Carson – Cape Town Really enjoyed your book and have just re read it. You certainly did your bit and you bring back the feelings, the anger and the excitement of it all. Jim O Toole – Devon Your book is very well written and I enjoyed it immensely. What I enjoyed about your attitude is the honesty. I will plug it on my Forces website here in New Zealand. Hugh Bomford – New Zealand You have managed to capture the exact mind-set and thoughts of all the people who were involved in the terrorist war in Rhodesia. Your self analysing throughout the book was incredibly accurate for a lot of people and I have never read such a personal, human-related story. Gareth Loxton – Kabul, Afghanistan A book that seems to express the spirit of the BSAP. Well done. Bradley Allen – Hong Kong When reading your book, I often felt that you were expressing my own thoughts on the period. Congratulations. Stuart Tennant – Johannesburg The book is a really good read and highly recommended. I believe it is written from the heart and you are to be congratulated on an exceptionally fine work – and there aren’t too many of them around! Dave Willis – Johannesburg Your book moved me more than I thought a book could. It has had a very profound effect on me and thank you for writing it. Richard Holland – Melbourne I would like to make contact with the David Lemon, the author of Never Quite a Soldier, which I have just read, as I would like to send a note congratulating him on his book. I am an ex-policeman from Rhodesia and I served during this time. I believe he has captured the exact state of mind of the people and his facts are incredibly true. I do not believe another book has been written in this manner before and I hope to encourage more ex-members to read it. Gareth Loxton - ex-British South Africa Police I collect books on military and political history and I am also researching a book to hopefully be written in the near future, but I just wanted to say that David Lemon’s book is perhaps one of the best I have read regarding the Rhodesian conflict and I would ask that you pass on my compliments and thanks to him. Stephen Dunkley NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Assignment Selous Scouts Inside Story of a Rhodesian Special Branch Officer Author: Jim Parker 360pp; size 242 X 168mm 32pp pages black and white and colour pics 10 maps and diagrams, in-text illustrations Trade paperback; ISBN 1-919854-14-2 Bar code 9-781919-854144 Assignment Selous Scouts is a compelling read and the first book that fully illuminates the day-to-day horrors of the bloody and brutal terror war that was fought in the former Rhodesia against Marxists guerrillas. ZANLA targeted white civilians, particularly farmers, to drive them from the land as well as tribal blacks to bring them onside using a strategy of murder, torture, rape, arson and other horrible acts of terror. They laid landmines indiscriminately on public roads. By the war’s end there had been 21 782 recorded terrorist incidents in the country (7 996 in Hurricane, 5 398 in Thrasher, 5 676 in Repulse and 2 712 in Grapple and Tangent between them). There were 1 276 landmine detonations that caused 7 283 casualties. Although involved in the conflict earlier while a regular policeman, the author stepped back into the Rhodesian Bush War in mid 1977 when as a farmer and a Police A Reservist he was appointed as a Special Branch liaison officer with the Selous Scouts at their Chiredzi Fort in the Lowveld. Much of what he has written in this book has come from his personal knowledge and experience. What Jim Parker didn’t know then was that on 20 July 1977 the Security Force chiefs at Combined Operations had told Prime Minister Ian Smith that the war couldn’t be won ‘by purely military means’ and that it was vital he arrived at an early political settlement before the point of no return was reached. The advice wasn’t taken, the point of no return was reached, and the no-win-war dragged on for another 2½ years at the cost of countless lives. It had become apparent early in the war that the Security Forces couldn’t make contact with the guerrillas using conventional counter-insurgency methods, because the enemy’s tactic was to merge with and hide among the local tribal population. This had resulted in the formation of the Selous Scouts Regiment with the role of infiltrating pseudo guerrillas into enemy groups and bringing them to contact. The unit comprised two arms — an army unit under Major Ron Reid Daly whose operators were responsible for the pseudo groups operational deployment and Special Branch liaison officers under Superintendent Mac McGuinness, who gathered the intelligence and ‘turned’ captured guerrillas and got them to fight for the government. Each was a vital component of the whole scheme and neither could have successfully operated without the other. By the war’s end it was estimated that the Selous Scouts had accounted for 68% of all guerrillas killed or captured during the war. This is a story of pseudo warfare — the outwitting of an enemy by means that reminds one of the Trojan Horse — and of major armed column raids into surrounding black-ruled states. It is also tells the full unvarnished story for the first time of how the increasingly desperate Rhodesians faced with the impossible task of defending their 1 000 plus kilometre long eastern border with Mozambique looked around in desperation for a force multiplier to combat guerrilla infiltrations. Cholera was introduced into the Gaza Province of Mozambique in the hope of debilitating infiltrating guerrillas. It worked, but it also infected the local population and later spread into Rhodesia. Anthrax was introduced to kill cattle to reduce the food supply available. That also worked but it boomeranged back into Rhodesia and caused a large number of deaths in the tribal areas. Seizing the opportunity Special Branch and the Selous Scouts infiltrated ZANLA’s logistical supply chains with canned food, medicines and other supplies contaminated with poisons. Clothing was impregnated with toxins that invaded the body through hair follicles. Thousands of guerrillas died. In late 1979 all parties to the conflict — Bishop Muzorewa and the by then Zimbabwe-Rhodesia government — under the watchful eye of Ian Smith and his colleagues — Joshua Nkomo and his ZAPU-PF and Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF were elbowed to the negotiating table at Lancaster House in London by the British, where it was eventually agreed that fully inclusive free and fair elections would take place in April 1980 under the supervision of a British governor. The security chiefs regarded Mugabe as a terrorist and were determined he wouldn’t live to see the elections. A CIO bomb plot to kill him in London during the Lancaster House talks reached trigger stage, but it was called off. It was then planned to detonate a car bomb at Maputo Airport on 27 January 1980 just before he caught a plane to Salisbury. Fortuitously for him he used a different airport entrance and survived. A back-up plan to kill him with command-detonated landmines buried in the road after he left Salisbury Airport had already been cancelled. At least another eight attempts on Mugabe’s life either failed or were aborted. During the election run-up two things were apparent. Robert Mugabe had no intention of playing by the rules and he ordered his hard-core guerrillas to remain outside the assembly points to brutally intimidate the black populace into voting for ZANU-PF. Comops expressed confidence that a coalition of Nkomo, Muzorewa and smaller parties would win. But Comops had its own secret agenda. With the connivance of South Africa and the tacit approval of British MI6 — who had been fighting the Cold War since 1946 and had no liking for Marxists like Mugabe — they intended to manipulate the election by ‘stuffing’ the ballot boxes. They fully expected that Mugabe would return to war when it was announced he had lost. Operation Quartz was created to deal with this. The Rhodesian and South African Air Forces would bomb the assembly points where ZANLA’s forces were congregated. Rhodesian ground forces reinforced by South African Special Forces and paratroopers would mop up. With his guerrilla forces scattered or dead, it would be impossible for Mugabe to do anything to prevent Nkomo’s armoured and motorised infantry formations from moving into Rhodesia to support the coalition government. But in the end CIO chief Ken Flower got cold feet and called off the ballot box stuffing. The rest is history. Within a week of the election that brought Mugabe to power the vast majority of the Security Forces had been demobilised and sent home. The remaining regulars were confined to barracks. The danger of a coup from the Security Forces had been reduced to nil. Then South Africa kicked in with its own agenda. The powerful Battle Group Charlie comprising motorised infantry, armoured cars and artillery was mustered and moved quietly moved in small batches to the border at Messina. The State Security Council declared Messina an ‘operational area’ to give the SADF ‘more room to manouevre’. Meanwhile, SA Special Forces intended to place a series of powerful roadside bombs in the shape of electricity sub-stations and traffic light control boxes on a pavement past which a motorcade would travel when en route from Government House to a reception at Meikles Hotel on 17 April, Zimbabwe’s inauguration day. Prince Charles, Robert Mugabe, President elect Caanan Banana, Governor Lord Soames, British Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington and others would be in that motorcade. It was expected that the command-detonated devices would kill most dignitaries, including Robert Mugabe and Prince Charles. Meanwhile, many thousands of blacks would be packed into Rufaro Stadium where they would be eagerly waiting to witness the inauguration and the handover of their country to black rule It was a powder keg situation. When news of the outrage broke it was expected that the reaction would be for them to blame the whites. It was believed the response would be for them to stream from the stadium and head for the white suburbs, where more killings, looting, rapes and arson with whites as the victims would take place than had been seen in Africa since the Belgium Congo achieved its independence in 1960. The little left of the Rhodesian Security Forces would be incapable of stepping in to restore order and nor would the skeletal British Monitoring Force be capable of interfering. The blasts, however, would have been the signal for Battle Group Charlie to cross the border and head for Salisbury to ‘restore order’. In the circumstances it was unlikely that anyone would have raised objections — certainly not the British who had lost a member of the royal family and witnessed the most awful atrocities committed by Mugabe’s supporters against people who, in the main, held joint British and Rhodesian citizenship, or were of British descent. Besides events would have moved too quickly. For the same reasons no one would be likely to interfere when the South Africans called on Joshua Nkomo and Bishop Muzorewa and other smaller parties to form a ‘temporary’ government of national unity. This would be followed by Nkomo’s ZIPRA regulars moving from Zambia into the country which would spell the end to ZANU-PF’s political ambitions. Mozambique had let it be known during the Lancaster House conference that it would no longer host guerrilla forces. That would have achieved exactly what the Rhodesians had wanted, but not at the price of the slaughter of probably thousands of white civilians. But fortunately the plot was discovered several days before it was due to take place and reported to Danny Stannard of the CIO. The plot was foiled and the plotters fled the country, but it was not revealed to the press until some months later. Nor were the targets accurately identified and with the disappearance of white Rhodesian rule the world press was no longer interested in Zimbabwe, nor in putting two plus two together. Ten years later President Mugabe, without prior fanfare, presented Danny Stannard, with the Gold Cross, Zimbabwe’s highest award for valour. The cryptic citation said that on 16 April 1980 he had ‘foiled an assassination attempt by South African agents’ directed against Mugabe and international heads of state who were in Harare for the inauguration on 18 April. Media Reviews: This book is subtitled Inside story of a Rhodesian Special Branch Officer and tells the story of a policeman attached to the famous (or infamous, depending which side you were on) Selous Scouts. In about 1972 the bush war; which until this time had been a somewhat low-key affair; flared up into a much more serious matter. In Mozambique, the Portuguese were on the point of leaving and Frelimo allowed ZANLA free run of the areas it controlled so as to infiltrate the north-eastern parts of Rhodesia. The conventional forces of the Rhodesian Army found that making contact with an enemy, who wore no recognisable uniforms and who blended in seamlessly with the local population, was a task that was mostly beyond its abilities, and the powers-that-be decided that a new Special Forces unit with an innovative approach should be formed. The upshot was the formation of the Selous Scouts. The unit consisted of two separate but interlinked branches. There was a group of pseudo guerrillas tasked with infiltrating the terrorist units and bringing them to battle. These men were run by the army, who supplied logistics and planning as well as seeing to the deployment of the men. The other part of the unit was made up of Special Branch police officers who gathered and evaluated intelligence for the pseudo units and 'turned' captured guerrillas and persuaded them to fight for the Rhodesian government. Jim Parker was one of those police officers and this book is mainly his story of the final years of this tragic conflict. Although mostly a personal chronicle, the author has broadened its scope by interviewing many of his colleagues as well as those senior officers responsible for the planning of operations who were still available and willing to be interviewed. This brings the reader a fascinating and in some ways horrifying insight into a war that was fought with neither rules nor mercy on either side. The Armed Forces High Command had already accepted in mid-1977 that the war could not be won by military means and had informed Prime Minister Ian Smith of this. Smith determined to ignore this warning and the cost in pain and sorrow and lives lost is incalculable. Some of the methods used on both sides will no doubt appal the sensitive reader; but beyond that this book should act as a timely reminder of the savagery that a race war can engender and the misery that follows in its wake. This book is not an easy read, but it is definitely a salutary one. Peter Canavan - Pretoria News This book is a memoir of Jim Parker, a former member of the Selous Scouts, the dreaded unit created by the security establishment in Rhodesia at the height of the bush war . . . Parker’s account is mostly centred in the south-eastern lowveld of Zimbabwe where he was based, but his account is an important narrative of the Smith regime’s general war efforts to repel mainly ZANU guerrillas coming into the country from Mozambique. The illustrations paint vivid pictures of the infighting and mutual jealousy among the Rhodesian security hierarchy, apartheid South Africa ’s involvement in the war effort, and Selous missions as well as activities such as poisoning water sources. Using formerly classified documents of secret missions, Parker explains the Scouts’ use of biological and chemical warfare against the guerrillas right up to their operations after independence. Gory details emerge from this account, but as Parker writes, ‘all is fair in love and war’. This is an important book that can take its place in Zimbabwe ’s ever-expanding literary pantheon. Percy Zvomuya, Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg) It was a plot born of desperation in the dying days of white rule. 300kgs of explosives were packed into carefully manufactured replicas of electrical substations and traffic light control boxes. They were ‘grotesque bomb[s]’, the commissioner of police would say years later, ‘made even more disgusting because [they were] also packed with shrapnel’. Near the head of the targeted motorcade, riding in an open-topped 1953 Rolls-Royce, would be Britain ’s Prince Charles. Behind him, in other cars, would be Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s Foreign Secretary, Lord Peter Carrington, the Governor of Rhodesia, Lord Christopher Soames and his wife, Lady Mary — the daughter of Winston Churchill. It was April 1980. Eight months previously, Prince Charles’s great-uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, had been blown to smithereens when an Irish Republican Army bomb exploded on his fishing skiff. It was the most devastating terrorist attack carried out against Britain ’s royal family. Now Charles — the heir to the throne — was to die. This time the plot was hatched not in Ireland , but in Pretoria . And the British dignitaries were not the primary targets. Their deaths would have been ‘collateral damage’ in a grand scheme to kill Robert Mugabe and the Rev Canaan Banana, respectively the prime minister and president-elect of Zimbabwe. Near the border at Messina , South African troops were poised, ready to ‘intervene’. Twenty-six years later, details of the plot have been revealed for the first time in a book published this week by a former Rhodesian Special Branch officer, Jim Parker. Assignment Selous Scouts — The Inside Story of a Rhodesian Special Branch Officer is an account of Rhodesia’s bloody demise and the shadowy world of ‘pseudo-operations’ in which atrocities and dirty tricks were the norm. It is the story of a war in which both sides committed frightening acts of murder, torture, arson and terror. ‘It was war, and in war all things are allowed’, Ken Flower — the head of the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) from 1963 to 1980 — would later write. According to Parker, there were at least 11 attempts to kill Mugabe between 1979 and 1980. Author Peter Stiff, who has written extensively about the Rhodesian war, says the country’s ‘security chiefs regarded Mugabe as a terrorist and were determined he wouldn’t live to see the elections’. “A CIO bomb plot to kill him in London during the Lancaster House talks reached trigger stage, but was called off. It was then planned to detonate a car bomb at Maputo Airport on January 27 1980, just before he caught a plane to Salisbury [now Harare ]. Fortuitously for him he used a different airport entrance and survived ... At least another eight attempts on Mugabe’s life either failed or were aborted.” After Mugabe’s sweeping victory at the polls in March 1980, South Africa ’s State Security Council declared Messina an ‘SADF operational area’. Troops began massing at the border and the force was designated ‘Battle Group Charlie’. According to Parker, SADF planners began devising a plot to rid themselves of the man they saw as a Marxist menace. ‘It was so hush-hush that only a handful of people, even to this day, know about it,” he said. The South Africans expected that if everything went according to plan ‘most black people — particularly the many thousands gathered at Rufaro Stadium [for independence celebrations on April 17] — would immediately jump to the conclusion that Rhodesian whites were responsible for the outrage’. He said: “Rioting mobs would rampage through white residential areas, killing, looting and burning. With the old Rhodesian security forces disarmed and disbanded, there would be no one around to step in and prevent a bloodbath ... The South Africans believed that the British government ... and much of the Western world would be outraged by the murder of Prince Charles and other British dignitaries ... The only country with sufficient troops in the region to intervene and restore law and order was South Africa.’ Five bombs were placed inside metal casings that replicated electrical substations commonly found along pavements in Salisbury . Four others were placed in replicas of traffic-light control boxes. A large Claymore-type mine was also provided. Once completed, the devices were flown from South Africa where they were met by a Rhodesian Special Branch man, identified by Parker only as Detective Inspector Jock. Jock, who was planning to leave Rhodesia , had already accepted an appointment with South African Military Intelligence. The inauguration was set to take place at midnight. At 7.30pm, the motorcade and dignitaries, led by a police car, would leave Government House for the Meikles Hotel where Zanu-PF was to host a banquet. ‘The targets would be sitting ducks as the charges were detonated by remote control ... Prince Charles in the open Rolls would be the most vulnerable. A clean sweep of dignitaries would be ideal, but even if only Prince Charles and Robert Mugabe were killed, the purpose would be served’, Parker writes. But someone within the circle of plotters talked. Chief Superintendent Mac McGuinness, the commander of the Rhodesian Special Branch, was tipped off. He, in turn, alerted CIO operative Dan Stannard, who launched an investigation. But old loyalties remained and someone tipped off the plotters, who hastily abandoned their safe house. They loaded the explosives and a cache of nine limpet mines and two Soviet-made Strela heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles into a one-ton Ford Cortina bakkie. Driving out on the Bulawayo road, they abandoned the vehicle and materiel in the bush and escaped to South Africa. McGuinness confirmed the plot to the Sunday Times this week. 'It is all in the past, but yes, that did happen.’ Asked if the bombs had indeed been built into replica substations, he said tersely: ‘That’s all correct.’ Seven years after independence, Stannard was given Zimbabwe ’s highest award for valour, the Gold Cross. Julian Rademeyer, Sunday Times (Johannesburg) South Africa's apartheid rulers targeted the Prince of Wales and Robert Mugabe for assassination in a bomb plot designed to pave the way for an invasion of Zimbabwe on the eve of its independence, a new book claims. Details of the conspiracy, which would also have killed Lord Soames, the interim colonial governor, and Lord Carrington, the then foreign secretary, as they travelled to a reception in Salisbury (now Harare) in 1980 are described by a former Rhodesian special branch officer, Jim Parker. He claims that the British and South African governments, and the outgoing white Rhodesian regime, expected the country's first black elections to produce a coalition government of moderate parties. When, to their horror, Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF Party won overall power, the South Africans decided to eliminate him as Zimbabwe prepared to celebrate independence. A close-knit group of disaffected ex-Selous Scouts planned to detonate at least five roadside bombs, made and supplied by South Africa and disguised as electrical sub-stations and traffic light control boxes, along the route Mr Mugabe and the British dignitaries were due to take in April 1980. The prince, who was to have led the convoy in an open-top 1953 Rolls Royce, would have been directly exposed to the danger. Mac McGuinness, a former commander of counter-terrorism for the Rhodesian special branch and the man who discovered the plot, confirmed that the bombs were intended to kill everyone. ‘The object of the exercise was for the column to be wiped out’, he said. ‘That's why there were so many bombs lining the street.’ He said the assassinations were intended as a precursor to an invasion by South African forces when, as expected, Mr Mugabe's supporters launched savage reprisals against the white population. Mr. McGuiness said: ‘At that stage, the Rhodesian defence forces had been disarmed and confined to barracks. The object was that once the assassination of Mugabe had taken place, the black population would rise up and slaughter the whites, who were now defenceless. The South African Defence Force (SADF) had an armoured column on the road not far from the border ready to go charging in to save the Europeans. They would use world opinion to take over Rhodesia .’ The presence of the battle group was confirmed to Parker by Gen Constand Viljoen, a former head of the SADF, although he claimed that it was merely a ‘reaction force’ in case of problems in Zimbabwe and denied knowledge of a plot. Although Mr McGuinness claimed that Prince Charles's death would have been "incidental as far as the original planning was concerned", Parker said it was crucial, since exposing Zanu PF's inability to keep order would force London to acquiesce in South Africa 's intervention. He said: ‘ South Africa was the only country with sufficient troops in the region to intervene and restore order. They believed that once they did so, Britain, America and probably France would approve their actions.’ Dan Stannard, an officer in Rhodesia 's Central Intelligence Organisation who helped to foil the plot - and later became the organisation's head under Mr Mugabe - said the prince's death would have been a bonus. ‘I don't think Prince Charles was specifically the target. Anybody there would have been fair game. The only specific target was to destroy Zimbabwe before it had a chance to achieve independence. With such high-profile people being there, it would have added to the disaster.’ But before the plan could be enacted, it was leaked to Mr. McGuinness. A raid on a safe house used by the plotters was launched, but they had been tipped off and fled the country. Mr. McGuinness said Mr. Mugabe's security minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa, had wanted to play down the real significance of the plot. ‘I think he was playing cool. He knew the real story because I sat with him in the office and chatted with him about it. But I don't think they wanted the world to know how lax the security had been.’ The suggestion that the South Africans were prepared to kill a senior member of the Royal Family caused surprise yesterday, even among those well aware of the covert tactics adopted by the apartheid regime to ensure its survival. Piers Pigou, the director of the South African History Archive, said: ‘They, along with everybody else, based their intelligence on thinking that Mugabe didn't have the kind of support that he had. Then, maybe they panicked.’ Pik Botha, South Africa 's foreign minister at the time, said last night: "I know nothing about this nonsense and I simply don't believe it. It's so silly, it's not true. We went out of our way to help Zimbabwe towards independence." Stephen Bevan Sunday Telegraph (London) Readers' Comments: Congratulations! Your title Assignment Selous Scouts: Inside story of a Rhodesian Special Branch Officer was nominated by the booksellers as the title they most enjoyed reading, selling or promoting in the past calendar year and it appears on the 2007 shortlist. Freda van Wyk, Managing Director Book Data/SAPnet — Cape Town Again Galago comes through with another superb title! Parker's book truly rivals Stiff's definitive South Africa Secret Warfare Trilogy, something I believed hard to do! This book is a critical look into the shadow world of intelligence and COIN with relevant lessons that still apply today. I recommend Assignment Selous Scouts to all, while it should be REQUIRED reading for all serving military and intelligence personnel. T. A. Lettieri - US Special Forces Operator Parker not our man: REGARDING ‘ South Africa ’s plot to kill Prince Charles’ (May 7) and the status of Jim Parker, author of Assignment Selous Scouts. As the officer commanding Special Operations CIO Headquarters, I categorically state that Parker was never an attested member of the BSAP Rhodesian Special Branch, or the Selous Scout Regiment. At no time during his service as a police reservist was he authorised by a competent authority to direct, brief, or command personnel in the field. The alleged attack on Berejena Catholic Mission in the Chibi Tribal Trust Land on the night of February 19, resulting in the death of Father Huesser, was never contemplated by those officers in authority, and was totally unlawful. - MJ McGuinness, via e-mail — letter to the editor Sunday Times, (28 May 06) About turn: REGARDING “ South Africa ’s plot to kill Prince Charles” (May 7), and MJ McGuinness’s disavowal, “Parker not our man” (Letters, May 28) of the Special Branch status of Jim Parker, author of Assignment Selous Scouts: Inside Story of a Rhodesian Special Branch Officer: I have the utmost respect for McGuinness, who is a former colleague from my Rhodesian BSA Police days. I have listened to several hours of taped interviews that Parker conducted with McGuinness while researching his book. Much of what he wrote emanated from McGuinness, including the plot to assassinate Prince Charles and much more. Surely he wouldn’t have been so revealing if he hadn’t accepted Parker’s bona fides as a former subordinate — albeit a “lowly” reservist and not a regular policeman? Particularly as he also acknowledged Parker as “his man” in the tapes. Regarding the Berejena Mission incident that was “never contemplated by those officers in authority”, such a thing couldn't have been anything else but unlawful. The same would apply to similar incidents that McGuinness discussed with Parker which occurred in what were then Salisbury, Gwelo and Rusape. It is also evident from the McGuinness tapes that certain officers in authority did more than just “contemplate” in those cases. Does this explain his puzzling about-turn? - Peter Stiff, publisher of Assignment Selous Scouts by Jim Parker, Alberton — letter to the editor, Sunday Times (4 June 2006) Have just read your book, excellent. Markham Batstone — ex-DSO BSAP NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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At They Call we did not falter Author: Clive Holt Published Zebra Press 194pp; size 210 X 148mm; 24pp mostly colour pics; map and in-text illustrations. Trade paperback. ISBN 1-77007-17-2 At Thy Call we did not Falter is a brutally frank and refreshingly honest account 17 years after the fact, of a teenage national serviceman’s exposure to and his bloody experiences during the Angolan War. It makes no attempt to glorify or demonise war, but simply tells the factual story of so many young white South Africans like Holt who were sent into battle against overwhelming forces when they were barely out of school. The book will resonate with the vast majority of men who served who are now entering or are already in middle age. Its timing is extraordinarily fortunate, coming just as interest in Cuito Cuanavale is being revived, with moves afoot to arrange battlefield tours, and debates raging anew in military and veteran circles about who the victors and vanquished were. At Thy Call has the hallmark of a classic battlefield biography — a South African equivalent of All’s Quiet on the Western Front — as well as providing a window into the world of post-traumatic stress disorder. It is a rivetting account of how a government can take young teenagers — the heart of every army in the world — and turn them into killing machines. With diary extracts, previously unpublished photographs and a rivetting narrative, this book transports the reader into the front line and the dark realms of war. NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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The Natal Story : 16 Years of Conflict NB: NB: There was a furious SECRET Black-on-Black Civil War in the province of Natal in South Africa. Very little is known about it. It raged for 16 years. 12,000 people died in it. This is the first book to ever be written about this Secret war that occurred during White rule in South Africa. Author: Anthea Jeffrey Published SAIRR, Jhb, 1997 902pp; size 238 X 160mm; map Hardback; ISBN 0-86982-453-8 From the early 1980s to the mid 1990s more than 12 000 people died in virtually unchecked political violence between the UDF and the Inkatha Freedom Party in KwaZulu/Natal. Many thousands more were injured, rendered homeless or cast adrift as refugees. Conflict in the region left a trail of devastation marked abandoned villages and the blackened ruins of empty houses. It unleashed a savagery and a thirst for revenge which will not easily be countered. It made parts of the province, in the words of the late Chris Hani, ‘like a wasteland, where people move around like dead souls.’ This book attempts to explain the horror of this undeclared war. It describes 16 years of conflict in an objective and unprecedented manner in which equal weight is given to the views of the opposing rivals. The first scenario developed by the ANC, attributes the conflict to Inkatha, acting as a surrogate of the former South African apartheid state and in collusion with ‘third force’ elements within the police and army to retard or undermine the transition to democracy. The second scenario developed by the IFP, attributes the conflict to the ANC/SACP alliance, and the strategy of violent destabilisation that it developed to overthrow the government, eliminate black political competitors and introduce a centralised and socialist state. Jeffrey not only describes the theory of violence put forward by each of the protagonists, but also outlines the evidence that appears to substantiate both opposing views. The book also describes the relevant reports of the Goldstone Commission and the Transitional Executive Council (TEC), as well as then trials of Colonel Eugene de Kock and General Magnus Malan and the insights these provide into a ‘third force’ role in violence. This is the most comprehensive account of the conflict that devastated the region for two decades. NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Umkhonto we Sizwe Fighting for a Divided People Authors: Thula Bopela and Daluxolo Luthuli 272pp; 242 X 168mm 16pp pages black and white and colour pics; three in-text maps; in-text illustrations; trade paperback. Published by Galago. ISBN 1-919854-16-9 Thula Bopela, now a senior official with the Department of Defence, and Daluxolo Luthuli, now a lieutenant-colonel in the SANDF, went into exile as young Zulu boys in the early 60s and volunteered to join Umkhonto we Sizwe — the ANC’s military wing. In 1967 as part of the Luthuli Contingent along with notables like Chris Hani and Mjojo Mxwaku, they negotiated the treacherous gorges on the Zambezi River below Victoria Falls and crossed into Rhodesia from Zambia . They were accompanied by the guerrilla fighters of Joshua Nkomo’s ZIPRA. MK was tasked to aid ZIPRA in their struggle to free Rhodesia from white rule — ZIPRA would then help to free South Africa. Their expectations were that after a few bursts of machine-gun fire the armed struggle would end with a political settlement. This was a certainty, so they were told, because UN sanctions would soon ensure that the Rhodesians’ oil supplies would run dry. It was emphasised that Rhodesian Army commander, General Sam Putterill, was a ZAPU sympathiser who would issue conflicting orders to create confusion. And that black RAR troops would either refuse to fight their African brothers or they would change sides and fight shoulder-to-shoulder with them. This was simply wishful thinking and it would take many years before the freedom struggle triumphed in Rhodesia . After bitter skirmishes in the Wankie (Hwange), Tjolotjo (Tsholotsho) and Lupane areas, with casualties on both sides, the invaders were dispersed by the Rhodesian Security Forces. After spending time on the run Thula was captured, tried for ‘terrorism’ offences and sentenced to death — this was later commuted to life imprisonment. He was released in 1980 after 13 years in prison when Robert Mugabe assumed power in the new Zimbabwe . Daluxolo escaped to the Botswana border but was betrayed by an MK comrade and handed over to the South African Police. After conviction on terrorism charges he spent the next ten years on Robben Island. Following ANC orders after his release, he joined Chief Buthelezi’s Inkatha Freedom Party in KwaZulu to spy on it. The IFP found itself in a bitter struggle with the ANC-affiliated UDF (United Democratic Front). Daluxolo, sickened by Zulu fighting Zulu and the UDF’s use of necklacing (placing petrol-filled tyres around the necks of opponents and setting them alight) and other terror tactics, switched his full allegiance to the IFP. He was appointed commander-in-chief and chief political commissar of 200 Inkatha volunteers who were flown to the Caprivi Strip to be trained by the SADF’s Military Intelligence. The Caprivians were formed into groups attached to the KwaZulu Police. This included hit squads tasked to attack and kill UDF sympathisers. After the unbanning of the liberation movements by President de Klerk in 1990 and during the period before South Africa’s freedom election in 1994, Daluxolo came to realise that the IFP was being manipulated by Military Intelligence who intended using it as a spearhead and a cloak for white right-wingers to wage war against the ANC to ensure it never gained political power. Daluxolo was by then a much feared Inkatha warlord and his approaches to warn the ANC were rebuffed. In desperation he contacted Thula who had cut ties with MK and was working as an electrification manager for the power giant Escom. With Thula acting as go-between he made overtures to the ANC through their chief of intelligence in KwaZulu Natal, Jacob Zuma, and later directly with ANC president, Nelson Mandela. This resulted in Daluxolo withdrawing his IFP hit squads from the IFP/UDF struggle. There was talk of him becoming a likely target for assassination by Military Intelligence, so he was sent to Denmark under the witness protection programme. Following the 1994 election he was granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for offences committed whilst in command of Inkatha’s hit squads. NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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A Diplomat’s Story Apartheid and Beyond 1969-1998 Author: Pieter Wolvaardt 336pp; size 242 X 168mm; 32pp of black and white and colour pics; map. Trade paperback Published by Galago ISBN 1-919854-15-0 Pieter Wolvaardt’s 29-year career as a diplomat in the Department of Foreign Affairs ran from 1969 to 1998. In these recollections he deals with the age-old dilemma that all South African diplomats had to contend with, namely working around morally questionable government policies. His introduction to overseas service was in the exotic city of Rio de Janeiro. From there he was posted to London where activists demonstrating outside South Africa House were a constant reminder of the world’s abhorrence of apartheid. He moved to Lisbon where he became engaged in efforts to gain the freedom of a South African POW in Angolan hands. All his postings afterwards, with the exception of occasional spells in Pretoria, were in Latin America — a continent he became a specialist in. He writes how Eddie Dunn, South Africa’s Ambassador to El Salvador, was kidnapped and murdered by leftist guerrillas despite major efforts to effect his release. He was the only South African diplomat ever to have suffered this fate. In the apartheid days the government gave orders for the favela (slum) areas in Rio, mostly occupied by black Brazilians, to be secretly photographed. The bizarre idea was for them to be produced at the UN as a counter to Brazil’s attacks on South Africa ’s racial policies. The move was abandoned when it was pointed out that this would probably result in Brazil severing diplomatic relations with South Africa. Other odd political situations arose like when South Africa was falling over backwards in its efforts to normalise relations with Brazil, but it refused to allow Pele — arguably the most prominent soccer player in the world — to play football in the country because he was black. In the late 60s moves were made to establish a South Atlantic Pact involving the South African, Brazilian and Argentinian navies. This had to be abandoned after a world-wide uproar about South Africa’s apartheid policies. War broke out between Britain and Argentina on 2 April 1982 over the latter’s invasion of the Falkland Islands. The author was on the Latin American desk in Pretoria and he dealt with the crisis on a daily basis. South Africa adopted a neutral stance — much of it concerning the British use or otherwise of the Simon’s Town naval base. He reveals for the first time the inside story of how South Africa battled to maintain that neutrality. In May 1986 when he was South Africa’s Head of Mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the SADF launched ground assaults by Special Forces against ANC targets in Zimbabwe and Botswana. Simultaneously SAAF jets struck ANC targets in Zambia. It was reputed that President PW Botha ordered the raids to make it impossible for the Commonwealth’s Eminent Persons Group to continue with its political survey of South Africa. This resulted in the EPG packing their bags and leaving. But they weren’t the only ones who had to pack their bags. Unfortunately for the author, Argentina decided to break diplomatic relations with South Africa over the incidents. He was declared persona non grata and expelled from the country. In early 90s the political situation began to normalise after President FW de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC and other organisations. During this period the author travelled widely in Latin America establishing and normalising South Africa ’s relations. He also accompanied President de Klerk on state visits to various Latin American countries where they were welcomed with open arms — including Argentina which had expelled the author only a few short years before! In 1994 President FW de Klerk appointed the author as South Africa’s first Ambassador to Mexico. While based there President Nelson Mandela appointed him as non-resident ambassador to Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama. He also worked extensively elsewhere in Central America. He retired from the service in 1998. NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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The Covert War Koevoet Operations in Namibia 1979-1989 Third in Peter Stiff’s trilogy on SA’s secret warfare 512pp; size 242 X 168mm; 32pp mostly colour pics; maps; in-text illustrations Hardback; ISBN !-919854-02-9 The Covert War is compelling reading. In 1978 the counter-insurgency war on the Angolan/SWA Namibian border was going badly for the South Africans. Externally the SADF was in control, but internally SWAPO was gaining the upper hand. The SAP Commissioner and SADF Chief met to find a solution. They decided to form a joint 5-Recce Commando/Security Branch organisation on the lines of the Rhodesian Selous Scouts. A highly experienced Security Branch officer, Col ‘Sterk’ [strong] Hans’ Dreyer, was despatched to Owamboland with five police officers. They were tasked under‘Top Secret’ Project Koevoet (crowbar) to find and provide operational intelligence for the Recces. But they needed the Recces to provide captures for interrogation, but they were heavily engaged in operations in Angola. Col Dreyer came to realise that the situation in SWA/Namibia was completely different to the Rhodesian scene. What worked in Rhodesia wouldn’t necessarily work there. So his team reverted to basic police work, building informer networks and so on. A single arrest led to the smashing of SWAPO’s sabotage networks throughout the country. During one investigation three policemen, armed only with pistols, almost blundered into a large PLAN group which would have spelt their certain death. This narrow escape resulted in the recruitment of black special constables into units to protect the investigators. This led to a realisation of the astonishing tracking abilities of the Owambos. While tracking has been a tactic used by the military since time eternal, it had never become a strategy where it was always used — which is what happened with Koevoet. It led to the unit’s major expansion. As with other insurgencies in southern Africa, the Security Forces were faced with a serious landmine threat. This problem for Koevoet was overcome when it was equipped with the remarkable mine-protected Casspirs. Combining their police investigational abilities and skills at getting information, the tracking abilities of their special constables, the landmine protection provided by their Casspirs — with the support of SAAF helicopter gunships — Koevoet emerged as the premier counter-insurgency unit in SWA/Namibia. It cut bloody swathes through PLAN’s internal organisation and tellingly acted in support of the army in southern Angola. In its ten year existence it fought in 1 615 contacts and killed or captured 3 225 PLAN soldiers — the equivalent of almost six battalions of troops. But it paid a high price in blood and lost almost 160 policemen killed in action with another 949 wounded — more grievous casualties than any other South African fighting unit since World War II. After heroically repelling SWAPO’s invasion of Namibia in April 1989 — while fighting under the direct authority of the Secretary-General of the United Nations — the unit was ignominiously disbanded and its black members disgracefully abandoned to take their chances at the unforgiving hands of their former SWAPO foes. While this book is expressly focused on Koevoet, it is also the first full story of the internal border war in Namibia. Media Reviews: Stiff focusses on campaigns and the exploits of the men in the field. The result is an engrossing read — a remarkable feat of scholarship and research. Farmers Weekly Excellent research was conducted by Peter Stiff. He unravels almost everything and relates an almost impossibly complicated story correctly and clearly for the reader. He writes about the courage, heroism and the rush of adrenaline on the part of both Koevoet operators and their enemies. Readers of this review should make sure they buy a copy of this book. Die Son (Col Eugene de Kock) The Covert War is an excellent documentation and oral history told by those who served in what was once the honoured, unique but often hated and reviled police counter-insurgency unit, Koevoet. No one interested in such things should be without a copy on their bookshelf. Beeld – Johannesburg This book sketches the formation of Koevoet — the police’s feared counter-insurgency unit — commanded by General Sterk (Strong) Hans Dreyer from its beginning until the unit was disbanded after Namibian independence in 1989. The value of The Covert War, as well as the other two books in Peter Stiff’s trilogy on South Africa’s secret warfare, is that it is important South African history which would otherwise have been lost to history. Volksblad — Bloemfontein The Covert War is the story of Koevoet — a South African counter-insurgency unit that operated in South West Africa from 1978 to 1989. Koevoet is Afrikaans for crowbar and pretty much sums up the mission of the unit — they were formed to winkle out SWAPO guerrillas infiltrating across the Angola border into South West Africa. In 1978 the South African Defence Force was managing to control the insurgency in Angola and along the border fairly well. However, SWAPO was starting to operate with a fair amount of success in SWA itself. To counter this threat the Commissioner of the SAP brought in Col ‘Sterk’ Hans Dreyer to come up with a solution. Initially his men followed fairly routine police practice — cultivating informants and using basic detective work to counter SWAPO operations. However, as the situation in the country intensified, with increasingly large armed groups infiltrating across the border into SWA, they were forced to adopt a more martial approach. Dreyer and his men adopted some of the tactics they had picked up in the Rhodesian bush war and began to use local trackers and mounted platoons, using Hippo and later, Casspir armoured personnel carriers, to literally run down the armed groups crossing the border. This book is very factual and follows an almost situational report format of the efforts of the unit — detailing an almost blow-by-blow account of what happened during the conflict. This will appeal to people either interested in the history of the conflict in South West or those who served in the area and who want to know more about what went on. The Mercury — Durban This prompted a Pierre Barker of Cape Town to take up his pen and write an indignant letter to the editor of the Mercury: I read with considerable dismay Gavin Crutchley’s review of Peter Stiff’s latest book, The Covert War, describing the activities of the notorious Koevoet police unit . . . The reviewer blithely takes his cue from Peter Stiff’s revisionist view and describes this despicable state-sanctioned lynch party as a routine police operation using ‘basic detective work’ that was ‘forced to adopt a more martial approach’ as the insurgency heated up. There is no attempt to place the book in the context of the widely reported excesses of this unit and the destabilising role that the unit played in South Africa after 1989. In my scan of the book (I will not reward him with my R250 contribution to but it) I saw no reference to some of the testimonies presented at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission or the admissions of atrocities by unit members. What I did come across was a page in which Stiff was apparently amused with a tactic used by Casspir armoured car drivers who would predict and then execute the running down and squashing to death of guerrillas who were fleeing in the bush. This dispassionate review further contributes to an increasing trend to sanitise a shameful chapter of South Africa ’s history. Reviewer Gavin Crutchley replied: The essence of this review was to deliver a short, concise description of what the book is about. There was no space for analysis or opinion on the rights and wrong of the situation described by the author. Peter Stiff exercising his right of reply wrote to The Mercury: Is this the start of the long and slippery slope? I refer to Gavin Crutchley’s review of my book, The Covert War: Koevoet Operations 1979-1989 (The Mercury, January 27) and to the ‘dismay’ expressed by letter-writer Pierre Barker over the review. Books are reviewed so that readers can get a broad spectrum of opinions. Obviously, those opinions differ. Sometimes reviewers like a book and sometimes they don’t; that is the way of the world. It is what is known as ‘freedom of expression’ which thankfully is guaranteed by the constitution. Regrettably, some people, like Barker, are engaged in a campaign of political correctness and are determined to undermine this right. It is alarming that someone like Barker can blithely write what amounts to an intimidatory letter to a newspaper criticising it for not slamming a book. A book which by his own admission he has not even read! The underlying message is that if it is about Koevoet it must be criticised, and how dare a reviewer do otherwise. It’s clear that Barker is another of those who believes that South African history began only after the 1994 election. This was exactly what Rober Mugabe said about Zimbabwe after the 1980 election. This turned out to be the watershed for freedom of expression in Zimbabwe , and the beginning of a long and slippery slope to where that country is now. Do Barker and his politically correct mates want this to be the beginning of the same long and slippery slope for freedom of expression in South Africa? Peter Stiff — Author — Johannesburg Whether by design or chance, the author has provided compelling proof of the futility of war between opposing ideologies. This is a meticulously researched account of the formation and operations of the controversial Koevoet police unit in Namibia between 1979 and 1989. In its 10-year existence Koevoet fought in 1 615 contacts and killed or captured 3 225 People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) soldiers — the equivalent of almost six battalions of troops. But it paid a high price in blood and lost almost 160 policemen killed in action with another 949 wounded — more grievous casualties than any other South African fighting unit since World War II. The Herald — Port Elizabeth During the 1987 counter-insurgency war on the Angolan/SWA (Namibian) border the SA Police Commissioner and the SA Defence Force Chief met and decided to form a joint 5-Recce Commando/Security Branch organisation under Top Secret Project Koevoet (crowbar). This included among others, the building of an informer network. A single arrest led to the smashing of SWAPO’s sabotage network throughout the country. The landmine threat was a serious problem for Koevoet but was gradually overcome with the use of the amazing Owambo trackers, the use of the remarkable mine-protected Casspir and the support of SAAF helicopter gunships. In more than 500 pages Peter Stiff describes in the minutest detail the breathtaking events of Koevoet operations in Namibia between 1979 and 1989. This is a must for anyone interested in what went on during the Border War and particularly for those who participated. Pretoria News — Pretoria The Covert War is Peter Stiff’s account of the Operation Koevoet counter-insurgency unit that operated in northern Namibia between 1979 and 1989. Now almost always reviled and described as notorious — or worse, Koevoet was in many ways an equal to Rhodesia’s Selous Scouts. Stiff, himself a former Rhodesian policeman has previously written about both — he authored Top Secret War on the Selous Scouts and Nine Days of War about the South African reaction to PLAN’s April 1989 incursion from Angola, in which Koevoet featured prominently. Koevoet was without doubt the most successful insurgent killer of that conflict, chalking up 3,225 kills or captures in 1,615 contacts. The about battalion strength unit accomplished this feat at a cost of 160 killed and 949 wounded in the decade it operated in Owambo, Kavango and Kaokoland. The army, by comparison, fared poorly. Most soldiers serving in Owambo, using conventional COIN tactics, techniques and procedures, never saw a PLAN insurgent during their three month stints there — and seldom managed to kill the few they may — almost accidentally — have seen. Koevoet was made up of a dangerous combination of regular South African police, locally recruited ‘specials’ and Casspir mine-protected armoured personnel carriers. Many of the specials were former guerrillas who had changed sides after capture — a better alternative that standing trial for whatever crimes the authorities could pin on them. Koevoet’s Kwanyama, Ndonga, Kwambi, Kavango, Herero and Himbas were not only excellent trackers in their own right — they could often identify individuals by their footprints alone — but they could question locals about the movement, clothing and intentions of passers-by. All told, regardless of what the reader thinks or believes of Koevoet, The Covert War is a book well worth having on one’s bookshelf. It records the experiences of one of the world’s finest counter-guerrilla units the world has ever seen. As a bonus, it is an interesting and arresting read. Armed Forces Journal — Johannesburg Close to 16 years after the last clashes, and bloody they were, there was much speculation and the arrival at unqualified inferences which had no base in reality. It took an Englishman, London born South African citizen, Peter Stiff, to produce a 491-page richly illustrated history of Koevoet to get to the objective truth. Stiff has produced a fascinating book, rivetting in the extreme, and to the novice who has no knowledge of the time, the era and the forces and counter-forces it spewed forth, will greatly benefit from his work. Done in his typical style he confines himself to lucidity and the reader will grasp with the greatest of ease even the most complicated issues of the time. The introductory chapters are as spellbinding as the last pages. It is a narration which is a pleasure to read because it does not attempt to belittle any of the parties in that great and successful bid to hand over Namibia to its rightful owners — the people of the country. It is a stunning testimony that the Namibian Bush War was never won by SWAPO, nor by the South African military forces. It also provides compelling evidence that SWAPO failed to occupy any territory whatsoever during those years of conflict. This book is a very healthy infusion that serves to restore balance in the minds of all, no matter whether they were adversaries or whether they were comrades. While it does not say so directly, it brings home the message that war is but a stopgap and negotiation and settlement are the only lasting course to take. Windhoek Observer — Windhoek, Namibia Readers' Comments: I just want you to know how proud I am to say: ‘my father [Chris Nell] was a member of Koevoet. Peter Stiff wrote about him in The Covert War and he is still just as hardheaded as Peter described him. It’s a great book, but only the real soldiers, ex-Koevoet members and their families will fully understand what it was all about. Marie Nell I’m Claasie Claassen, Zulu November, as indicated in your book The Covert War. This is only a short note to thank you for a great book that captures history. Thank you for helping to finalise a chapter in my life, which I celebrate every 1st of April. I still firmly believe that we were the best counter insurgency unit in the world. Classie Claasen — Cape Town I have recently read your book The Covert War and could hardly put it down until I had finished reading it. Thank you for your work in writing such a wonderful book. Johannes Weitz — Pretoria Many congratulations on your Trilogy of amazing books. The research that you have done into some amazing, tough subject matter and put together in such a readable format is amazing. They really are all magnificent works. John Dobson — University of Cape Town I am ex-Koevoet and I really like the book. Rooies Strauss What a great read your Covert War book was. Tim Ramsden NB: Peter Stiff writes: In December 2005 controversy arose about the so-called discovery of mass graves in Namibia ’s former war zones. The allegation was that these were yet further ‘murders’ by the apartheid regime, in particular Koevoet. The RSA government offered to send forensic teams to Namibia to investigate these ‘atrocities’. I was interviewed by numerous newspapers, on radio and on TV in which I pointed out that the so-called mass graves were actually communal graves of guerrillas killed during the Nine Day War after they had been examined by pathologists approved by UNTAG. The suggestion in 1989 that many of these guerrillas had been shot execution style had originated from unsubstantiated reports by two UK journalists, supported by Tony Weaver of the Cape Times , that ‘many had neat bullet holes in the backs of their heads’. This was completely untrue and this is supported by the autopsy reports filed in Windhoek which confirm that none of the guerrillas had been so-killed. In addition I saw many of the bodies myself and most had the kind of grotesque wounds one would expect from them having been shot with modern weaponry. The neat bullet hole scenario went out with the .38 revolver! The editor of the Afrikaans tabloid, Die Son, Ingo Capraro, wrote an article for Die Burger which contained a similar version to what I had said about the mass graves. This prompted Weaver to write to the letters page of that newspaper to rebut ‘Capraro’s defamatory comments’. Their letter’s page editor replied: ‘Die Burger stands by the article that Ingo Capraro wrote’ and ‘we are not going to run the letter’. Weaver indignantly referred the matter to Die Burger’s ombudsman, who finally ruled that ‘I think what Peter Stiff has written in his book about those days actually confirms the veracity of Capraro’s article’. Weaver adds that the ombudsman continued that ‘your request for a right of reply in Die Burger’s letter’s page is ‘dubious in my view as you were not identified in Capraro’s report’. Peter Stiff I’ve just finished reading your book The Covert War. This was the first book of yours that I’ve ever read and also my first on the border war. I just wanted to let you know that I thought this book was an unbelievably brilliant piece of work. I never had the opportunity to go to the border myself, but your account has made it real in my mind and my heart. As a patriotic South African I treasure our history — both the good and the bad — and I try to educate my two young sons on it as much as I can. This book will fulfill an important role in educating my sons as much as it did me. Thank you for bringing this vital material to the eyes of the world, and for honouring our unsung heroes. I look forward to reading more of your books. Dr. George Oosthuizen, Auckland, New Zealand I have just finished reading The Covert War. Thanks for another fantastic and thoroughly researched work. Having recently read Jan Breytenbach’s The Buffalo Soldiers and seen how they were largely abandoned at the end of the war, I was even more dismayed to see that the black troops of Koevoet were totally abandoned to their fate by their political masters. A complete disgrace. Graham Smith, Poole UK Thanks for a great book on Koevoet. I enjoyed all the stories and a lot of fond memories of my time up on the border. I was attached to 101 Battalion from mid ‘88 to mid ‘89 and was there during the Nine Day War (also a great book). Thanks again for great reading material. Andre Swanepoel — Kempton Park Just finished your excellent book. One of the most interesting stories I’ve read for long time. I was one of those UNTAG guys in Ruacana those days. Arrived the mission in mid March 1989 and was supposed to be assigned to Ruacana straight away. SWAPO's "misunderstanding" delayed my deployment for few days. I was also responsible for administration in Opuwo, Okangwati and all those areas in Kaokoland. My Regional HQ was in Oshakati. I’m presently working in Sierra Leone and I got your book from one of the former Koevoet guys who after I got to know him, felt comfortable about giving it to me. I have actually also read some of your other books including Taming the Landmine. Lipo Mikkola — United Nations I wish to thank you for your book The Covert War. Having recently received a copy from my parents, I found it extremely rivetting and really enjoyed it. My small role during the border conflict was as a Medic in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at 1-Military Hospital during 1986 to 1988. During this time, we saw many patients come and go – some left well treated and at the point of recovery, but many others left only on journeys to the mortuary. If my memory serves me correctly, I treated Captain Koch during my tenure (pg 286 & 287). I only remember that he was a big man who had been shot down in a helicopter and he came to us with leg wounds. The rest is lost in the mists of time. Your book has added depth and colour to my memories. I also treated a black soldier – Andreas – if my memory can be trusted – who had been injured by an anti-personnel mine. He lost a leg below the knee and his abdomen was shredded by shrapnel, resulting in a horrendous road to recovery. He spent 18 months in our unit suffering from the most terrible wounds without a single complaint during the whole time I treated him. Under great protest from the powers-that-be, I persuaded them that we should get him out into the good wholesome fresh air and sunlight. I scrounged some civvies and under strict orders and with a personal responsibility for his safekeeping, we managed to take him to Pretoria Zoo in a wheelchair with drip-stand and medication in-situ. What a day that was! I don’t know who was more exhausted. I remember that he told us his unit was Zulu Juliet, which has made me speculate (after reading your book) that he was a Koevet operator. Of course, I knew of the conflict raging in Angola/SWA, but not until reading your book some 17 years later, did I get a glimpse of what these brave men had offered up and laid on the line for us. The shocking treatment of Koevoet and its abandonment must rank as one of the lowest points in our country’s history. Even as I write I have a haunting ache in the pit of my stomach. Who would have thought such a thing was possible? You have confirmed my low esteem of all politicians and their murky agendas and schemes. I think your summation of the National Party’s political leaders on page 486 is spot-on, albeit far too lenient! Besides your literary testament to these men, I truly wish that there was a greater and more public way through which they could be remembered as the true heroes they are. Thank you again for telling us their story – we shall remember and remain grateful to them. Donovan Henri — Standerton I finished reading the last book of your trilogy yesterday. I have read 'Silent War' three times (and I look forward to the fourth time), 'Covert War' twice (with a third read of many sections) and got through the dark content of 'Warfare by Other Means' as one might take a castor-oil supplement -knowing that somehow it'll be good for you to do so in the end. My lasting impression comes from 'Silent War'. How did the SA government manage to screw up so comprehensively on keeping all this fascinating stuff from us? Why couldn't we know about the great battles of the Lomba River? How could they have so skillfully contrived to lose the propaganda war? Without your books all this history would have been blown away by a couple of Channel 4 and BBC documentaries that are well passed their sell by date and had no grasp of the Cold War in Africa, or Africa for that matter. Thanks for all your hard work! Richard Washington - Oxford University, UK Thanks for a really good trip down memory lane. I was at JHB International Airport and saw your book and decided to buy it to read while in the UK and subsequently never put it down. I used to live in Opuwa from 1984 till 1990, my husband was in the army for his national service and then we stayed on. My 19-year-old daughter was born in the hospital at Opuwa. Thanks for a good book and for depicting the Koevoet as the heroes they were. Wendy Chatterton Thank you for seeing the worth and value in the sacrifices we [Koevoet] made during the time of your story. Politics aside, it was an exceptional unit that I feel great pride in having been part of. Phillip Frank Young — ex-Koevoet writing from Iraq Peter, I met you at a rest camp in Rundu. I was working there because I became a little disabled after being ambushed by SWAPO. My Casspir was hit by an RPG7 rocket and a rifle grenade. I think your book will help me close that chapter in my life. Reading about my contact brought back many emotions, but it’s good to know what actually happened. Allan Whitfield — ex-Koevoet, South Africa I want to tell you how impressed I am with The Covert War. It has fantastic text and the paper and binding is of great quality. Your packaging was solid and I received it in the USA safely via surface mail. Eric Sundell — USA Great job on your current titles. I especially enjoyed The Covert War but was sad to learn it was the last in the series. Troy A Lettieri — US Special Forces My husband absolutely loved The Road to Armageddon. He thinks that Peter Stiff should write at least two books a year to cater for his Christmas and birthday presents. He believes that Peter Stiff and special occasions go hand-in-hand. He is getting The Covert War for Christmas. Michelle Venter - Polokwane NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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The Afrikaners : Biography of a People Author: Hermann Giliomee 698pp; size 244mm X 173mm Softcover; ISBN 0-624-03884-X; non fiction Published: Tafelberg, Cap Town, 2003 The Afrikaners loom large in the South African drama as it has unfolded over the past three and a half centuries. Theirs is a story — both heroic and tragic — of a people searching for security in ways which made its ultimate attainment impossible. The history of the Afrikaners, colonisers and colonised, is replete with drama, irony and paradox. The Afrikaners: Biography of a People, the first comprehensive history of the Afrikaner people based on — and critical of — the most recent scholarly work, also draws on the author’s own research and interviews conducted with leading political actors. Hermann Giliomee weaves together life stories and interpretation to create a highly readable narrative history of the Afrikaners from the colonisation of the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch East India Company to the 21st Century. As a group whose population only reached one million in the 1930s, the Afrikaners suffered from all the anxieties about survival that mark numerically weak peoples. Taking this as its point of departure, the book depicts the contradictions and complexities of Afrikaner history with empathy but without partisanship. The book also offers a fresh contextualisation of apartheid, its paradoxes and its complex effects. Giliomee revives current orthodoxies of white supremacy in South Africa in important ways. The result is not only a magisterial history of the Afrikaner people, but a fuller understanding of their history, which for good or for ill resonates far beyond the borders of South Africa. Readers' Comments: A book to welcome — a history of the Afrikaners from the first European settlement to the present day written by a proud and even patriotic Afrikaner which is nevertheless critical in its approach and untainted by Afrikaner nationalism. It includes an account of the origins and demise of apartheid that must rank as the most sober, objective and comprehensive we have. J.M. Coetzee — author. I know of no living person who can approach Giliomee’s qualifications for writing this history. Though his conclusions will be highly controversial, even his critics will regards this as the definitive history of the Afrikaners for at least a generation. When it is eventually revised by historians with more critical distance from 20th Century events, it will remain an invaluable source of information based largely on interviews with prominent historical actors . . . Giliomee’s overall interpretative framework — the struggle between the Afrikaner’s quest for survival and the search for justice — is powerful and original, as is his interpretation of numerous moments in the long story he describes. Richard Elphick In his usual provocative and focused manner, Giliomee not only shows the importance of the Afrikaner experience in the overall context of South Africa’s modern history but also the fact that the very concept of ‘Afrikaner’ has always been contested in spite of the predominant sense of ethnic unity. Even if one does not accept all his positions, they compel one to engage seriously with a most controversial subject. Neville Alexander Giliomee is level-headed, independent-minded and wholly unafraid to take on even the most difficult questions. R. W Johnson Outstanding! Herbert Adam NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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The Rain Goddess Author: Peter Stiff 5th edition 256pp; 242 X 168mm; Trade softcover; ISBN 1-919854-06-1. Bar code: 9781919854069 Fiction based on fact About The Rain Goddess The Rain Goddess is an explosive novel set in the highly volatile area of Senga on the north-eastern border of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the mid 1960s and early 1970s. The powerful drama erupts as the British South Africa Police, later joined by the Rhodesian Army and supported by the Air Force, struggle against communist backed guerrillas who use violence and torture to intimidate tribesmen to follow their cause. They fight to restore peace - a peace that is governed as much by force of arms as by the tribesmen's' faith in the uncanny predictions of their tribal spirit medium . . . who communes with the spirit of the Rain Goddess. How The Rain Goddess came to be written In the late 1960s/early 1970s Peter Stiff was a senior officer in the British South Africa Police, Rhodesia. Internal insurgency combined with major armed guerrilla incursions from Zambia had commenced, but the government played them down to the public at large. In an effort to maintain public morale/ignorance only the police, and latterly regular army soldiers, were deployed on counter-insurgency operations. The government was determined to avoid casualties amongst young white national servicemen. Stiff did not subscribe to the view that the public should be kept in the dark. After resigning his commission in 1972 he wrote The Rain Goddess, a 'fictional' account of the bush war based on his own experiences and those of his former police comrades. It was impossible to write it as non fiction because this would have carried the sanction of a prosecution under the Official Secrets Act. The Rain Goddess served its intended purpose and alerted an amazed Rhodesian public to the undeclared war then raging on its doorstep. The Rain Goddess is widely recognised as the classic book on the Rhodesian Bush War. Media Reviews: The Rain Goddess has come to be regarded as the classic novel on the Rhodesian War. The Natal Mercury, Durban The author writes with firsthand knowledge of his subject. For 20 years he served with the British South Africa Police . . . he allows no flagging in the pace of his story - a story of cruelty and of courage, of loyalty and treachery. The Star Literary Supplement, Johannesburg Action packed and topical. It is difficult to put the book down. The Rhodesia Herald The Rain Goddess became that phenomenon known as success. To the Point, Johannesburg The characters are readily recognised; thoroughly convincing, well-researched people, the type you have met and associated with in this part of the world . . . An excellently constructed work. The Sunday Mail Peter Stiff knows the area and its people with an intimacy that leaves the ordinary observer trailing far behind him. The Star A grippingly exciting book full of pathos, written by a man who obviously understands and respects the African. Natal Witness Packed with action and excitement . . . The author allows no flagging in the pace of his story - a story of cruelty and courage, of loyalty and treachery. The Cape Argus Readers' Comments: Peter Stiff's The Rain Goddess which was published in 1973 attempts a far more sustained guerrilla perspective of the war than any previous novel had provided. Stiff rose to the rank of Superintendent in the British South Africa Police and for anyone in that position, it must have been clear by the end of 1972 that blacks were refusing to exist contentedly within the closed discourse the settlers had written for them . . . The Rain Goddess was the most informed book written about the war . . . Society in Zimbabwe's Liberation War: Edited by Prof Ngwabi Bhebi and Prof Terence Ranger. Book published by James Currey, Oxford, 1996. NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, Pretoria Author: Piero Gleijeses 504pp; size 242 X 160mm; lavishly illustrated with b/w pics and in-text illustrations Hardback; ISBN 1-919-85410-X. Bar code 9781919854106 Conflicting Missions is a compelling and dramatic account of Cuban policy in Africa and of its escalating clash with US policy and later its direct military clashes with the South African Defence Force in Angola. It is the other side of a conflict that South Africans have not been told about until now. Gleijeses' narrative gallops from Cuba's first hesitant steps in rendering assistance to Algerian rebels fighting France in 1961, to the war in the Congo (later Zaire and now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1964-65, when 100 Cubans led by Che Guevara, acting in support of the Simba rebels, were confronted by white mercenaries from South Africa, Rhodesia, Britain and elsewhere - supported and controlled by America's Central Intelligence Agency. Gleijeses writes about the dramatic despatch to Angola of Cuban troops to aid the communist-backed rebel MPLA movement in 1975. And how, being the rainy season, their destruction of the major river bridges in Angola's north contributed to halting the rapid and victorious advance of the seemingly unstoppable Battle Group Zulu of South Africa's SADF. The blocking of Battle Group Zulu from reaching Luanda led to political decisions by the US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, to call off the CIA's IAFEATURE operations in support pf UNITA and the FNLA and to South African Prime Minister John Vorster withdrawing all South African forces from Angola. This left the MPLA and its Cuban and other communist allies in control. This was undoubtedly the most significant domino that would soon lead to the fall of white Rhodesia and ultimately to the handover of Namibia to SWAPO and finally to black rule in the Republic South Africa. Piero Gleijeses analysis is clear, rigorous and balanced; the archival research supporting it is unprecedented. Not only is he the first historian to have gained access to closed Cuban archives, he also worked extensively in the archives of the United States, Belgium, Great Britain and East and West Germany. In addition he interviewed many of the protagonists in the United States, Cuba and Africa - from the head of the CIA station in Luanda to Che Guevara's second-in-command in the Congo - and analysed the American, European, South African and other African press. The result is a remarkably comprehensive document that sheds new light on the history of those times. It revolutionises our view of Cuba's international role, challenges conventional beliefs about the Soviet Union in directing Cuba's action in Africa and provides, for the first time, a look from the inside of Cuba's foreign policy during the Cold War. Media reviews: How SA, and CIA lost Angola - By Spencer Mogapi "Conflicting Missions"- Havana, Washington, Pretoria- By Piero Gleijeses We have just received in our shelves a new book - "Conflicting Missions"(Havana, Washington, Pretoria) by Piero Gleijeses-a professor of American Foreign Policy at John Hopkins University. Drawing on recently declassified security information pertaining to behind the scenes horse-trading deals that characterised most of the liberation wars in Southern Africa especially in the late seventies, Gleijeses' book is a comprehensive read for students of Contemporary History of Southern Africa, as well as those doing Strategic Studies at both undergraduate and post graduate levels. With emphasis on Angola Gleijeses graphically narrates how the arrival of the Cuban army in that county to engage both the South Africans and the British mercenaries ended up in a wave of protracted and intricate policy clashes between the United States Central Intelligence Agency and Fidel Castro's Cuba. In the end the scales tilted in favour of the Angolan MPLA, and their Cuban allies. From the deals between the warring parties, flowed liberation for a number of Southern African countries-Namibia and Zimbabwe included. Gleijeses uses this new information to unmask not only the deals cut during that time, but goes further to analyse personalities behind those deals. After years of mystery surrounding the murky relationship between Unita's Jonas Savimbi and the Pretoria government, Gleijeses states that one of the first formal contacts between the two took place in Gaborone on March 17, 1975 after Savimbi had approached the South Africans pleading for assistance (in money and weapons). The Portuguese settlers facilitated the meeting. It was under the instructions of General Constand Viljoen that Pretoria approved 20 million Rand worth of weapons for Savimbi. In return for that assistance the South African military intelligence officers that represented Pretoria at the meeting demanded that Savimbi cut all ties with the Sam Nujoma led SWAPO (South West African Peoples Organisation) which was regarded too close to the communist MPLA. Savimbi obliged, and started "delineating with increasing zest, his vision of an Angola that would maintain friendly relations with South Africa based on the principle of non-interference and would join South Africa and other countries in the region in an anti-communist bloc." Obsessed with desire to smash SWAPO, the South Africans embraced Savimbi, despite intelligence information that he could not be trusted in the long run. The relationship was to be long-lived, making Savimbi a "new star in the sky" for the South Africans after meeting their two leading Generals (Viljoen and Van den Berg) in Kinshasa who got mesmerised, and fell under his spell. "Viljoen and Van den Berg were dazzled by his [Savimbi's] personality, his grasp of military matters, his sympathetic and understanding of Pretoria's need to smash SWAPO, and his emphasis on an anti-communist bloc that would include South Africa, Angola, Zaire, and Zambia." By that time the South African government had despatched its well-equipped and well-trained Battle Group Zulu column to take over Luanda, but shock awaited the South Africans. The arrival of the Cubans put paid the dream of capturing Angola. Though at great cost in destruction of Angolan infrastructure the Cubans managed to stop the South Africans before reaching Luanda. As the war turned into a stalemate, hard decisions, including the seemingly most unlikely compromises from sworn enemies were made. And it was through these decisions that a couple of Southern African Countries including Namibia and the present day Zimbabwe went on to gain their independence. To throw the towel first was the United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who ordered the call off of CIA operations in Angola that supported UNITA. He was followed in kind by a March 27 1976 call by South African Prime Minister John Vorster ordering the withdrawal of all South African forces inside Angola. For South Africa it was not a happy withdrawal, especially as they were on the brink of capturing Luanda. South Africa felt not only let down by an erstwhile partner - the United States, but also betrayed. Years later, the then Minister of Defence PW Botha, who was to become SA President, lamented; "We went into Angola with the knowledge and approval of the Americans. They encouraged us to act, and when we had nearly reached the climax, we were ruthlessly left in the lurch." A South African General was later to call Angola "the South African Bay of Pigs." No doubt South Africa was in a particularly bruised mood, deeply discredited. The result of the two withdrawals was that MPLA, supported by Cuba and some other international communist elements remained in total control of Angola. This was humiliating to both the United States and South Africa. The withdrawal of the South Africans from Southern Angola also meant that SWAPO had the entire region to themselves and were enabled to better infiltrate and invade Northern Namibia. The region was now a safe haven for SWAPO, and their insurgency into Namibia was launched in full force. But the Cuban Victory in Angola, besides raising Africa's profile in the United States foreign policy also set in a string of events that led to the liberation of the Sub-Continent. Emerging from the US foreign policy backwaters, Africa assumed a much higher profile, and importance in the eyes of Kissinger, despite shrill resistance he encountered from powerful interests in the Congress. After the CIA and their South African friends lost Angola, the Secretary of State took a Damascene turn in his dealings with Africa, developing and cultivating unprecedented interest in the continent - even undertaking a working trip to Africa. He changed his policy especially with regard to Zimbabwe. True to his word he started to identify with African aspirations, most especially their drive towards self-determination. "I have a basic sympathy with the white Rhodesians but black Africa is absolutely united on this issue," he told the National Security Council on his return from Africa, "and if we do not grab the initiative we will be faced with the Soviets, and the Cuban troops," he said. It was a painful about turn for Kissinger who had for so long believed in his arms length policy when it came to Africa. While maintaining that he believed in self-determination for black Africa, he had never risked rocking the boat by formulating a clear policy in that regard. In the end Cuba's victory in Angola widened victories for most of Southern African countries, ushering in independence. Note: The article above appeared on The Botswana Gazette of March 17 2004 When the United States decided to launch the covert intervention in June and July 1975, not only were there no Cubans in Angola, but the US government and the CIA were not even thinking about a Cuban presence there. Cuba eventually poured 50,000 troops into Angola in support of the Marxist independence group, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). Gleijeses' research documents significant coordination between the United States and South Africa, from joint training missions to airlifts, and bluntly contradicts the Congressional testimony of the era and the memoirs of Henry A Kissinger, the former secretary of state. The work draws heavily on White House, State Department memorandums, as well as extensive interviews and archival research in Cuba, Angola, Germany and elsewhere. The New York Times In Conflicting Missions Piero Gleijeses brilliantly describes deceits and disguises, with all their accompanying blood and guts and glory, of Cuba's intervention in Africa. Over the 10 years it took him to research this book, Gleijeses seemingly tracked down every lead, every participant, every document on all sides of the conflicts. Los Angeles Times According to Gleijeses, who obtained some access to Cuban archives and interviewed several participants in Cuba's African adventures, Fidel and Raul Castro and their legendary comrade Che never took orders from the Soviet Union, despite Cuba's economic dependence on Moscow, and often pursued policies that conflicted with those of the Soviets. The author's view, well supported by the books massive documentation, is that the Cubans intervened in Angola, Zaire, Congo and Guinea-Bissau and other conflicts of post-colonial Africa for two reasons: The sincerely believed in revolution and post-colonial solidarity, and they were getting nowhere in their arena of choice C Latin America. The Washington Post Gleijeses argues that contrary to popular belief, Cuba did not merely act as a Soviet pawn in Africa, but pursued its own interests. Castro viewed Africa as an important battleground to combat 'capitalist imperialism', usually contrary to Soviet policies. Geijeses conducted extensive research in writing this book, including gaining unprecedented access to Cuban archive material and oral histories. Little material is available on Cuban-African relations, and nothing this comprehensive. Library Journal, Dallas, Texas The Cold War scarred Africa; nowhere more so than Angola. The civil war lasted for four decades and left the country a huddle of refugees dependant on food aid because their fields are sewn with mines and haunted by bandits. Yet it was not, as Piero Gleijeses' new book shows, a straightforward tussle between the superpowers. To begin with the Soviets were hardly involved, although the Americans thought they were. The real players were Cuba and South Africa. As Portugal, the colonial power, withdrew in a hurry in the mid 1970s, it became clear that the MPLA, a revolutionary Marxist group, was going to win power. The South African army invaded to stop this happening and came within a few miles of taking the capital. The Economist Cuba's involvement in Africa has often been explained as a consequence of the manipulation of the Soviet Union. However, Gleijeses convincingly argues that Cuban operations were not guided or dictated by the interests of the Soviet Union. Cuba's actions were motivated by the ideal of spreading the Cuban revolution to other corners of the Third World, and by the very pragmatic need to raise its stature among non-aligned nations. H-net Review Readers' Comments: With the publication of Conflicting Missions, Piero Gleijeses establishes his reputation as the most impressive historian of the Cold War in the Third World. Drawing on previously unavailable Cuban, African and American sources, he tells a story that's full of fresh and surprising information. And best of all, he does it with a remarkable sensitivity to the perspectives of the protagonists. The book will become an instant classic. John Lewis Gaddis, author of We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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On South Africa’s Secret Service An undercover Agent’s story Author: Riaan Labuschagne 304pp; size 242 X 168mm, lavishly illustrated with colour, b/w and in-text illustrations. Hardback; ISBN 1-919854-08-8, Bar Code No 978191985408-3 Non fiction. On South Africa’s Secret Service reveals for the first time sensational details of South Africa’s ruthless secret intelligence war as conducted by the National Intelligence Service. It is told by Riaan Labuschagne, a man in the maelstrom of events during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1981, while still a university student, he was persuaded to take diving parties to the Seychelles during vacations to collect ‘routine low grade intelligence on the islands to build up the Service’s information bank’. He wasn’t told that the intelligence was required in connection with a pending coup attempt by mercenaries that NIS was supporting. While he was there the coup attempt exploded into action and he was fortunate to escape. After the conclusion of his university studies and two year’s national service as a naval officer, he was accepted into the Service’s Counter-Intelligence Division as an undercover field operative. The Personnel records showed him as Riaan Lesage, which allowed him to work openly under his real name. He found he had entered a world of lies and half truths, secrecy and stealth, evasion and denials, deceits and manipulations. It had little to do with the Calvinistic ethics of Christian nationalism that had provided the guidelines for his upbringing as a young Afrikaner. He recruited the Soviet Military Attaché in Gaborone, Botswana, and gained valuable intelligence that allowed the SADF to pre-empt and defeat a major Soviet-supported attack on UNITA in Angola. He subverted the Libyan Military Attaché in Gaborone —— a married man with an eye for the girls. The Libyan was corrupted and turned by using a ‘honey trap’ in the form of a well-known South African television actress. While Assistant Trade Representative (the cover used by intelligence agents) at South Africa’s Trade Mission in Harare, he recruited a top MK officer as an agent. The regular flow of information gained ensured that most MK groups who attempted to infiltrate South Africa were intercepted and shot. Information from a top agent in Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Organisation foiled a MK plan to launch attacks against the Swartkops and Waterkloof Air Force bases in Pretoria and resulted in the arrest of the culprits. He explains how in the early 1990s, in the guise of an Afrikaner liberal, he infiltrated the top structures of the ANC in Durban and made friendships with men who later became cabinet ministers. The ANC’s offices were not safe either, and his NIS teams equipped with portable copiers covertly broke into them almost weekly and duplicated every document they could lay their hands on. He reveals, also for the first time, the existence of the sinister and deep cover Directorate K (for covert), formed by the NIS in much the same way as the SADF formed the notorious CCB. While the NIS did not possess ‘executive powers’ (a euphemism for a license to kill) Directorate K probably did. He tells how Directorate K, acting as an agent provocateur, supplied explosives to AZAPO’s military wing, AZANLA, to blow up civilian targets in Port Elizabeth. The reason was to arouse the ire of white Afrikaner right wingers to provoke them into attacking black civilians. It would have provided an excuse to crush them and prevent a much feared attempt by the Afrikaner right wing to seize control of South Africa to stop a ANC takeover in the April 1994 elections. But there is far more than that in this fascinating book. Media reviews: Riaan Labuschagne was a spy so ruthless that he supplied secret information to assassins like Eugene de Kock, and so immoral that he even perfected the James Bond 'honey trap' by employing a South African actress to seduce a Libyan diplomat. Sunday Times, Johannesburg Riaan Labuschagne reveals how one arm of the South African security services often didn't know what the other was doing, resulting in the killing of highly placed NIS agents. Mail and Guardian, Johannesburg Riaan Labuschagne reveals what is probably the best concealed secret in South African intelligence services. That secret, that the National Intelligence Service had its own covert wing known as Directorate K. The actions of Directorate K, according to author Labuschagne, exceeded all norms of an acceptable intelligence service. Windhoek Observer On South Africa's Secret Service contains the most incredible stories of spies and dirty tricks at their best. And it is all true! Rapport, Johannesburg On South Africa's Secret Service was written by Riaan Labuchagne after he left the National Intelligence Service, notwithstanding that he as a spy had been bound by an oath of life-long secrecy. We are fortunate in this because at long last it casts light on the covert activities of the National Intelligence Service during the 1980s and 1990s. Beeld, Johannesburg and Die Burger, Cape Town NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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The Buffalo Soldiers The story of South Africa’s 32 Battalion: 1975-1993 Author: Col. Jan Breytenbach 142 X 168mm; lavishly illustrated with colour, b/w pics and maps. Softcover; ISBN -919854-11-8; non fiction 32 Batallion is a legend in the South African army. This is their incredible story as told by the officer who created them. The original inspiration for them comes from the Rhodesian Selous Scouts. This is a soldier’s story about South African soldiers in southern Angola and Namibia and the enemies they fought. It tells of insurgency and counter-insurgency, guerrilla warfare and counter-guerrilla warfare, almost conventional warfare and conventional warfare. It tells of a conflict which the world saw as unpopular and unjust, in which South Africa was perceived as the aggressor. The South African soldiers who fought in it, however, saw it as a conflict fought to stop what is now Namibia falling into the hands of the Soviet and Cuban-backed SWAPO black nationalist political organisation. After Namibia South Africa would be next. They saw the whole conflict as an extension of the Cold War, but while it was ‘Cold’ on the frontiers in Europe, in Angola they were fighting a very ‘Hot’ war in Angola. Eventually, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the war was resolved by the democratic solution of UN supervised free and fair elections in Namibia. Since then, regrettably, there has been interference by the ruling party with the democratic constitution put in place in Namibia which has eroded much of that hard won democracy. 32-Battalion, of which Colonel Jan Breytenbach was the founding commander, became the most controversial unit in the South African Army because of the secrecy surrounding it. Its story is virtually the story of the Angolan/Namibian war, because its involvement in it was greater than any other South African unit. The regiment primarily consisted of black troops and NCOs originating from virtually every tribe in Angola. They were led by white South African officers and NCOs. Neither apartheid nor any form of racial discrimination was ever practiced in the unit. There was always a sprinkling of whites originating from countries like Great Britain, the old Rhodesia, Portugal and the USA amongst its leadership cadre, although in the latter stages of its existence this shrank to only a few. Such a presence undoubtedly led to stories circulating that the unit was a led by foreign white mercenaries. While it was true that the black Angolan element could have fallen with the mercenary definition, the whites involved were attested soldiers in the South African Army. In any case, they formed a minority and the vast majority of white officers and NCOs were born South Africans. The unit’s aggressiveness and the successes it achieved in the field of battle, often against incredible odds, lay in its spirit and its espirit de corps. In this respect and in many other ways it compared favourably with the French Foreign Legion. Its story parallels with and reminds one of the British and British Commonwealth Chindits of World War-2, operating behind the Japanese lines in Burma in large formations, out-guerrillaing those who only three years earlier had been regarded in awe as the unbeatable jungle warfare experts. Likewise, 32-Battalion consistently outfought both FAPLA, SWAPO and the Cubans in the Angola bush throughout the war years. It created a problem to which neither they nor their Soviet and East German mentors ever found a solution to. After the 1989 Namibian settlement the unit was with withdrawn to South Africa where they were deployed to effectively deal MK infiltrations into the north of South Africa. From there, after the unbanning of the ANC in 1990, they were redeployed to deal with political troubles, principally between armed ANC self defense units and armed units of the IFP. The intrusion of black foreigners into the townships who were prepared to deal with troubles robustly and without fear or favour, did not suit either the ANC or the IFP, as they could not be subverted to support local causes because they held no local tribal allegiances. In the end it seems they became something of a bargaining chip at the CODESA negotiations, designed to find a new political dispensation for South Africa. Despite it having borne the brunt of South Africa’s war in Angola with the blood of its troops, the National Party Government disgracefully ordered its arbitrary disbandment in March 1993 and the unit ceased to exist. Media reviews: Very little has been published on South Africa's military campaigns in Namibia and Angola. In particular this book offers a rare, in-depth examination of South African military operations in the latter country. It is a tremendous resource for those wanting to know more more about South Africa's military involvement in Namibia and Angola. It is well written and keeps the reader engaged. Taken as a book that reviews the history of a military unit, this work is an excellent tool for understanding South Africa's rationale and operational involvement in Angola . . . The Buffalo Soldiers is highly recommended for any academic library and is a 'must have' for any library with specialist collections on the military of Southern Africa. Terry M Mays -- The Citadel -- African Book Publishing Record The Buffalo Soldiers is a from-the-heart account of soldiering on-the-ground at its best. The Star – Johannesburg A gripping story about 32-Battalion, a unit destined to become South Africa's most elite infantry unit, but also its most controversial. The Herald – Port Elizabeth NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Warfare by Other Means South Africa in the 1980s and 1990s Second in a trilogy on South Africa’s secret warfare. Author: Peter Stiff 600pp; size 242 X 168-mm; b/w and colour illustrations. Hardback; ISBN 1-919854-01-0; non fiction. Warfare by Other Means is not an apologia — it is a history, much of it oral and straight from the mouths of those involved. It tells of the actions of the SADF, performed within South Africa with the authority of the National Party Government through the State Security Council, during the ‘total onslaught’ years. It tells how it joined a disastrous attempt by Colonel Mike Hoare’s mercenaries to overthrow the Renéé regime in the Seychelles because it was ‘an anti-communist coup going begging’ and ‘it was a shame to waste it’. How it secretly paid millions of rands in ransom to secure the release of captured mercenaries who had been sentenced to death. How it deliberately foiled future coups attempts because, to the envy of the CIA and MI6 and the chagrin of the Soviets, it had amazingly managed to take over the Seychelles intelligence services through an SADF front company, Longreach. Having failed to convert General Holomisa’s Transkei into its Eastern Cape bastion, it turned next to the Ciskei. How it seized the opportunity to introduce a front company IR-CIS to take over its intelligence functions when Brigadier ‘Oupa’ Gqozo overthrew President Lennox Sebe in a coup. How IR-CIS played a pivotal role in several violent attempts to overthrow General Holomisa in Transkei. How it inveigled the discharge of all the black senior officers in the Ciskei Defence Force on trumped up charges of disloyalty. How it organised their replacement with white serving SADF officers. It explains the roles played by surrogates like the Witdoekes in the Cape Flats, the Ama-Afrika in the Eastern Cape, the Iliso Lomzi in Transkei, the African Democratic Movement in Ciskei, Inkhata in KwaZulu-Natal and more, in combating the ‘total onslaught’. It tells of a great variety of Military Intelligence front organisations. Dynamic Teaching CC was used to inculcate blacks with an anti-communist attitude and to portray the ANC and its associates as the anti-Christ. ‘Veterans for Victory’ was formed to infiltrate and ‘destroy’ the End Conscription Campaign seen as a serious threat to the SADF. Right- wing churches were cultivated and covertly funded when it suited the SADF’s purpose. It tells how Project Barnacle, an adjunct to Special Forces, destroyed the strike jets of the Air Force of Zimbabwe. How it assassinated perceived enemies of the State. It deals with the establishment of the infamous Project Coast as a biological/chemical warfare unit. It tells how the Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB) succeeded Project Barnacle. How personnel of both used Project Coast’s toxins to ruthlessly poison prisoners and even its own black operators if they were suspected of disloyalty. How they disposed of the bodies by dumping them from an aircraft out at sea. It deals with a swathe of assassinations, destruction and mayhem committed at home and abroad. How anthrax letters were mailed to enemies of the State. It explains how the CCB itself was uncovered after the media began to explore the drive-by shootings of Dr. David Webster in South Africa and Advocate Anton Lubowski in Namibia. It details the murderous subversive activities of a diversity of right-wing organisations, like Eugene Terre Blanche’s AWB and General Constand Viljoen’s Afrikaner Volksfront, who with the probable early backing of the SADF, almost toppled South Africa over the brink into Civil War before the first democratic election in April 1994. This book is essential reading for all South Africans. Media reviews: Stiff has managed to produce 600 pages of fact in a format which is an enjoyable read — all in less than a year. In this period he also had to contend with the completion of a book on Zimbabwe. He clearly does not suffer from writer's block. Stiff has the ability to interpret documents written in the language of Securocrats, picking his way through military jargon and double speak. He explains the contents of documents and their hidden meaning in readable format. This is something that has seldom been achieved by others who have tried to convey South Africa's dark past. Peter Stiff's key to success lies in his no nonsense approach to the lies of politicians and senior officials, who like to use the smokescreen of deniable plausibility. He does not allow them to get away with the standard response of 'I was not in the know'. He really gets to the truth. . . . This is history! It is sometimes humorous, mostly horrifying (because of the subject matter) but always riveting. It goes a long way towards explaining the mindset of the defenders of apartheid and the impunity with which they wielded absolute power . . . This book is recommended for anyone interested in the facts surrounding the 'total onslaught' approach used by the apartheid apparatus. I for one look forward to the last book in this trilogy. Daily Dispatch - East London The covert killing machine of the Nationalist government has already been laid bare in the media and in the proceedings of the TRC. Peter Stiff manages, nevertheless, through access to military and government sources, to cast new light on many of the events that defined South African politics in the eighties and nineties . . . The government's war on the people of South Africa created tragedy and suffering on a large scale and it is illuminating and satisfying to discover the details of people and events that twisted history. Stiff is indefatigable in exposing rhe sinister workings of apartheid security forces and right-wing politics and Warfare by other Means is an invaluable addition to any library on South African history. Natal Witness - Durban Famous names plus facts and allegations make this book important to history. Many well-known names are mentioned like Eugene de Kock, Colonel Laurens du Plessis, AWB member Dries Kriel and Dr Wouter Basson, to name just a few . . . The pages are filled with secret operations against 'the enemy'. Against a background of the 'Total Onslaught' assassinations, the overthrow of governments in the Ciskei, the CCB, Operation Katzen and many more . . . The real importance of this book, however, lies in the historical value of happenings in South African history that should not be forgotten. Stiff's research is meticulous and the index and end notes make for easy reference. This is a must for anyone interested in secret warfare. Beeld - Johannesburg Stiff made his name by recording the history of the bush wars in the old Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Namibia and now South Africa . . . The book deals with all aspects in such detail that if it wasn't for Stiff's writing abilities to handle such issues so effectively, it would have been impossible to read . . . The book deals objectively with the Seychelles, the ANC uprising, National Intelligence etc. It answers all the questions on the CCB, the AWB's involvement in Bophuthatswana and much more . . . This book is definitely worth owning. It enriches our knowledge on the subject and is a useful reference work. Die Burger - Cape Town The coverage of Warfare by Other Means is colossal . . . it contains a fantastic wealth of information on events in the 1980s . . . particularly regarding happenings in the lead up to South Africa's 1994 elections. Marches Tropicaux - Paris, France Warfare by Other Means is the most comprehensive documentation on the subject [of South African secret warfare] Volksblad - Bloemfontein Stiff looks at the white right wing in the run-up to the 1994 elections. He gives due credit to the important role finally played by the SADF, and its then commander Georg Meiring, in preserving the constitutional order and resisting the temptation to join the collection of Security Force has-beens calling for Afrikaner rebellion. Along the way some important reputations are trashed. Stiff has little time for the protestations of politicians and generals that they knew nothing of hit squads. He cites one document of the State Security Council that survived the shredding machines. The first heading was: 'List of politically sensitive people.' The minutes noted that the list 'had to be shortened' and that methods other than detention should be considered. 'One wonders,' Stiff asks, 'what they had in mind to shorten the list other than murder?' Sunday Weekend Argus - Cape Town Stiff tells, inter alia, of the disastrous attempt by Col Mike Hoare and his mercenaries to overthrow the regime of Albert René in the Seychelles. He alleges that the South African authorities secretly paid a ransom to secure the release release of captured mercenaries under sentences of death. And in an even more fascinating twist the writer says that South African agents took over the Seychelles intelligence services through a front company of the SADF, thus foiling future coup attempts from whatever source. Warfare by Other Means is a worthwhile addition to Africana and to the history of the turbulent period of the last decade of apartheid rule. Mercury - Durban 'The organisation [Project Barnacle, later the CCB] also became responsible for the elimination of any members of "own forces" who had become a threat to clandestine operations,' Stiff writes. Is that what happened to Col Alwyn 'Corrie' Meerholz who died in what Stiff calls 'questionable circumstances' in November 1989? As Officer Commanding 5-Recce Regiment (and a former CCB regional manager), Meerholz was a brave and highly decorated soldier noted for his loyalty to his subordinates. Conversely, he clashed with certain superiors. A most unlikely road accident, on a straight, normally safe road, following a phone call at two in the morning, was the cause of Meerholz's death. His car completely burned out, which as Stiff notes, is extremely unusual, whatever the impression given in the movies. The Star - Johannesburg Warfare by Other Means contains some important lessons. One is the folly of allowing soldiers to play politics. Another is the culture of independent institutions and the rule of law. Sunday Tribune - Durban Readers' comments: Many congratulations on your Trilogy of amazing books. The research that you have done into some amazing, tough subject matter and put together in such a readable format is amazing. They really are all magnificent works. Warfare by Other Means is a staggering work — I’m not sure how you managed to research all that. I almost feel it should be prescribed reading for us to realise what was done (or attempted, rather) in our names. John Dobson — University of Cape Town I finished reading the last book of your trilogy yesterday. I have read 'Silent War' three times (and I look forward to the fourth time), 'Covert War' twice (with a third read of many sections) and got through the dark content of 'Warfare by Other Means' as one might take a castor-oil supplement -knowing that somehow it'll be good for you to do so in the end. My lasting impression comes from 'Silent War'. How did the SA government manage to screw up so comprehensively on keeping all this fascinating stuff from us? Why couldn't we know about the great battles of the Lomba River? How could they have so skillfully contrived to lose the propaganda war? Without your books all this history would have been blown away by a couple of Channel 4 and BBC documentaries that are well passed their sell by date and had no grasp of the Cold War in Africa, or Africa for that matter. Thanks for all your hard work! Richard Washington - Oxford University, UK The volumes of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report are without an index. A good short cut is the account by Peter Stiff [in] Warfare by Other Means . . . Hermann Giliomee – in his The Afrikaners: Biography of a People Extraordinary Professor of History at the University of Stellenbosch. Formerly Professor of Political Studies at the University of Cape Town and a fellow in 1992-93 of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, DC. I have read your books Selous Scouts:Top Secret War and The Silent War: SA Recce Operations 1969-1994 and I am currently reading Warfare by Other Means. I have found your books superlative. Your research/knowledge is of great depth. Ken Thompson - Isando, RSA I vaguely remember the TV news coverage in Ireland at the time, but it was hard for an outsider to get a real handle on what was actually going on there [South Africa] and in particular understand the proper context of events. Thanks again. Warfare by other Means is a real historical gem of a document, which will no doubt become increasingly valued by historians as the years go by. Niall McCabe - Republic of Ireland NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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The Silent War South African Recce Operations 1969-1994 Author: Peter Stiff 608pp; 242 X 168-mm; 24 pp b/w and colour illustrations Softcover; ISBN 1-919-854-045; non fiction. First in a trilogy on South Africa’s secret warfare. The Recces are South Africa's elite Reconnaissance battalion This amazing book tells not only the story of South Africa’s special forces, it has also been described as the most important and frank history of South Africa itself during the apartheid years. It is also the most illuminating book on special forces published anywhere. Not only does Stiff deal with military operations but he also explains the political dynamics that prompted them. It is wide ranging and covers the first counter-insurgency operations in Namibia in 1966, a commando raid on Dare-es-Salaam, the Fox Street Siege, South Africa’s intervention into Angola in 1975 and subsequent pull-out, the rise of insurgency in Moçambique, South Africa’s reentry into Angola, strikes against SWAPO bases in Zambia, the training and assistance to UNITA, the fight against ZANLA and ZIPRA in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and how the Recces staffed Rhodesia’s ‘D’ Squadron SAS, the fall of Rhodesia, how the SAS and Selous Scouts were reformed as Recce units in South Africa, the selection and training of special forces, the raid against the ANC at Matola in Moçambique, South African assistance to RENAMO and Recce operations in Moçambique, Lesotho, Cabinda, Botswana and Zambia. It also deals in detail with the final days of apartheid South Africa and explains how close the country was to a right-wing coup d’etat. It was a book that should not have been published. In 1986 Stiff was invited by the Chief SADF to write a history of the Recces, but two years later when it was discovered he had discovered far more about secret operations than intended, permission was withdrawn and he was threatened with prosecution under the Official Secrets Act. He had to wait until after the 1994 election before he could again pick up his pen. The Silent War is the result, but it is well worth the long wait. Media reviews: A tour de force. Marcés Tropicaux ét Méiterranéens - Paris Peter Stiff is acknowledged as the foremost writer on the counter-insurgency war in southern Africa . . . It is clear The Silent War could only be published after the emergence of democratic rule in1994 . . . In essence the book reveals the impact of what was really a rather small group of soldiers. They left a swathe of devastation across southern Africa, the cost of which the region is still paying... Sunday Tribune and Saturday Argus - Durban and Cape Town The book provides illuminating details of all cross-border operations into Tanzania, Moçambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Lesotho carried out by the Recces. Proves that truth can be stranger than fiction . . Sunday Times - Johannesburg Stiff’s information is solid and his detailed accounts of each operation, such as the 5-Recce raid on SWAPO bases in 1986, are convincing . . . Elite fighting men indeed, who ‘still rank with the best in the world.’ The Citizen - Johannesburg There is new information here, a wealth of new information, and it is written well, as is the part on the evolution on the Recce selection process . . . The Star - Johannesburg They went in at night, sometimes from submarines and other times with nondescript civilian cars or even captured Soviet-built military vehicles . . . Lowvelder - Nelspruit Peter Stiff is undoubtedly the best historian on the wars of independence in southern Africa . . . City Press - Johannesburg This immense task was not made easier by the fact that individuals he [Stiff] had to work with are known to put clams to shame . . . Stiff needs to be ‘decorated’ for accepting the invitation in 1987 by the then Chief SADF to write this book . . . a rivetting but disturbing read . . . Daily Despatch - East London Well trained and exceptionally fit, their [the Recces] calling cards would be left in virtually every country in southern Africa. Well illustrated and cross-referenced, the book is a fascinating insight into a ‘secret war’ that politicians would do their best to hush up . . Mercury - Durban Stiff’s research is impressive. He challenges the trite and misleading fallacy that South Africa’s elite soldiers were unintelligent, deranged thugs, hell-bent on killing, raping and pillaging . . . an astonishing wealth of detail about Special Forces operations . . Eastern Province Herald - Port Elizabeth The Silent War opens a valuable door to understanding South Africa’s hidden past . . . Financial Mail - Johannesburg Readers’ comments: This book is for people who know what it is like to go that bit further to achieve an objective. It is easy reading and I couldn't put the book down. You have to take a step back to appreciate what these men went through. There is only one thing that comes to mind, they are harder than a bag of hard things, without a doubt. Brad Wemyss - USA This book covers South African covert operations from the 1960s to the 1980s. It gives details of many undercover operations as far afield as Nigeria and includes many counter-insurgency operations and meddling in the affairs of South Africa's neighbours including raids on Maputo, Lesotho and Gaborone in Botswana. A very interesting rip-roaring book and a five star read. Seth J Frantzman - Jerusalem, Israel Many congratulations on your Trilogy of amazing books. The research that you have done into some amazing, tough subject matter and put together in such a readable format is amazing. They really are all magnificent works. John Dobson — University of Cape Town I finished reading the last book of your trilogy yesterday. I have read 'Silent War' three times (and I look forward to the fourth time), 'Covert War' twice (with a third read of many sections) and got through the dark content of 'Warfare by Other Means' as one might take a castor-oil supplement -knowing that somehow it'll be good for you to do so in the end. My lasting impression comes from 'Silent War'. How did the SA government manage to screw up so comprehensively on keeping all this fascinating stuff from us? Why couldn't we know about the great battles of the Lomba River? How could they have so skillfully contrived to lose the propaganda war? Without your books all this history would have been blown away by a couple of Channel 4 and BBC documentaries that are well passed their sell by date and had no grasp of the Cold War in Africa, or Africa for that matter. Thanks for all your hard work! Richard Washington - Oxford University, UK I received The Silent War and Warfare by Other Means today. Thanks very much, good quality and a good read. I have read a fair bit of Peter Stiff’s material and I have already made major inroads into The Silent War. Ross Martin - USA As a point of interest I am an ex-South African soldier serving on operations with the British Army in Kosovo. I bought The Silent War while I was last home on leave in South Africa, and my copy has made its way around just about the whole of my battalion mess. I enjoyed it very much, a gripping read, but also full of lessons for today's would be COIN operator. Adrian de Villiers - British Army in Kosovo I am a book reviewer for the Australian Defence Force Journal which is published six times a year. I was very recently sent your excellent book The Silent War for review. I find it fascinating, gripping and very well written. I might add that it is almost all new territory to me as I believe it will be to most readers in Australia and New Zealand. While very interested in Special Forces and in what went on in southern Africa, I had little idea of the range and scope of your Recce operations. Quite amazing, I think. I was astonished to read of the Recce/South African Navy operations. Really what a great story. It seems to me that it would be wise for any nation to keep its Recce-type forces in a high state of readiness. Congratulations on a really great book which I highly recommend. Bruce Turner – Melbourne, Australia. Every time I pick up your Recce book I think how it is the most phenomenal achievement I have ever seen on any Special Forces subject. Jonathan Pittaway – Durban, Joint author of SAS Rhodesia. One of the early problems I faced was how to tell the whole truth. Some operations, until recently, were still classified as TOP SECRET and have never been acknowledged by the SADF. This problem was solved when Peter Stiff's book, The Silent War came on the shelf where most of the operations were described, some in detail while others were mentioned briefly. Jack Greeff - author of A Greater Share of Honour Your talent as a writer is too good to even consider ‘retiring’. I look forward to the remaining two volumes in your trilogy . . . Morgan Norval - Author: Alexandria, VA, USA The President has requested me to thank you for your letter and for the book that you sent him. You are assured of the President’s sincere appreciation of this gesture of goodwill. President Mbeki wishes you the best of everything. D Mohlongo - Administrative Secretary, Office of the Presidency Glad to see your The Silent War over here . . . Chuck Melson - Chief Historian US Marine Corps Thank you for the books that you have written, I see that I am still a few short but I am going to order them. All your books are spell binding and it keeps me bound to the last page. I am looking forward to the last two of your trilogy. Stephan Opperman May I take this opportunity to congratulate you on all your outstanding books. Manuel Ferreira NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Cry Zimbabwe Independence: Twenty years on Author: Peter Stiff 496pp; 242 X 168-mm; 16 b/w and colour illustrations Hardback; ISBN 1-919854-03-7; non fiction. Cry Zimbabwe tells how Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF came to political power in Zimbabwe after British and Commonwealth supervised elections in 1980. Acclaimed by the British Government and others as ‘free and fair’, in reality the process was a sham. It had been seriously flawed by a murderous campaign of intimidation conducted against the black population by the political commissars of ZANLA — ZANU-PF’s military wing. Having got away with it in 1980, Mugabe repeated these brutal tactics in the 1985, 1990 and 1995 election campaigns. The result was a Parliament packed with ZANU-PF MPs, with virtually no political opposition. The constitution was changed at will to suit Mugabe and his ruling elite. Stiff tells how in the 1980s ex-Rhodesians were recruited by the SADF to gather intelligence and destabilise Zimbabwe. How the strike jets at Thornhill Air Base were destroyed in a raid by Special Forces. How its armour came within a whisper of total destruction and how its major armoury at Inkomo Barracks was destroyed and much more. He details for the first time the bitter fighting between ZANU-PF and ZAPU elements of the National Army that occurred in Bulawayo in 1981 and how it was put down by elements of the former Rhodesian Security Forces. How Mugabe suppressed the report of the Commission of Enquiry looking into it. Stiff describes how in the early 1980s the North Koreans formed ex-ZANLA guerrillas into a new 5-Brigade and trained it as a murder machine. It was launched into Matabeleland in 1983. Its targets were unarmed and helpless men, women, children, the aged, the infirm — anyone as long as they were Ndebele. The world stood by, paying lip service to caring, while they systematically murdered some 15 000 people and beat, raped, starved, maimed and tortured countless thousands more. Stiff tells how the SADF armed, equipped and trained Joshua Nkomo’s ZIPRA rebels. How this was done, who did it and why, is explained. Coming right up to date he explains that by the millennium — 20 years on — times had changed. Zimbabweans were dissatisfied with the ruling party’s waste and rampant corruption. They were disillusioned with Zimbabwe’s military involvement in the Congo — where the ruling elite and senior army officers were raking in cash from rich diamond and other mining concessions. The economy was in tatters. The Zimbabwe dollar had slipped to an all-time low. Unemployment was at record levels and there were widespread shortages of diesel, petrol and commodities. Mugabe’s attempt to introduce a new constitution, which would have allowed him to continue in office as President for virtually the rest of his life, was the last straw. Opposition was mobilised by civic groups and a new political party, the Movement for Democratic Change, led by Morgan Tsvangirai. The electorate rejected the draft constitution in a referendum. Mugabe blamed his defeat on the country’s 60 000 whites (out of a population of 13 million), particularly the farmers, whom he accused of supporting the MDC and influencing their workers to vote against the draft. The book tells how Mugabe vengefully launched invasions of squatters led by ex-ZANLA ‘War Veterans’ on to white-owned farms. They embarked on a campaign of murder, rape, beatings, torture and intimidation, combined with a forced political ‘re-education’ programme. It did not work and for the first time since 1980 the MDC became the only opposition party to win sufficient seats to provide a substantial parliamentary opposition. On Mugabe’s orders, despite the election being over and in defiance of his own High Court, the farm invasions have intensified. Footnote: It is impossible to overestimate the importance of Cry Zimbabwe. It was at the elbows of all the US legislators responsible for the passing of the Zimbabwe Democracy Act that legislated selective sanctions against Robert Mugabe and his top henchman. Copies were bought by every foreign embassy in South Africa and copies were in the personal possession of the British Foreign Secretary and the Conservative Party's shadow Foreign Secretary. Peter Stiff was interviewed by Tim Sebastian on BBChardtalk and more than held his own. It generated enormous international interest. The chapters dealing with the Gukurahundi atrocities and massacres in Matabeleland recently formed the foundation for an incisive BBC World programme that called for the arrest and prosecution by the International Court of Justice of both Robert Mugabe and Perence Shiri for war crimes and crimes against humanity. More such moves are bound follow. Robert Mugabe might have won his re-election as president in March 2002 by foul means and a crooked election process, but it is not the end of the story. Sadly, Cry Zimbabwe was an early wake up call as to what was happening in Zimbabwe but the world dithered. That initially it kept on sleeping was a tragedy. That the world has eventually woken up, and that Zimbabwe has been suspended from the Commonwealth, bodes well for the future. One can be certain that it will eventually spell the end of the brutal dictatorship of Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF regime. Cry Zimbabwe is right up to date — it is an important story out of Africa — it is happening now. Media reviews: (Peter Stiff) brings an intimate knowledge of the geographical and historical details of Zimbabwe to this work. Further, he is as objective in writing of his former adopted country as one could be, after watching its devastation by the current government. Cry Zimbabwe indeed! He has meticulously end-noted his facts and provides a list of his sources, material that the government in Harare would no doubt like to see destroyed . . . the material included is so great that a general description does it injustice. Cry Zimbabwe is recommended as one man's perception of current events in southern Africa and for any current history collection dealing with that area. Dalvin M Coger - University of Memphis African Book Publishing Record Stiff catalogues the tactics of Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF at every general election since (and prior to) independence. This of course includes the notorious 2000 referendum and election campaigns. Violence and intimidation appear to have been routine campaign procedures. Anyone who, after reading Peter Stiff's well-written account of the past 20 years of Zimbabwe history, still believes that correcting the land issue (as defined by Mugabe), will solve all that unfortunate country's problems must surely be looking at the world through rose-tinted glasses. African Defence Journal Stiff has done extraordinarily well to get firsthand stories . . . a workmanlike record in broad brush strokes as the early promise of democracy withered in the face of Mugabe’s manic pursuit of power . . . incredibly good resource material . . . Sunday Independent - Johannesburg The cover picture tells it all: a terrified farmer’s wife scooping up her children while the dogs bay at the takeover posse at the gate... Eastern Province Herald - Port Elizabeth Book reveals that specialist (ex-Rhodesian) bush soldiers were trained in secret camps in the northern Transvaal for the specific purpose of destabilising Zimbabwe and other Frontline States . . . The South African military also supported and armed dissidents from Joshua Nkomo’s party who were responsible for more deaths of white farmers in the Matabeleland area than ever occurred in the liberation war . . . Saturday Star - Johannesburg From the attack on Thornhill Air Base, which gutted the country’s air power, to the failed attempt on the armour park in Harare, most were initiated by Pretoria. None of this excuses the manner in which the new regime sought — blatantly using torture — to pin the blame on loyal members of the Zimbabwean armed forces who happened to be white . . . It [the book) serves a valuable purpose in detailing Mugabe’s long campaign of land intimidation . . . Whoever takes on the task [of writing more] will rely heavily on Stiff’s mountain of reportage . . . The Star - Johannesburg [Cry Zimbabwe] details untold stories that have (un)shaped Zimbabwean politics; like the inside story, here for the first time, of the bitter infighting between ZANU(P/F) and ZAPU elements in the Army in Bulawayo in 1981 and how Mugabe, and the country, were saved from a virtual ZIPRA takeover by former Rhodesian Security Forces . . . It contains harrowing descriptions of how 15 000 Ndebele were beaten, maimed, starved, raped and tortured by the North Korean-trained 5th Brigade . . . The Citizen - Johannesburg The obvious access Stiff enjoys with those whose roles in the southern African conflicts remain shrouded in secrecy, make him an important resource in putting together some of the jigsaw pieces of the region’s recent history . . . a fascinating account of military intrigue . . . Sunday Tribune - Durban This is a very well researched and informative book. Never before have the atrocious deeds of Robert Mugabe’s government, especially in Matabeleland in the 1980s, been delineated in such detail. It is a ‘must’ for everyone interested in the history of southern Africa . . . Mercury - Durban Readers' comments: Thank you for your book Cry Zimbabwe: Independence Twenty Years On. It is excellently put together and gives a chronological and readable account of events in that country. This book gives the true history in all its stark reality of the cataclysmic fate Zimbabwe has suffered since the demise of colonialism. Peter Bertram – Caledon, RSA I have just read your book Cry Zimbabwe. I must say that it is the best non fiction book I have ever read. I have many friends still in Zimbabwe and like many others I fear for their well being. The part that dealt with the murder of Martin Old brought me to tears. Bob Arkright, Cape Town People have asked me why I read about a country that has nothing to do with us. My answer is that what has happened and what is still happening in Zimbabwe IS happening in South Africa. We just keep our eyes closed to it. Your book opened my eyes. The people who do not read your book are those who believe that by keeping their eyes closed and by not saying anything, the problems facing our country will disappear like a bad dream...For anybody interested in our history, your books are a must. Stephen Opperman NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Taming the Landmine by Peter Stiff 128pp; 330 X 245-mm; 300 plus b/w illustrations Hardback pictorial; ISBN 0-9470-2004-7; Non Fiction. (This book is heavily illustrated with about 300 photographs and drawings. It is a superb history of the most successful anti-landmine techniques ever developed - most of them by South Africa and Rhodesia. I have had this in my library for years. It is a superb reference work. Jan Lamprecht) The first book written on the development of the landmine as a tactical weapon combined with the efforts made to combat its devastating effects. It was the advent of superior firepower in the 19th Century, particularly the machine gun, which caused soldiers to cease fighting in the open and seek cover in trenches. A natural follow-on was the appearance of barbed wire to defend those trenches against attack. The stalemate of the trenches in World War-1 was finally broken by the tank, a weapon designed to crush barbed wire entanglements, cross trenches and provide a protective steel shield behind the safety of which the crews could fight the opposing infantry. The landmine, developed by the Germans to combat the tank, made its first tentative appearance in the final stages of the war. World War-2 saw radical developments. The British and French hierarchy who still viewed the tank in much the same light as they had in the last war, were rudely surprised when the Germans utilised them in powerful and fast-moving formations with motorised infantry in support, to break through battle lines and cleave through the soft underbelly of the rear echelons. By the end of the war both the Allied and Axis powers had adopted the same armoured tactics. The unglamorous and inglorious landmine laid by the tens of thousands to combat armoured breakthroughs, or making landings from the sea, had become a major weapon in the hands of all armies. To breach minefields, the South African-invented flail tank and other devices such as mine rollers were brought into service by the Allies and used with great effect at the Battle of El Alamein and later on the Normandy beaches. The 1950s saw the beginnings of most of the post-war uprisings against colonialism in Asia and Africa. In almost every case the communists provided training as well as weapons to nationalist insurgents and successfully prised them away from Western influences. The landmine, instead of being used principally in its more usual role of holding up the advance of motorised enemy forces, began being deployed as a terrorist weapon to halt the movement of all civil and military vehicles in an effort to bring a country’s economy to a halt and strangle the ruling administration. In the Portuguese colonial wars in Africa, the insurgents’ landmine tactics worked exceptionally well. The Portuguese found no effective way of combatting them. In the early 1970s, the landmine menace spread to both the South African-controlled Caprivi strip of South West Africa (now Namibia) and to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Both countries were stumped in their first efforts to find an answer, but they found it. A number of revolutionary ideas, including the v-shaped vehicle hull to deflect the blast of landmines, were successfully developed in both countries to minimise the explosive effects of vehicles and to reduce injuries and the deaths of people being carried in them. This told for the first time, is the remarkable story of those developments as well as the historical events that shaped them. Media reviews: A welcome addition to the limited amount of published material on that crucial topic for combat engineers - mine warfare. Peter Stiff has prepared a profusely illustrated book, aimed particularly at the lessons learned during the low level operations in Rhodesia and South Africa . . . the excellent photographs throughout provide much scope for reflection. Few of us have had the misfortune to face the effects of mine devastation, but these photographs provide sobering insights into the consequences . . . Royal Engineers Journal - Great Britain Peter Stiff in his book Taming the Landmine reveals how South Africa, by learning from Rhodesia’s experience, has taken the lead among Western nations in securing a highly sophisticated landmine-protection industry . . . The Star - Johannesburg Peter Stiff, best known for his books on the Rhodesian bush war and the Selous Scouts, has found an unusual subject for his latest effort and has written the first book on the development of the landmine as a tactical weapon. The Citizen - Johannesburg A well documented book by Peter Stiff, an authoritative writer, provides interesting and important reading. Paratus - South Africa The book, a truly incredible work by Peter Stiff . . . a meticulous researcher. South African Sapper South Africa, and before it, Rhodesia, was forced by necessity to find solutions to the threat of mines and I wonder what our solutions would be, faced with a similar threat, because I’ve seen very little so far to suggest we’ve given the problem anything more than passing interest. Army (Australia) Readers' Comments: I have read with interest Peter Stiff's SA Bush war trilogy, Taming the Landmine, and others. It was (is) really stupid of the US forces to use those unarmoured and makeshift-armoured Humvees in Iraq. We should have bought Casspirs or at least licensed production of them. Robert Starnes Pleasanton, CA 94588 United States 44 I can’t help thinking that the British and American forces in Iraq would do better with Casspirs than their soft-skinned Land-Rovers and Humvees. I have written to every National newspaper and TV broadcaster in the UK to try to publicise this fact without an answer. Graham Smith, Poole UK If you don’t have this book or have not read it, you are simply not on top of the world of the mine, countermine and counter-ambush. This book should be purchased en mass by the US Army and made a standard student text at the Combat Engineer School. Peter Stiff shows how the armies in the southern African area SOLVED the landmine, automatic weapons fire ambush, and if we want to avoid learning the same lessons all over again at a high cost in destroyed lives, we should read and heed this book’s ideas into our own army. This is NOT being done as combat engineering concerns have been marginalised by armor/infantry branch officers dominating decision–making even though the landmine is the biggest killer of our soldiers since Vietnam. Sam Damon Jr – Fort Bragg, NC, USA. A very good illustrated book on landmine-protected vehicles. Peter Stiff has written an excellent account of the evolution of landmine-protected vehicles in southern Africa. Apart from an initial section on early armoured vehicles and their protective capabilities, the book focuses on the development thru trial, error and experience of mine protected vehicles firstly in Rhodesia in response to the terrorist mining campaign and then in South Africa as the threat escalated. The book contains a large number of photographs of the various vehicles that were developed and used, culminating with the current South African mine-protected armoured fighting vehicles which are some of the best available in the world. All in all it’s a very good read while the accompanying photos really make the book. A reader – Amazon.com I truly think that this is a valuable contribution to the recording of the development of armaments for the particular type of conflict in southern Africa. P G Marais - Chairman, Armaments Corp of South Africa Defence Minister General Malan has noted the contents of the book with interest and appreciation. Capt H C M Burger - Military Secretary: Ministry of Defence It has been an interesting experience working with such an obvious expert in this field as yourself. Col J C Beyers - PP Chief of the SA Defence Force I found the book to be a first-rate account of the Rhodesian and South African efforts at beating the landmine. Peter Cooke - Wellington, New Zealand NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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32 Battalion The inside Story of South Africa’s Elite Fighting Unit Author: Piet Nortje Published by Zebra Press; 315pp; size 230 X 148mm; lavishly illustrated with battle maps and some black and white and colour pics; Hardback; ISBN 1-86872-670-3. Non fiction. Every war has at least one - a unit so different, so daring, that it becomes the stuff of which legends are made and heroes are born. Among the South African forces fighting in Angola from 1975 to 1989, that unit was 32 Battalion. Founded in utmost secrecy from the vanquished remnants of a foreign rebel movement, undefeated in 12 years of front-line battle, feared by enemies that included both conventional Cuban armies and Namibian guerrilla fighters, the Buffalo Soldiers became the South African army's best combat unit since World War II, with no fewer than 13 members winning the highest decoration for bravery under fire. But when peace broke out in southern Africa, the victors of Savate became the victims of sophistry. Their fate and future determined by by politicians who understood little and cared less about this truly unique fraternity. 32 Battalion ceased to exist in 1993, its short history and long list of battle honours known only to those whose enemies called them Os Terriveis - the Terrible Ones. This book is a worthy supplement to Buffalo Soldiers: The Story of South Africa's 32-Battalion 1975-1983 by its legendary founding commander, Col Jan Breytenbach. Media reviews: For anybody who has the remotest interest in South African history and the goings-on during the apartheid era, this book will provide a fascinating insight into the minds of the Securocrats who shaped a lot of the goings on in Southern Africa from 1975 to 1989. For those who are interested in tales of military action there are some amazing feats documented in the book as well. These were all the more amazing for me because they are true. The Mercury — Durban This is a must for all war buffs and for anyone who had a personal involvement in the Angolan War. The Citizen — Johannesburg NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Beyond Tears Zimbabwe's Tragedy Author: Catherine Buckle 218pp; size 222 X 152mm Softcover; ISBN 1-86842-139-2. Bar code 9781868421392 Non fiction. This book is a searing indictment of the Zimbabwe Government's desperate land grabs, the destruction of the country's agricultural sector, and the suffering of those who lived and worked on those farms. It is indeed a horrifying story of how a country is being destroyed by a government determined to retain power at all costs. In Beyond Tears Cathy talks to people involved in the weekend horror of the murder of a farmer and the abduction of five other farmers from the apparent safety of the Murehwa police station. She also interviews two women who were viciously raped and afterwards found it difficult to find anyone who would help them. Then she goes back to her once thriving farm and finds that it has been turned into a squatter camp. This book is a sequel to African Tears, the moving account of how she and her husband turned a 1 000 acre rocky piece of land near Marondera into a productive farm, only to lose it to a group of so-called 'war veterans' ten years later. Readers' Comments: One of the bravest chroniclers of Robert Mugabe's dictatorship in Zimbabwe, Catherine Buckle, provides vivid testimony of the terror and destruction he has inflicted on the country and its people. Martin Meredith, author of Robert Mugabe, Plunder and Tyranny in Zimbabwe. . . . Cathy is white and I am black. But we have a lot of things in common . . . perhaps most important of all in the context of this book [is that] we are all Zimbabweans in a country we love and cherish dearly. Unfortunately the norms and values we share as Zimbabweans are threatened by Mugabe's naked lust for power. Trevor Ncube, publisher and CEO of the Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard. NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Politics in South Africa From Mandela to Mbeki Author: Tom Lodge Publisher: David Phillip, Cape Town. 314pp; size 230 X 150mm Softcover; ISBN 0-84486-505-8. Bar code 9780864865052 Non fiction. This insightful study, now completely revised and in its second edition, examines the pattern of politics that has emerged in South Africa under the Mandela and Mbeki administrations. In considering the changes brought about in power relations in the country since 1994, the book looks at, among other things, the shape of regional and local politics; land reform; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; and the extent of political corruption. Further chapters consider the future and prospects of South African democracy and provide assessments of both Nelson Mandela and his successor, Thabo Mbeki. Readers' Comments: . . . an exciting text . . . the only up-to-date, general survey of South African politics . . . Given Lodge's empirical thoroughness, ability to integrate, analytical keenness and clear style there is no better candidate for the task [of introducing the country's politics]. Professor Laurence Piper, University of Natal NB: The Price includes shipping costs inside South Africa.
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Rhodesian Flag bumper sticker These bumper stickers of the Rhodesian Flag are 11cm long and 7cm high. The Rand price does include postage within South Africa. The US Dollar price includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Discounts can be arranged for bulk orders.
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