Episode 25 – The Reccies and 32 Battalion continue the war inside Angola and the Soweto Uprising shocks the Nationalist

This is episode 25 and we’re focusing on the second half of 1976. Last episode we heard about the Cold War machinations which had led to Cuba and Russian coming to the assistance of the MPLA in Angola. We also heard about the deployment of black troops inside the SADF for the first time and how South Africa was rearming itself as its defence equipment was out of date. 32 Battalion had been deployed to the cutline at the border and was highly active, as were SWAPO’s PLAN insurgents. Meanwhile the diplomatic storm that had broken over South Africa’s invasion of Angola continued to rage with the OAU breaking its own membership rules to accept the MPLA in as the official and yet unelected government of Angola. ON the security front South Africa was in a terrible situation. In June 1976 the Soweto Uprising shook the Pretoria government with both its ferocity and its unique character. For the first time black youth living in the township to the south west of Johannesburg decided enough was enough and went on the rampage in what was an historic event as they rose up against the apartheid government. Watching all of this was the International Community which was to increase sanctions on Pretoria shortly. While a full arms embargo had still not been enforced -that was only to follow in 1977, Pretoria had effectively entered pariah status already and most nations were already loathe to sell weapons of any sort to security forces who were being photographed shooting teenagers in the streets. After Operation Savannah the government forbade the SADF to cross the border into Angola as it tried to reset relations with neutral African countries – most of whom had been shocked by the extent of the SADF’s invasion – all the way to the edge of the capital Luanda. That frightened Zambia for example which was tinkering with support for the ANC and other liberation movements.