ABSTRACT
Congo’s turbulent decolonisation was an integral part of South African geopolitics during the first half of the 1960s. The political makeup of the Central African state was strategically and symbolically significant in the battle to overthrow colonial and white minority rule in Southern Africa. The narrative of South Africa’s involvement in Congo’s pagaille is dominated by the apartheid government’s controversial relationship with Moise Tshombe. Contact between South African and Katangese officials and representatives occurred regularly throughout the secession. Pretoria’s support of the Katangese secession was an attempt to prevent a UN intervention like that in Congo from being implemented in South West Africa and South Africa. The Katangese government tried to coerce Pretoria into directly supporting the secession by playing into South Africa’s known anxieties regarding Communism as well as anti-colonial and anti-South African sentiments. South Africa’s involvement in Congo at the time was also typified by 5-Commando’s role in countering the communist-backed rebellion in eastern Congo.
