ABSTRACT

The most outstanding feature of the historiography of the South African counterinsurgency campaign between 1966 and 1989 is that very little indeed has been written about South African counterinsurgency. Most publications about the South African military at the time focus either on the nature of the military or on the war in Namibia and Angola in general. At the same time, writers have been very careful to write about the role of the South African military in the counterrevolutionary campaign against the African National Congress (ANC) and other revolutionary movements within South Africa (SA) at the time. It is possible to argue that this is a reflection of changing political sentiments within South Africa. However, a whole range of factors, as would be clear from this discussion, are influencing this reality.