Bosbefok and Koevoet: the border war in Namibia and Angola in South African soldiers’ memory

Nils Schliehe

«Bosbefok» and «Koevoet» are two words that are widely known among the Afrikaans‑speaking population of South Africa. During the 23 years of conflict more than 300 000 young men served as conscripts in the South African Defence Force. They were drafted right away from schools and universities into a war they did not know anything about. Recently some of those former soldiers have published their experiences and memories in a written form. These diaries and memoirs offer a first‑hand account to analyse how young drafted soldiers experienced the conflict that is today remembered as one of the «hot wars» of the Cold War Era. The four books that form the basis for this research were published between 1998 and 2011 by mostly English speaking South Africans. My research identified parallels between individual accounts that can be interpreted as new aspects of a collective memory. Although the military duty was not popular, it was part of the life of a white South African, which could only be escaped by leaving the country. During basic training the so called «Troepies» became aware of the conflict between English and Afrikaans‑speaking South Africans and when they were sent to the combat zone they noticed the efficiency of the South African propaganda machine that kept the war out of the South African public. The service in the far away operational area was shaped by boredom, consume of legal and illegal drugs and the strict censorship of the army that turned the rare phone calls and letters from home into «vital links» to the former civilian life. Some soldiers received long‑term mental disruptions that are today identified as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In South African slang they became known as «bosbefok», or literally «bush crazy». Most of the former Troepies claim they had no political opinion towards the reasons of the war. They were just fighting it because they were forced to do. Questions of guilt stay unanswered while mistreatment and execution of prisoners and civilians are described as everyday business at the frontline. War crimes and acts of torture are however remembered not as committed by the «common Tropie» but by special units of the South African forces like the notorious special police unit «Koevoet».

—

ISBN: 978-989-26-1631-5
eISBN: 978-989-26-1632-2
DOI: 10.14195/978-989-26-1632-2_7
Área: Artes e Humanidades
Páginas: 157-189
Data: 2019

Keywords

Download