The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
John Kerr writes on a decisive battle in the twentieth century that contributed to the end of apartheid in South Africa. First published in May 2023 for volume three of The Commonweal.
In January (2023) I had the privilege of addressing the Canterbury Socialist Society on the battle of Cuito Cuanavale and the role it played in the collapse of Apartheid. Since then I have read Byron Clark's recently published book on the far right in New Zealand, Fear, and the chapter therein on Apartheid and the campaign against it in Aotearoa. This reinforced my view that Cuito Cuanavale must not be forgotten.
Nelson Mandela observed that the struggle against Apartheid fell into two parts: that before Cuito Cuanavale and that after. The narrative around Cuito Cuanavale is one of the most contested in modern history. There is very little the protagonists, Cuba and the Angolan government on one side and Angolan rebels and white supremacist South Africa on the other, agree about. What is not in dispute is that there was a campaign in 1987-88 in one of the most remote parts of Africa, south- west Angola, near the border with South African occupied Namibia, that involved heavy fighting between firstly Angolan forces in their civil war, and then South African and Cuban troops. The majority of the Cuban troops were black and Cuba had had a presence in Angola, supporting the nominally Marxist government there, since its independence in 1975. South Africa for its part had spent more than a decade fighting Namibian guerillas operating out of Southern Angola, violating the latter's territory on scores of occasions.
By 1987 the global cold war was coming to an end as tension between the Soviet Union and the west eased. Covert US support for South Africa was no longer deemed as critical in maintaining a racist, but anti-communist, regime in Pretoria. Both the Soviets and the Cubans were also looking for a way out of the impasse that had developed in Angola.
The fighting culminated in the commitment of the cream of South Africa's army, and they were fought to a standstill by Cuban and Angolan government forces. At the same time the black liberation movement in South Africa had successfully set the townships aflame with anti-government unrest. Stopped in its tracks, the South African military informed its political masters that they could continue to fight a war along the Angolan border or police the townships, but not both.
The symbolism of the success of black soldiers in halting a South African offensive was critical in fuelling the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa and beyond. A ceasefire and armistice was brokered by the US and Soviets and the struggle to topple the white supremacist regime moved into high gear in South Africa.
A few short years later one of the first official overseas visits by now President Nelson Mandela was to Cuba, where he made the point of thanking the Cuban people for their support in the defeat of the racist South African regime. We should not forget Cuito Cuanavale, it led to the collapse of a hateful regime and is a reminder of the need to be resolute in the face of fascism.