Abstract
The South African Border War – or the Bush War - was a quite remarkable conflict that took place in the border region between South-West-Africa (Namibia), Angola and the Republic of South Africa between 1966 and 1989 which makes it one of the longest conflicts on the African continent. The conflict is not well known because the events took place during the Cold War where the involved actors de facto acted as proxies in the overall ideological struggle between East and West. The conflict covered most of the South African region. The seed to the conflict originated from the colonial past, where most African countries were colonized and governed by European nations and white minorities. Following the end of World War II, African states gradually gained independence from their former colonial rulers often through a violent liberation struggle aimed against the colonial authorities but also against rivaling tribes. The post-colonial states, which subsequently emerged from the struggle, were mostly characterized by dictatorships, instability, and poverty and often with a mainly Marxist political agenda. In contrast South Africa was not ruled by any colonial power and continued throughout – and initially with some success - their capitalist, nationalist government, and policy of apartheid headed by the white minority elite. This paper does not intend to describe or explain the South African Border War as a whole, but will focus on the insurgency and counterinsurgency campaign that took place between the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) and South Africa in the border region between Namibia and Angola. Further the paper will discuss and compare the actual course of the campaign with some of the basic tenants of counterinsurgency strategies as defined by Dr. Paul Melschen in his article “Mapping Out a Counterinsurgency Campaign Plan”