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Aspects of Military Conscription in South Africa, 1952-1992

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Aspects of Military Conscription in South Africa, 1952-1992 Compliance, Compulsion and Contest; Aspects of Military Conscription in South Africa, 1952-1992 Graeme Callister Thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at the University of Stellenbosch Supervisor: Professor Albert Grundlingh December 2007 Declaration I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the work contained in this thesis is my own original work and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it at any university for a degree. Signature: .……………………… Date: ……………………. Copyright © 2007 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved Abstract From 1952 until the ending of apartheid in 1994, South Africa possessed a system of compulsory military service for white males. Until 1967, conscription was not universal and men were selected by ballot to attend military training. From 1967 onwards, all medically fit white South African males were obliged to perform national service, a service which from the mid 1970s often included tours of duty on the border of Angola and South African-occupied Namibia, and later tours of duty in Angola or within the townships of South Africa herself. This thesis looks at aspects of the public reactions to compulsory military service in white South Africa. It traces the evolution of anti-conscription sentiment amongst the white community, juxtaposed with the continued support for compulsory military service that was found in many quarters up until the end of apartheid. It makes a brief examination of the anti-conscription organisations that existed, most notably the End Conscription Campaign, analysing their impact on white society as well as discussing their limitations. The impacts of conscription are also considered, looking at some implications of compulsory military service for the men involved, for society as a whole, and for the Defence Force in which the conscripts served. A thorough examination is also made of the motivations that existed for young men to either acquiesce to or reject military service, taking into account the unique set of circumstances that prevailed in South Africa during the military service era. While South Africa during these years has no direct parallel anywhere else in the world, this thesis briefly discusses South African conscription in an international context, demonstrating, where relevant, the similarities and differences between the South African experience and those of other Western nations, such as Britain, France, Israel and the United States of America. While a reasonable amount of literature and other media exist pertaining to South African conscription, this thesis demonstrates how many of these works are unsatisfactory, and how the topic is in some respects becoming largely misunderstood in both academia and in wider society. The current existence of a number of false beliefs, or myths, about South African conscription is discussed, along with an assessment of how and why these myths were created. Opsomming Vanaf 1952 tot en met die beeïndiging van apartheid in 1994, was daar in Suid- Afrika ‘n stelsel van militêre diensplig vir blanke mans. Tot 1967 het diensplig nie vir alle mans gegeld nie en is slegs sekeres geloot om militêre diens te doen. Vanaf 1967 is alle mediese geskikte mans verplig om nasionale diensplig te verrig; dit het onder meer diens op die grens tussen Angolo en Suid-Afrika beheerde Namibia behels asook later binne Angola sowel as die swart woonbuurte in Suid-Afrika self. Hierdie verhandeling bestudeer aspekte van openbare reaksies op verpligte militêre diens in blanke Suid-Afrika. Die evolusie van anti-diensplig sentimente in die blanke samelewing word nagespeur en dit word in teenstelling geplaas met die volgehoue ondersteuning vir verpligte militêre diens in talle kringe tot die einde van apartheid. Die organisasies wat hulle teen diensplig verset het, word kortliks ondersoek, veral die “End Conscription Campaign”, en daar word op hulle impak en tekortkominge gelet. Die uitwerking van diensplig word ook oorweeg in terme van sommige van die implikasies daarvan vir diegene wat diens gedoen het, asook die ramifikasies daarvan vir die breëre gemeenskapskap sowel as vir die Weermag self. Daar is ook gepoog om ‘n dieptastende ondersoek te loods na die motiverings van jong mans om in diensplig te berus of dit te verwerp, gegee die unieke stel omstandighede wat in Suid-Afrika gedurende die onderhawige tydperk in swang was. Hoewel daar in die jare geen parallel met verwikkelinge in Suid-Afrika en elders in die wêreld was nie, bespreek hierdie studie tog, in soverre relevant, die ooreenkomste en verskille tussen die Suid-Afrikaanse belewenis en die van ander Westerse lande soos Brittanje, Frankryk, Israel en die Verenigde State van Amerika. Ofskoon daar geredelik literatuur en mediaberiggewing oor diensplig bestaan, word aangevoer dat baie van die vertolkings onbevredigend is en dat die onderwerp in sekere opsigte in akademiese geskrifte sowel as die breër samelewing misverstaan word. Die bestaan van ‘n aantal valse voorveronderstellings of mites oor diensplig word bespreek asook die redes vir die ontstaan van die mites word ontleed. Contents List of Tables ii Acknowledgements iii List of Abbreviations iv Notes on Terminology and References v Introduction – South Africa in the Compulsory Service Era 1 1. The Myth of Refusal; a Review of Perceptions of National Service 13 2. Traditions and Practices of Military Service in South Africa 30 3. Attitudes towards Service; the Evolution of Resistance 43 4. The Acceptance of Conscription 62 5. Motives and Methods of Resisting Conscription 80 6. Organised Opposition to Conscription 99 7. The Impacts of Conscription 112 8. South African Conscription in an International Context 130 Conclusion – Heroes or Oppressors? 142 Appendix 1 – The Findings on Conscription of the TRC 151 Bibliography 152 i List of Tables Table 1 - Typical Defence Force career of a National Serviceman 36 Table 2 - Service Requirements for Conscripts in the SADF 39 ii Acknowledgements I would like to extend my gratitude to all who helped with the research and writing of this thesis. I would first like to give my thanks to my supervisor, Professor Albert Grundlingh of the University of Stellenbosch, for giving me help, advice, and direction in researching and putting this work together, as well as for introducing me to useful contacts and coming up with sources that I may otherwise have missed. His input, incisive yet constructive criticism and guidance were invaluable in the researching and writing of this thesis. I extend my gratitude to General Magnus Malan who graciously took the time to correspond with me, and to Major General Gert Opperman and Raymond Holtzhausen who made this correspondence possible; to Louis Esterhuizen, Stewart Kramm, Louis Botha and Wouter Pretorius for speaking to me of their experiences in the SADF; and to Marniel Botha who put me in contact with some of those mentioned above. I would also like to thank Marie Coetzee at the United Party Archives, UNISA, and Steve de Agrela at the Department of Defence Documentation Centre, Pretoria, and their respective colleagues, for the kindness they showed me and the time that they put into helping me find research material on my visits to their archives. Many other people gave me the benefits of their time in helping me with my research, and they also have my thanks. Many South African ex-conscripts spoke to me informally or ‘off the record’ about their experiences, and I would like to thank them for helping me gain a greater understanding of the topic; also Hans Aleksander Bjerke, Øivind Lie, and Geir Løkling who took the time to advise me on conscription in the Norwegian military. Finally on a personal level I would like to thank my family and friends for their support and encouragement in my endeavours. Their constant belief and backing was as always a great help to me. iii List of Abbreviations ANC – African National Congress AVF – Afrikaner Volksfront (South Africa); All Volunteer Force (USA) CF – Citizen Force CIIR – Catholic Institute for International Relations COSAWR – Committee on South African War Resistance COSG – Conscientious Objectors Support Group DDDC – Department of Defence Documentation Centre DRC – Dutch Reformed Church ECC – End Conscription Campaign IDF – Israeli Defence Force MP – Member of Parliament NP – National Party NRP – New Republic Party NUSAS – National Union of South African Students PF – Permanent Force PFP – Progressive Federal Party PP – Progressive Party SAAF – South African Air Force SACC – South African Council of Churches SADF – South African Defence Force SAI – South African Infantry SAMS – South African Medical Service SAN – South African Navy SWAPO – South West African People’s Organisation SWATF – South West Africa Territorial Force TRC – Truth and Reconciliation Commission UCT – University of Cape Town UDF – Union Defence Force (Note: In the context of the liberation movement UDF stood for United Democratic Front. As this work deals with the military and not the liberation struggle, the military term is used. The United Democratic Front is always referred to in full) UNISA – University of South Africa UNITA – União Nacional Para a Independencia Total de Angola UP – United Party iv Note on Terminology: This study often talks of ‘the people’ or ‘public opinion in South Africa’. In this context it generally refers to only the white population, as the topic of conscription affected mainly white people. This indicates no disrespect on the part of the author. Where terms such as liberal, right-wing and left-wing are used, they are purely descriptive expressions indicating a person or organisation’s political leanings and are not loaded with any of the disparaging connotations that are attached to them in some circles. For the sake of clarity the name Namibia rather than South West Africa has been used throughout this piece, as the modern reader is probably more familiar with that term. The name Rhodesia and the name Zimbabwe are both used in the study, the former to describe the White-governed pre-1980 country, the latter to describe the post-1980 majority government country.
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