Archive for December, 2011

This is a short film and a student essay. It focuses on the scenes the maker would seem to regard as essential, and connects them by way of captions. As a result, the characters never really develop, but remain as cyphers for various types of putative SADF characters. Let me declare two subjective factors. First, my time of service was 1973-1975, before the Border was really got under way in earnest with Operation Savannah. I am thus unqualified to comment on the Border scenes in this film. Secondly, my experience of the Afrikaans-English thing in the SADF is substantially different to that portrayed in the film. I entered the SADF as an English-speaking Italian South African, and cleared out as an Afrikaans-speaking Italian South African. My conscious decision to become an Afrikaans-speaker was based entirely upon my positive experience of my Afrikaans bungalow mates and my negative ones of my (then) fellow English-speakers. The English-Afrikaans thing in the SADF is a complex phenomenon. My experience was of the sneering hostility of (Natal) English speakers towards Afrikaners, regarding them as "thick, Dutchmen, crunchies, rock-spiders, etc.” The portrayal of Afrikaners as hostile to English-speakers, which the film does, was never my experience. My Italian grandfather was interned in Koffiefontein during the war, and my father turned away when he tried to join up during WWII. Because of this, he taught me to be pro-South African and bilingual, so that I never had a problem speaking Afrikaans (then a good second language) with the Afrikaans-speaking guys. I admit this to be a possible difference; that I did not begin with an anti-Afrikaans prejudice. In fact the Afrikaners in the bungalow became my best buddies, and helped me, a weakling, through the terrible first weeks of my Basics. Today, when one raises the language prejudice issue, one is often told that there's no difference, and one should stop making an issue of it. Indeed, post-Border War, this is reasonable. But it is also a way of fudging the very real prejudices that existed then. I have no doubt there was Afrikaans prejudice of the type presented in the film, as there was English prejudice of a similar type. But to portray Afrikaners as nothing more than mindless fighters against the "rooi" and "swart" gevaar is simplistic and superficial, as well as untrue. In fact, most of us only wanted to defend our country against a foreign threat, which WAS real. And ironically, it was the clumsy SADF propaganda that disabused many Afrikaners of the link between the Border War and the continued existence of apartheid. Regretfully, the film presents a very one-sided picture of this. The mise-en-scene is perhaps the best part of this film. The PT, drill, opfoks, etc., though briefly seen, as well as the bungalow, shooting range and obstacle course sets are, to my eye, on the whole faithfully reproduced. Jarring notes were R1s, Kevlar helmets and G5s in 1984. Perhaps there were not sufficient old-style steel helmets available. Perhaps the G4 as a current SADF weapon could not be used. But G5s? I think that the old "Ja, poes" joke has been overworked. And the guys in the film did a lot of running, including an opfok, without webbing and staaldak/Kevlar helmet, and except for one opfok, no sign of a geweer. But these are details, and cinematic licence - the general visual scene is faithful. The point of the film seems to be to show how the “soutie” converts his Afrikaans buddy, who already has some human qualities, to his way of advanced thinking. But regrettably, it is also superficially and simplistically done. The apparent presumption that the Afrikaner did not have a liberal tradition of his own, and had to be taught this by the English-speaker, is also false, to say nothing of mendacious in the light of British Imperial history. The final, tragic, scene is rather stagey; it smacks more of melodrama than authentic SADF Border operations, though I am in no position to judge the latter. But it all seems just too simple; it has too much of a cut-and-dried air about it. As always, if one’s aim is to produce a real human drama, then one’s characters must be real human characters. The characters in this film never seem to become much more than cardboard cut-outs. As a result, the message itself is obscured. Briefly put: I enjoyed seeing the old SADF recreated on screen, and many of the images brought back deep-seated memories, not always pleasant. On the whole, though, the film does little to explore the real issues and realities of the era. An interesting but shallow film. Or have I missed the point?

This is a short film and a student essay. It focuses on the scenes the maker would seem to regard as essential, and connects them by way of captions. As a result, the characters never really develop, but remain as cyphers for various types of putative SADF characters. Let me declare two subjective factors. First, my time of service was 1973-1975, before the Border was really got under way in earnest with Operation Savannah. I am thus unqualified to comment on the Border scenes in this film. Secondly, my experience of the Afrikaans-English thing in the SADF is substantially different to that portrayed in the film. I entered the SADF as an English-speaking Italian South African, and cleared out as an Afrikaans-speaking Italian South African. My conscious decision to become an Afrikaans-speaker was based entirely upon my positive experience of my Afrikaans bungalow mates and my negative ones of my (then) fellow English-speakers. The English-Afrikaans thing in the SADF is a complex phenomenon. My experience was of the sneering hostility of (Natal) English speakers towards Afrikaners, regarding them as "thick, Dutchmen, crunchies, rock-spiders, etc.” The portrayal of Afrikaners as hostile to English-speakers, which the film does, was never my experience. My Italian grandfather was interned in Koffiefontein during the war, and my father turned away when he tried to join up during WWII. Because of this, he taught me to be pro-South African and bilingual, so that I never had a problem speaking Afrikaans (then a good second language) with the Afrikaans-speaking guys. I admit this to be a possible difference; that I did not begin with an anti-Afrikaans prejudice. In fact the Afrikaners in the bungalow became my best buddies, and helped me, a weakling, through the terrible first weeks of my Basics. Today, when one raises the language prejudice issue, one is often told that there's no difference, and one should stop making an issue of it. Indeed, post-Border War, this is reasonable. But it is also a way of fudging the very real prejudices that existed then. I have no doubt there was Afrikaans prejudice of the type presented in the film, as there was English prejudice of a similar type. But to portray Afrikaners as nothing more than mindless fighters against the "rooi" and "swart" gevaar is simplistic and superficial, as well as untrue. In fact, most of us only wanted to defend our country against a foreign threat, which WAS real. And ironically, it was the clumsy SADF propaganda that disabused many Afrikaners of the link between the Border War and the continued existence of apartheid. Regretfully, the film presents a very one-sided picture of this. The mise-en-scene is perhaps the best part of this film. The PT, drill, opfoks, etc., though briefly seen, as well as the bungalow, shooting range and obstacle course sets are, to my eye, on the whole faithfully reproduced. Jarring notes were R1s, Kevlar helmets and G5s in 1984. Perhaps there were not sufficient old-style steel helmets available. Perhaps the G4 as a current SADF weapon could not be used. But G5s? I think that the old "Ja, poes" joke has been overworked. And the guys in the film did a lot of running, including an opfok, without webbing and staaldak/Kevlar helmet, and except for one opfok, no sign of a geweer. But these are details, and cinematic licence - the general visual scene is faithful. The point of the film seems to be to show how the “soutie” converts his Afrikaans buddy, who already has some human qualities, to his way of advanced thinking. But regrettably, it is also superficially and simplistically done. The apparent presumption that the Afrikaner did not have a liberal tradition of his own, and had to be taught this by the English-speaker, is also false, to say nothing of mendacious in the light of British Imperial history. The final, tragic, scene is rather stagey; it smacks more of melodrama than authentic SADF Border operations, though I am in no position to judge the latter. But it all seems just too simple; it has too much of a cut-and-dried air about it. As always, if one’s aim is to produce a real human drama, then one’s characters must be real human characters. The characters in this film never seem to become much more than cardboard cut-outs. As a result, the message itself is obscured. Briefly put: I enjoyed seeing the old SADF recreated on screen, and many of the images brought back deep-seated memories, not always pleasant. On the whole, though, the film does little to explore the real issues and realities of the era. An interesting but shallow film. Or have I missed the point?

Hi Mike, I have been following your posts with utmost interest. I am glad I found a "local" with the same kind of interests. I would love to participate in your workshops. Thank you for offering your services as a 3D graphic designer. I have send you e-mail. Thank you. Regards.

Correction - the base mentioned is Hurricane Base, which is the Ruacana airfield.

Time for the stupid questions - which I couldn't see quickly on the site.  Where does Pretoria Reg. fall into all of this.  We took the tanks up and then stayed with them until sometime in January, when we handed over.  If memory serves we were in Ops. Hooper and Modular.  I remember one time we had to drive down to Mavinga to get more diesel for the tanks and while we were gone, someone kindly moved the front line.  After driving around Angola for an afternoon looking for our unit, we stumbled onto a area command (it was rumoured that Unita's number 2 was on site). I walked into the command tent and asked if anyone knew where our unit was and no-one had even heard of us.  We finally agreed that we were associated to 61 Mech and pointed in a general direction.  Another story after that, running into a small battle with only three diesel bunkers... : ) Cheers Ep

Time for the stupid questions - which I couldn't see quickly on the site.  Where does Pretoria Reg. fall into all of this.  We took the tanks up and then stayed with them until sometime in January, when we handed over.  If memory serves we were in Ops. Hooper and Modular.  I remember one time we had to drive down to Mavinga to get more diesel for the tanks and while we were gone, someone kindly moved the front line.  After driving around Angola for an afternoon looking for our unit, we stumbled onto a area command (it was rumoured that Unita's number 2 was on site). I walked into the command tent and asked if anyone knew where our unit was and no-one had even heard of us.  We finally agreed that we were associated to 61 Mech and pointed in a general direction.  Another story after that, running into a small battle with only three diesel bunkers... : ) Cheers Ep

Forgotten veterans

WE WERE THERE

Just got the news from Johan Stander through facebook: It is with great sadness that the news of Rowley's passing was received. Rowley, through his 9F weekly newsletter, kept us together, often reconnecting us with old friends from years gone by. I have been in contact with Mary, Rowley's widow, expressing sincerest condolences from all who are not able to contact her. Her children are with her at this time and she appears to be holding up. The funeral will be at 10h00 on Friday 09 December 2011, at the Gracepoint Methodist Church , 125 Duncan Road, Glenferness. GPS: 26.0.13.2048 S 28. 2 4.1712 E Dress code for Veterans and serving members will be as per protocol. As Rowley had so many friends throughout the world, please forward this message to your contact lists, in order that the sad news is distributed to all who knew him. Rowley, you will always be remembered, RIP my friend. http://26.0.13.204/ ‎26.0.13.204

The Department of Military Veterans (DMV) is custodian of the National Military Veteran's Database established in 2005 and in line with its mandate; the Department is embarking - in partnership with the Department of Defence - on the database clean-up operation from 01 to 14 December 2011. This initiative is critical to: • Determine those in thedatabase who are deceased • Update personal details of military veterans • Include information on military veterans and dependants pertinent for socio-economic support as per Section 5 of the Military Veterans’ Bill. CALLING ON ALL MILITARY VETERANS The Department is calling on all military veterans with force numbers and currently registered with the national database to present themselves to South African national Military Veterans Association (SANMVA) in their Provinces. This will facilitate finalization of logistics to process them for the update of personal files at selected registration points in the Province. The DMV and SANMVA organizations have agreed on the following: • The number of military veterans who will update personal files per day per registration point. • List of names of military veterans to be processed per day per registration point. • Transportation of military veterans who need this service, from a specific collection point to the registration point and back. REGISTRATION POINTS Gauteng Kensington Garrison in Johannesburg & Thaba Tshwane in Pretoria Limpopo Polokwane Regiment Christian Beyers & Thohonyandou 15 SAI North West Regt de la Rey Potchefstroom & Mafikeng 10 SAI Bn Free State Regt Bloemspruit Bloemfontein & Betlehem 2 Fd Regt Eastern Cape 14 SAI Bn Mthatha & Prince Alfred Guard PE Mpumalanga 1 Ops Facility in Nelspruit & Middleburg Northern Cape Kimberley Regt & 8 SAI Bn Upington Western Cape Inf School in Oudtshoorn & Forte Capa in Goodwood KZN Lords Ground in Durban & 5 SAI Bn Ladysmith DECEASED MILITARY VETERANS Dependants of deceased military veterans are also called upon to present themselves at organizations of their spouse/parent for processing to update information on their family files. ESSENTIAL DOCUMENTATION Military veterans are urged to bring certified copies of the following documents: • Identity documents including those of dependants • Marriage certificates • Educational or training qualifications • Drivers Licence • Proof of Residence • Deeds of Trust of houses • Business registration certificates where this is applicable • School reports of children where this is applicable Dependants are urged to bring certified coies of the following documents: • IDs • Death certificates of spouses/parents • School reports where this is applicable ENQUIRIES The following numbers can be contacted for further enquiries 012 671 1015 and 012 671 2556. MILITARY VETERANS YET TO BE REGISTERED WITH THE NATIONAL MILITARY VETERANS DATABASE The process to register bona fide military veterans yet to be registered with the database will follow immediately after the database clean-up process. The process will proceed as follows: 1. Registration with military veterans’ organisations 2. Submission of lists to the Department by military veterans organisations 3. Interviews 4. Confirmation of Military veterans status by Minister 5. Registration in the National Military Veterans’ Database (SIGNED) T.E. MOTUMI DIRECTOR GENERAL: DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY VETERANS