Shadows in the Sand by Sisingi Kamongo

Author:Sisingi Kamongo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Helion and Company
Published: 2011-11-19T05:00:00+00:00

A gunship with a ringside seat (Angola, 19 August 1987)

We leave from our Zulu 4 base at Arendsnes, near Rundu, for an operation in Ovamboland. Our point of departure in Ovamboland is Okongo. We cross the Ovambo–Kavango border at 18°. At the border we test-fire the big guns on the Casspirs. If they have been tested and they work, we are ready for war. We are on our way to Okongo. If the discipline and style has been casual before, we are focused now.

We are ready for any SWAPO—whether he sees us first or we him.

The area to the north of Kavango is controlled by Unita. When SWAPO come they come south through Ovamboland before turning east into the dense bush of the Kavango. They infiltrate quietly and in large groups.

The area north of Ovamboland in Angola is controlled by FAPLA and their Cuban buddies. Otherwise there is no one here except when the South African army is in control. Here SWAPO, who are mainly Ovambo, come in greater numbers, but cross the border in smaller groups before blending in among the local population, who are also Ovambo. The chances of us walking into small splintered groups or single insurgents are much better in Ovamboland: there are simply more SWAPOs here.

That night, we sleep at Okongo, outside the base in a TB, of course. The next morning, we turn the vehicle noses north to the Jati. There are no boundary fences. We cross the Jati at beacon 29. Ovamboland is flat and has very little in the way of prominent natural features, so there are man-made beacons every five kilometres, constructed for navigation and reference. The whites call the place ‘Beacon 29’, but the Ovambo know it by its traditional name, Onayimbungu.

With us is our sister team, Zulu-4 Echo. The two groups are under the command of Sergeant Drom van Rooyen of Zulu-4 Echo. When we cross the border, Drom gives the grid reference and direction to Zulu-4 Oscar over the radio.

It is early in the morning and we drive many kilometres until we get to Eheke, the place where the Recces were given a bloody nose in 1977. But the large SWAPO base was destroyed and never rebuilt. There are people living in the area so we start with the usual drive-and-question tactics— stop; question the population; no information; move on and look somewhere else. By late afternoon we have still found nothing. We make a TB and sleep overnight, 30 kilometres inside Angola.

The next morning, we start well and find three tracks, but there are problems with Drom’s car. Only three cars of Zulu-4 Sierra deploy this time: car number 2 under Constable Cassie Carstens, car number 3 under my command and car number 1 under Warrant Officer Mbonga. As Drom cannot continue, he transfers command to his senior black WO, Warrant Officer Simon Nkwezi. Drom instructs the teams to follow the tracks while he fixes his car. Zulu-4 Echo now also has only three cars. Except for

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