THE ORAL HISTORY OF FORGOTTEN WARS: THE MEMOIRS OF VETERANS OF THE WAR IN ANGOLA/GENNADY SHUBIN

Abstract

With the commemoration of the battles around Cuito Canavale coming up,various authors are striding Angolan battlefields again. In South Africa a variety ofpublications is seeing the light. Unfortunately many of these are by former seniorofficers highlighting their own interpretation of the war, as did many previouspublications in South Africa. Many publications here are espousing one side of thewar. The role of Special Forces is but one example. This trend was set in the 1980sand seems to continue in South Africa. The role of Special Forces - as if others werenot involved - deserves a lot of attention. More so the role of other actors such as theAngolan armed forces (FAPLA), the Cubans and the Soviets is mostly ignoredexcept for some stereotyping underpinned by an ideology from times gone by -indeed a sad state of affairs.