ZIWAPHI • VOL 4 NO 1 • 15-28 JANUARY 2010

Cuba is a long time political ally of the liberation movements in South Africa and the African continent in general. The most notable intervention by Cuba on the continent was its decision in 1975 to support and defend the then newly liberated Angola against United States and South African backed bandits of UNITA.

The skirmishes between Angola army and the apartheid army escalated into what became known as the “Battle of Cuito Cuanavale” also dubbed by historians as "Africa's largest land battle since World War II".

To date there are still conflicting accounts of who really won the “Battle of Cuito Cuanavale” between the US backed apartheid army on one hand and the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA), People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), and Cuban international military contingent on the other.

While there are claims of the ANC’s Umkhonto WeSizwe’s involvement in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavalle, Ziwaphi could not find any confirmation from some of MK’s fighters who had military training camps on the Southern part of Angola, where the battle took place in 1987 and 1988.

It was, however, inevitable for MK to be part of the Angolan conflict, as its military bases were largely located on the Southern part of Angola which was a UNITA stronghold.

A former MK fighter, however, pointed out that MK which was a guerilla army, did not possess the military artillery that was required for an open warfare, unlike PLAN of Namibia.

He also confirmed that while there were skirmishes between UNITA and MK, there was, however, no formal declaration of hostilities between the two forces, even though the apartheid army, which MK had been fighting in guerilla warfare, supported UNITA.

Whoever claims the victory of the battle of Cuito Cuanavale, the fact of history is that the apartheid government failed in its attempt to take over Cuito Cuanavale due to the resistance by FAPLA, PLAN and the Cuban forces.

Another fact of history is that the apartheid government ceased its military invasion of Angola following the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale and the apartheid regime, which had been reluctant to engage in negotiations, was suddenly prepared to negotiate its withdrawal from Angolan territory and cease its occupation of Namibia, and subsequently the liberation of South Africa.

Namibia finally attained its freedom in 1989 when SWAPO defeated the apartheid supported party, the Democratic Turnhale Alliance (DTA) during first democratic elections in that country and South Africa attained its freedom five years later when it defeated the National Party and other smaller parties in the country’s first democratic elections.

The ideological contestations, however, will always remain, as writer Piers Paul Read remarked in his book, “Historical distortions are difficult to straighten out. A mistake about a chemical compound or an airline schedule will be exposed in due course by an explosion or a missed connection, but misconceptions about the past can persist for centuries, despite the diligent work of historians, either because vested interests benefit from the distortions (the Whig view of history) or because the fanciful version is more fun.”