The willing and the not so willing: conscription and resistance to compulsory military service in South Africa, 1968-1989
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Date
2012
Authors
Du Plessis, Tienie
Van der Westhuizen, Gert
Liebenberg, Ian
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State
Abstract
South Africa participated in two world wars without implementing compulsory military service.
Following the Second World War, the Union Defence Force relied on the Active Citizen Force to
supplement its manpower needs. Leaders of the ruling National Party, influenced by the Cold War
psychosis, myopically believed that global conflict was defined by two ideologies in a deadly struggle
for dominance, nationalism and communism. Apartheid advocates made a distinction between the white
“us” and the black “them”; Christianity against barbarism; Marxism-Leninism against Christian-
Nationalism. Maintaining Nationalist rule increasingly demanded manpower. Conscription for white
men was a reality for twenty years, supplying conscripts for border duty and later for suppressing
internal unrest. More than 500 000 served in the military, many of them in northern Namibia, Angola
and South African townships. War resisters were monitored, ostracised, ridiculed, forced to emigrate
or jailed. This contribution shares some thoughts on the issue, including moral objections to apartheid
violence and the militarisation of South African society.
Description
Keywords
Apartheid, Militarisation, National service, Conscripts, Border War, Total onslaught, Conscientious objection, War resisters, Total strategy
Citation
Du Plessis, T., Van der Westhuizen, G., & Liebenberg, J. C. R. (2012). The willing and the not so willing: conscription and resistance to compulsory military service in South Africa, 1968-1989. Journal for Contemporary History. 37(2), 143-164.