South Africa: The War That Provided the Soundtrack for Subversive Afrikaans Rock

analysis

In 1967, military conscription became compulsory for all white men in South Africa over the age of 16. In the subsequent two decades the country got ever deeper involved in the so-called "Border War" on the Namibian/Angolan border. The war was primarily fought between the South African Defence Force (SADF) and the South West African People's Organisation (Swapo). Under the hawk-ish President PW Botha, the role of the military was expanded.

The concurrent militarisation of white South African society, as well as the construction of white militarised masculine identities, were powerful societal forces. However, they grew increasingly unpopular. It elicited some resistance from within South Africa's white population.

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