General de Wet

General de Wet

1854 - 1922

When over four thousand Boers under the command of General Marthinus Prinsloo gave themselves over to the General Hunter at Surrender hill on the 20^th of July 1900, General de Wet who at the time was Commandant General for all Free State forces had this to say “Horrendous, murder against the government and the nation”

I recently came across a very interesting book on General de Wet and found him to be a fascinating man whose fame came to an ignominious end in 1914. Born Christiaan Rudolf de Wet in 1854 he is probably still to this day regarded as the most romantic of the Boer Generals: a daring guerrilla leader whose exploits thrilled locals and the world alike. Like many of his contemporaries, his education was patchy, mostly from part time teachers who visited the farm from time to time. What de Wet lacked in education he more than made up for with common sense, natural leadership abilities and an instinctive understanding of people. At fourteen when his mother died he took responsibility with his father for running the farm and at twenty seven was the acting Commandant of Heidelberg. He took part in the first Boer war battle of Laings nek where he commanded two hundred men, this however like many other Boer men was not his first taste of battle, for at the age of eleven he had ridden out to do battle with the Basuto.

The courage that was to make de Wet a legend was already visible in the 1^st Boer war and at Majuba he was one of the first to swarm the flat topped peak and defeat some of Britain’s best soldiers. A few years after the first Boer war that he moved in to politics and was elected to the Transvaal Volksraad, soon after he moved to the Free State he was elected to its Volksraad. de Wets politics could be described as progressive, even liberal, his achievements as a political leader were marked by his strong efforts in developing the transport system, especially the railways. At the start of the second Boer war in October 1899 both he and his son Kotie were called up as privates to the Heilbron Commando, after its commandant fell ill, de Wet was elected in his place and found himself in charge of six hundred men.

His first success was an attack on British possessions near Ladysmith with only half of his Commando at the end of the engagement two hundred British troops had either been killed or wounded another nine hundred captured with the added bonus of one thousand rifles and twenty cases of ammunition being seized. President Steyn of the Free State was highly impressed and soon after De Wet was notified of his appointment as Fighting General under Piet Cronje. After Cronje’s surrender at Paardeberg De Wet found himself faced with an enormous task of having to stop General Lord Roberts and his massive advance. Despite huge efforts by both De Wet and De La Rey at Rietfontein and Abraham’s kraal the British advance on Bloemfontein could not be stopped. 

Soon after the occupation of Bloemfontein de Wet told his men to take leave and re group in ten days’ time. General Joubert berated him for this to which de wet replied, “I cannot catch a hare with unwilling dogs”. The men who reassembled were the toughest of the lot and de Wet knew that with the men he wanted and the freedom to conduct a war the British would at first not know how to counteract he would become a law unto himself. After a number of sweeping raids against the British that showed what could be achieved with a highly motivated mobile force he became the commander of the Free State forces, totaling about eight thousand men who concentrated on destroying supply lines, disrupting communications and using devastating hit and run tactics. After what was probably the most successful raid in the whole war, that saw his force attack three garrisons at the same time and kill or capture over seven hundred British soldiers and capture provisions valued well over one hundred thousand pounds, Lord Kitchener was determined to break de Wet’s resistance and raised a massive force to hunt him down.

By June 1900 Bethlehem was the only town of any consequence that had not been occupied by the British, fifty thousand troops under the leadership of five Generals descended on the town. For two days de Wet and his large force of men stood firm, however the forces ranged against him were to great and he together with President and Mrs Steyn as well as their entourage travelling with him headed towards the Brandwater basin, while the British rested and re-grouped the Boer forces debated amongst each other whether or not they should defend the basin or make their escape.

de Wet was against the defence of the basin as he felt it could become a trap eventually de wet with over two thousand men and President Steyn were to slip passed the British near to Retiefs Nek in the direction of Kroonstad. de Wet had decided that they needed to escape from this trap so that he and his men could keep fighting.

Not many people are aware “I certainly was not” That his brother Piet had in fact surrendered to the British on the 19^th of May 1900 and offered Lord Roberts his assistance in persuading other Boer fighters in the field to do the same “including his brother” when he tried to persuade Christiaan to do the same in a long letter defending his actions. dDe Wet flogged the man that brought the letter and sent him back with a message that he would shoot Piet “like a dog” if he caught him. de Wets attacks continued during the war and together with his Chief scout Danie Theron became part of Afrikaans Folklore. He may have continued his war of attrition indefinitely, tying up a large British force, had it not been for many Burghers tiring of the war and to put on a united front he decided to agree and sign the treaty of with other Boer leaders, this he signed as an acting member of the Government of the Orange Free State

In July 1902 de Wet left for Europe to raise funds for the Boer cause and while on this trip wrote a best-selling book called “Die Strijd tusschen Boer en Brit” Upon his return from Europe he again entered politics, the old soldier spirit In him and his strong nationalist feelings led him and his six sons to join a commando with the object of protesting against the countries involvement in the first world war. The Memel Commando was one of the first to take up arms and seventy men accompanied General Christiaan de Wet who had come to live on a farm just outside the town, to Vrede. Towns were occupied and property damaged, before government forces of Louis Botha and Jan Smuts got the upper hand and In a couple of skirmishes near Winburg in early November. Of the eleven thousand rebels, one hundred and ninety were killed, eleven from Memel.

De Wet was on the run again, he managed to evade his pursuers until late November 1914. After he was captured and was jailed at The Fort in Johannesburg, he was charged with high treason in June 1915, he was found guilty and sentenced to six years imprisonment and a two thousand pound fine, six months later he was reprieved and the fine paid for by sympathizers. Broken mentally and physically, he withdrew from politics and spent his last years in poverty and pain that many say was a pitiful decline for the old fighter. He died on February the 3^rd 1922 and was buried at the foot of the Woman’s Monument in Bloemfontein, despite the over-riding political issues de wet was given a state funeral. Telegraphing his widow on the day of his internment Prime Minister Jan Smuts wrote kindly of de Wet saying: “A prince and a great man has fallen today”.

“Escapando ao Inferno/Escaping Hell”

A couple of weeks back I posted a Blog on Portuguese refugees that had fled from Angola as well as Mozambique in 1974/75. That initial Blog was more of a background as to why those men, women and children had to pack up what they could and leave the country that they considered home, often having to run a gauntlet of theft and abuse from doped up or drunk terrorists that manned roadblocks those refugees had to pass through to be able to get to safety.  This Blog is about those individuals and families that had to leave Angola. I have used information collected over the years as well as some info found on a local Facebook page (Portuguese speaking soldiers in the SADF) As is sooooooo often the case, promised information, personal stories or possible leads as to eyewitness accounts from those days has not materialized  so hopefully I can do the subject as well as those brave men, women and children justice…………. “You can be the judge”.

Refugees from Angola coming to South West Africa were badly harassed. Those who did make it unmolested then had to contend with life in refugee camps prior to being shipped out to Portugal as not many were either able or wanted to. Those not able to would have been people of colour or mixed race, which in South Africa in the mid 70’s was a big “no no”. The links between Mozambican citizens and South Africa was much stronger than that of Angolans and that of the few Angolan families that did settle in South Africa, very few adapted and by 1977 most had decided to leave for Portugal or Brazil.

It also has to be remembered that many of those that fled Angola did not have passports with them when they crossed into South West Africa and therefore could not prove that they did in fact have Portuguese nationality. Unlike the Mozambicans who had close ties with both Rhodesia as well as South Africa (both countries absorbed about 120 000 Mozambicans after the September coup and October massacres of 1975) the Angolans did not have much contact with South Africa and while very few were unable to speak English, almost none could speak Afrikaans.   

Something that I love about researching information for a story is coming across information that I had not even thought about. “Sometimes it’s not about the question you ask but who you ask the question”. Asking a good friend In Portugal “why it was easier for Mozambicans to get into SA than Angolans after the shit hit the fan in those countries”, he replied South Africa would have liked that the Portuguese stay in Angola to help control the situation there. But Stephen the USA was very happy to have thousands removed from Angola to Portugal as new voters in Portugal would help control the situation in Lisbon after November 25, 1975. This "Retornados" from Angola arrived in Portugal and joined the anti-communist front. Now there is a new book about Angola and the interest that there was in the US to move the Angolans to Portugal”.

After posting this information to get comments on the Facebook page I got a couple of replies agreeing that this in fact was a strong possibility with this one in particular standing out. “Stephen that spanner in the works could well be true as the story goes, the then American Ambassador in Lisbon, Frank Carrlucci gave Mario Soares some advice and that was. He had to take Socialism and put in the very dark corner of the bottom drawer. If he did that the USA would help him win the elections and keep the Communists out, basically thanks to Carlucci we didn’t go Commie. Kissinger was prepared to let a NATO member go down the toilet…..The book Carlucci vs Kissinger, the USA and the Portuguese Revolution could share some light”. 

  

Another difference was that unlike the Angolan refugees the SADF had little to do with those coming out of Mozambique.  An e-mail I received from an old soldier who had been an 18 year old “wet behind the ears” troopie brings home the fact that Angola between April and November 1975, “was not for sissies” The civil war brought, plunder murder and mayhem caused by all 3 liberation movements, it was not as he had imagined war would be, but it was the way of the so called “freedom fighters”. Women and children were sexually molested or raped at roadblocks set up by the various organizations, especially if there was nothing of value that could be bartered with to ensure that the women were not harassed, stories of women being raped at all of the roadblocks they encountered are not uncommon.

What shocked him more than the looting and stealing by the Liberation movements was how the Portuguese refugees fleeing Angola were treated by certain members of the SADF as well. 

This eyewitness account may “and I use the word lightly” show us what sort of hell people went through. “Once, when we were receiving people that got away from Angola via Zambia, I came across a couple with 3 daughters that were completely bonkers and with a very good reason as you will see in what follows. They were stopped by the gooks and told that they had to leave one of the 4 daughters behind for them or they would kill the whole family. They had to do just that to save the other 3. That is why they only had 3 daughters with them, Can you get any sadder than that?    

Those fleeing the country that where only given a hard time and had their possessions taken from them by gunpoint where seen as being “lucky”, clearly it was not a good time to be a white in Africa. 

Something that I was not aware of was how many Afrikaners, descendants of the 1928 Dorsland Trek also took flight and had headed to South West Africa and just like the Portuguese men, Afrikaner men could also do little to protect their loved ones from the 3 liberation movements who were not only fighting each other but also turning against the civilian population. With reports that in Silva Porto that a group of schoolgirls had been killed by UNITA and that the rape of women and young girls becoming common place anyone who had hoped that things would get better realised that flight was the only option.

It’s not that those who wanted to stay were not prepared to fight but with the Portuguese authorities having withdrawn the weapons that they had issued to Angolans, they were left defenceless and how did this happen, well again the new Leftist orientated Portuguese government had sat down with UNITA, FNLA and MPLA and drawn up the Alvor agreement.        

Part of the Alvor agreement stated that all civilians were to be disarmed and any civilian found in possession could be shot on sight. This however did not stop the 3 liberation movements from arming their civilian supporters. To the shame of the Portuguese authorities Portuguese civilians were left to their own fate and little was done to protect their lives or property, escape seemed to be the only option open to them.

Due to renewed fighting in the North of Angola between the MPLA and FNLA Portuguese as well as Afrikaners began to flee. Refugees did not have an easy time as they were stopped at roadblocks on a regular basis harassed and humiliated with many cases of molestation and rape being reported. By May 75 the trickle had become a stream and those fortunate enough to have possessions to barter were able to buy their way out of having their women folk and children raped at roadblocks or having their possessions stolen. Many refugees however had nothing but the clothes on their backs and had left behind houses, business’s, farms as well as all worldly possessions.     

Photos of families that had fled the fighting in Malange to a local military camp garrisoned by the Portuguese show despair and fear as well as an attempt to try and salvage some meager possessions. other pictures show dead bodies, both black and white residents slaughtered by men with nothing but hate and revenge in their hearts, they are piled in the middle of the town of Malange some with lime on them them to prevent disease. These are the words of a Portuguese soldier that was in Malange over that period.   (translated from Portuguese)

'Malange in 1975 was a deserted city, besieged by looters and under fire. Everything messed up that could be destroyed. My battalion had the thankless task of trying to keep order. another battalion had more traumatic experiences with dead scattered in the streets and they had to cover them with lime to prevent epidemics" 

On one Occasion a group of refugees, mainly Angolan Boers were halted by UNITA guerrilla’s at Oncocua when they attempted to cross the border. After lengthy negotiations some of the men were allowed to go to Ruacana on condition that they return with food and alcohol. To ensure they would return the women and children were held hostage. At Ruacana they managed to get food and liquor as well as some guns, they returned to Oncocua gave UNITA the food and booze and after the alcohol had done its job they managed to escape to Ruacana. 

While many tried to escape some were not that lucky and a few Angolan farmers and their families were to lose their lives or become badly wounded in the civil war. In one particular sadistic incident a man was tied to a tree had wood packed around his feet and burned to death. Some women and children were abducted from their farms and never seen again.

A large group of 1000 people in 200 vehicles managed to cross the border into South West with another smaller group of less than 200 refugees having grabbed the public’s attention by driving from the Kunene Mouth along the Skeleton coast to Walvis Bay. 

This is there story that I sourced from the internet has been translated and summarized from a book by a Rogerio Amorim called “A Costa dos Esqueletos” (The Skeleton Coast).

“A small convoy of about 180 refugees in 61 vehicles left Mocamedes and Porto Alexandre in August 1975 in the direction of Walvis Bay. At the mouth of the Cunene River they built a small ferry with large empty drums and wooden planks that they 8had brought with them. They attached a cable from a land Rover already on the opposite side of the river, which pulled the ferry with 2 small vehicles at a time, safely across the river, except the last heavy truck which topples over and sank.

The convoy travelled south at about 20km to 30km per day, along the beaches and desert of the Skeleton Coast of SWA in the direction of Walvis Bay, some 800kms away. They camped each evening along the beach, away from high incoming tides, which changed suddenly and frequently forcing them to camp further up into the treacherous sand dunes.

After about 12 days of travel, the convoy began to run out of food and water. Luckily, one morning a SAAF Dakota doing coastal patrol flew over. The convoy leader’s immediately wrote an SOS message on the beach and the following day a SAAF Dakota dropped food and supplies to the convoy by parachute. This procedure continued every other day, while one day a very ill patient was airlifted by a SAAF helicopter to a SAN vessel patrolling nearby and then admitted to hospital in Walvis Bay.

A couple of days later a SAP patrol came across the convoy. This patrol was totally surprised as no one had ever survived such a trip and took responsibility for these refugees all the way to Henties Bay. Some refugees, whose vehicles broke down, were airlifted by a SAAF helicopter onto a vessel of the SAN and taken to Walvis Bay.

This remarkable and courageous trip of desert survival for 4 weeks, characterized by breakdowns, sandstorms, constantly getting stuck in deep sand on the beach or in the sand dunes, sometimes up to their axles and getting flooded by sudden high tides, would not have been possible without the care, assistance, vigilance and support of the SAAF, SAN and SAP.

After a short period at a refugee camp at Walvis Bay set up by the SADF, some refugees decided to stay on in SWA while the majority were placed on a ship and sailed to Portugal were they arrived in Lisbon in mid-October 1975 to start the long journey of assimilation into a society that was foreign to them.     

                                    

Those who did make it across the South West border with their lives then had to contend with life in refugee camps. The first group of Afrikaner refugees who reached Windhoek were accommodated in army tents at the Windhoek showground’s. In Walvis Bay a refugee camp was established to house those civilian fleeing from Angola with many being repatriated to Portugal by sea.

Refugee camp at Grootfontein

Refugee camps were also established in Tsumeb and Grootfontein and those crossing the border were accommodated there before being allowed to continue their journeys. While it would seem in general the refugees were accepted with open arms some refugees would not get residence in South Africa as many were of mixed race and at that stage not welcome in South Africa. Those that were allowed into South Africa were either flown or transported by trucks to the Zonderwater or Magaliesoord refugee camps at Cullinan just outside of Pretoria and by late 1975 thousands of people where being housed at these camps. 

The initial refugee camp that South Africa set up at Oshakati by the SADF, it was situated next to the hospital and water tower, it comprised of 10 x 10 military tents with the refugees cars parked on the one side of the camp, the camp held between 1000 – 1200 men, women and children from all walks of life, being thrown out of one’s country shows no favoritism to rich or poor. The camp was guarded day and night by South African troops with each unit in the area sending men to assist with this assignment.  A major who was a medical doctor was in charge of the camp with a Sgt Major who ran the stores and would convey orders to the refugees in the camp who had set up a committee to ease communication between the Portuguese and the South Africans. The camp was cleaned daily by a team of black workers.

The atmosphere at the camp as one can imagine was one of despair and disbelief, people had lost all they had, businesses, homes, vehicles, even their dignity and an air of “we must be grateful for what the South African government is doing for us” seemed to permeate the camp. The Escudo was worth nothing and my source said how he saw fathers pimp their daughters, husbands their wives and desperate women selling their bodies to South African soldiers or anyone else for money just so they could try to have a life in South Africa.

While it should have been expected that the Liberation movements would take advantage of the refugees plight my source did point out to me that Perhaps what shocked him more than the molesting, looting and stealing was how the Portuguese refugees fleeing Angola were treated by not only terrorists but by certain members of the SADF as well. he remarked that some permanent force members also took advantage of the refugees by buying cars, trucks as well as any other items of value for next to nothing.

So on one hand we were assisting the refugees and on the other taking advantage of them with a number of soldiers getting rich off others misfortune. The camp at Oshakati was only used for a month before it was relocated to Grootfontein. What should have been seen by a young soldier as an act of kindness had only made him question his as well as South Africa’s role in Angola It also made him realize that their where good and bad soldiers and that war is not fair, no matter who’s side you’re on………………. “The Innocent suffer”. It must be said that while a number of SADF got richer by taking advantage of the war in Angola a number of Portuguese in South Africa and Swaziland also took advantage and made money out of the misery of their fellow countrymen.           

While there were those that took advantage of people in need, many refugees remember nothing but kindness from South Africans receiving them as this account  shows. “You will go back to Portugal” – that was the official reply to most requests to settle in South Africa from the Portuguese/Angolan Refugees. Unlike those from Mozambique, very few from Angola were allowed to settle in South Africa, I always  maintained that it was a mistake from the South African authorities, but that was the official orientation at the time. Nevertheless, all Angolan refugees who crossed into SWA are thankful to South Africa for all the help that was provided to us. Our profound gratitude, especially to all those South African volunteers (whole families) who waited for us at every camp with a warm plate of food and words of encouragement. I will never forget a young kid in school uniform, about my age, stopping his bicycle at a shop in a small town in South West Africa and after a few minutes emerging with his hands full of sweets that he had bought, most probably with his pocket money, approaching our car and giving it to me and my siblings. Man, it touched your soul deeply”.     

Having to flee your country as an Adult is hard but the effect it had on their children had a deep emotional influence on many of them and for many years kept their experiences buried in their subconscious. This information is from one such child.

“My family left Angola in mid 1975, my dad’s far-sight and correct reading of the situation saw us leave a few short months before the refugee exodus. Fortunately a visit to the family in SA the previous year coupled with my dad securing employment saw us leave Angola with minimum trauma and financial loss. An epic voyage in a little Mazda filled to the brim with family effects (including the pet Spaniel, who would live another 10 years) saw us leave Serpa Pinto, through Caiundo, endless sand tracks through the “terras do fim do mundo”, UNITA roadblocks, Nkurenkuru SAP post and finally Rundu. The little overloaded Mazda which was brand new and would remain in our family right into the 90’s, the little car handled it all, sand, tar and gravel. Our family came off lightly and our trauma and financial loss was negligible compared to those of the most of our friends and acquaintances’. A few short months later I would find myself visiting family friends at a refugee camp in Zonderwater, engineers, Dr’s reduced to pauper status, living on hand-out’s in muddy army tents….sad….even as a 11 year old I knew that I was no longer proud to be called Portuguese and since that time I have considered myself a South African. I am now again proud to be Portuguese but for different reasons, one of them being the way so many refugiados and retornados turned their unfavorable situation around and have led successful and productive lives”.   

While one may get upset at the harsh treatment that many refugees suffered at the hands of both the liberation movements as well as that of certain members of the SADF, what shocked me is the total lack of concern of its citizens by the Portuguese themselves and when I say Portuguese I mean the men in charge of the country at the time.

All Portuguese born in the African provinces, despite being born in a Portuguese territory, had a Portuguese ID as well as a passport, where stripped of that nationality at the time of independence. Those refugees from those provinces had to re-apply to become Portuguese citizens. This had to be done by proving that at least one of your parents or grandparents were born in Portugal and just to make things a little more difficult, despite already having fill Portuguese birth certificates issued by Portuguese authorities, you had to bring forward a witness that was not a family member to state under oath that your relatives were in fact born in Portugal. So basically they wanted is for you to prove that your parent’s and or grandparent/s were in fact the people you said they were.   

This Crazy and some say criminal conduct saw many Portuguese “stateless” for many years as the process was both slow and difficult and in many cases the declaration that was needed to prove that a parent or grandparent had been born in Portugal s done out of compassion from a complete stranger.  A number of those Angolan refugees that did manage to get permission to travel to only managed to get South African resident permits due to the kindness of the Portuguese consul in Pretoria who issued Portuguese passports needed for that.

Those refugees that landed up in Portugal were issued with a travelling document that was normally issued to non-citizens who needed to travel outside the country. To show how bizarre and hypocritical the system was, a good friend of mine who had left Angola and settled in South Africa visited Portugal in 1984, he was arrested by the army and not allowed to leave the country as he was classified as a deserter for not having reported for military service. He had to report to the Military Headquarters in Lisbon who then instructed him to report for duty at the Engineering Regiment in Lisbon so that he could start his military service. Once he was there he had to prove that he in fact lived in South Africa and he was issued with a “military passport” that had to be stamped at the border every time he entered or left the country and he was not allowed to stay in Portugal for more than 90 days a year. If a person was caught they would be arrested by the military police and forced to do military service (1 year for conscripts) .

  

The last refugees feeling Angola crossed the border in March 1976. Many organizations and government departments assisted the refugees such as the departments of welfare, labour, Interior and pensions, the SAP, SADF and SAR also assisted. Organizations such as the International Red Cross, The Vroue landbou Unie, The Rotarians, The Lions, numerous churches as well as local municipalities as well as civilian volunteers did what they could to ease the plight of the refugees as this eyewitness account indicates.

"Stephen  my father was from  Okahandia Namibia, he was a Ouderling (elder) as we called it responsible for looking after the black churches and his brother used to farm in Angola who died in a crocodile attack. The NG church asked my father to assist a group of Angolans that were crossing at Ruacana, which my father fetched and also other groups. In Okahandia there was a deserted camp of the Department of water affairs. in that area he put up a small hospital and all the farm ladies in the area divided into 2 groups, those who were cooking food, the rest were collecting clothes etc.  The camp was later swamped with refugees, but my father handled it. one of the refugees later bought a small cafe in Okahandia the whole community  Afrikaans and Germans supported him. 

When  I left for the army in 1976, his was the biggest retailer in our town. his son later became the head boy of Windhoek High School the biggest and best school in Namibia. some of those children in the camps had businesses and still stay in contact with me. when my father was old the same said Portuguese gentleman rent a house in Okahandia to him, out of what he did for the Portuguese and black tribes of Namibia".

Something that I forgot about but was reminded when I saw this photo was that many loyal black members of the Portuguese Military or DGS/PIDE were imprisoned, tortured and humiliated, many publicly because of there anti communism sentiments and when the Junta handed over power to the Nationalists, they were thrown to the wolves, some did manage to escape but far to many disappeared.
.  
   

Sources

·        Wikipedia
·         Manuel Ferreira

·         Jose de Sacadura

·         Coenie Bekker

·         Carlos A.C Moita
       Riaan Botes

·         Face book page (Portuguese soldiers in the SADF)

Vida de Refugiados/Refugee life

“Throw them to the Sharks”

Part 1

We watch war movies, read newspapers, watch new channels and see the results of all the terrible conflicts that have been and are being fought in many countries around the world, those images are beamed to our living rooms, usually while eating breakfast or an evening meal with our families in the safe environment of our homes., We ummm and ahhh about how bad it is and we may even get a tear in our eyes when we see that civilians “especially children” have been raped, maimed,  killed or chased from  their homes and forced to flee with thousands of others caught in the crossfire and since time immemorial it has been the non-combatants that have been subject to the whims of opposing forces and at times the very people defending them. Its only since the advent of TV and it access to the masses that we have actually seen what it means to be a refugee, prior to that unless you had actually been a refugee it would probably be hard to imagine what trauma losing everything you have worked for would look or feel like. 

    

I set up this Blog to honour those military men and women who have performed extraordinary deeds for their countries against all odds, and after reading comments written on a Facebook site called (Portuguese soldiers of the SADF), where a picture was posted of Portuguese refugees fleeing Angola in 1975, I really felt that those ordinary Portuguese men, women and children fell into that category and decided that I would write about their plight/s and at the same time dedicate this particular Blog to all refugees, past, present and future who have borne, or will bear the brunt of  ethnic cleansing, tribalism, politics, greed, religion, or whatever other pretext is used by men to justify the indiscriminate slaughter of innocents.

Another reason I decided to look into this subject and write something about it was that little or no information regards Portuguese refugees was or has been published in English (there are lots of Portuguese books that cover the subject), but for us that don’t speak the language reading up about this period in Southern African History is a little difficult, so I hope that this Blog will go a small way in reminding people of South Africa as well as other countries in the world what amazing resilience and determination these men, women and children showed in not only rebuilding their own lives and integrating into another country that had different cultures and language/s but making lasting contributions to all facets of society with many going on to defend South Africa’s borders with the ultimate sacrifice.    

     

Like many South Africans/Rhodesians of my age I remember while living in Vanderbijlpark that we had in influx of children into my high school in the mid 70’s, kids with names like Joao, Carlos, Emelio and Manuel. I remember being particularly enamored with a dark haired beauty called Celia. While initially they battled to fit in, it did not take long before they became “part of the furniture” and firm friends, what we did not realize at the time however was what they had endured to be in South Africa and how difficult it must have been for them to fit in.    

Other memories of that influx of Portuguese refugees are the following.

“I was in Std 8 (1975) when the 1^st group of their children arrived in Potchefstroom, there was a large Portuguese community in Potch and had probably advised their expat families to send their kids through to Potch Boys, Potch girls and Central, the primary school. What struck me immediately was how they, as young people who had just undergone a massively calamitous event in their lives knuckled down and continued with life. Most spoke reasonable English but no Afrikaans, but they didn’t let that get them down. The parents set the example by going out and looking for employment ASAP, no sitting around and dwelling on their situation, not many others would have been able to do that” (Kevin Fitgerald)      

 “I grew up in Chiredzi in the Rhodesian Lowveld. I can remember the families who arrived with their life’s possessions on the roof of old Citroens, etc from Mozambique. Kids came in to the local primary school speaking little English and had to find their feet. I seem to recall these families being given a very positive reception by a primarily farming community where local sugar mills put their skills to use and ensured the opportunity to get back on their feet. It must have been a very tough time because the Bush war was also hotting up and they were quickly expected to do their bit. It must have seemed at times like they went from the fire back into the frying pan”. (Charles Evans).

A few definitions of a refugee are:

•      “Somebody who seeks or takes refuge in a foreign country, especially to avoid war or  persecution”.
• 
  
• ·        “A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster

• ·   “One who flees in search of refuge, as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution”
• 
  
• ·      “One that flees; especially : a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution”

No matter what definition you use, the common thread is that you have to flee from your home with very little due to war or persecution and that you are normally in grave danger of being traumatized or killed and the likelihood of you returning is very unlikely. There can probably be no worse feeling than having to flee a country that you have considered home, that your grandparents and great grandparents had helped to pioneer, where you have sunk your life’s work and seen it destroyed and then to arrive in a foreign country with little or no money in your pocket and have to depend on the generosity and kindness of strangers. This happened to close to three quarters of a  million Portuguese citizens of Angola, Guinea Bissau and Mozambique who after the MFA controlled Portuguese government handed over power to the respective countries terrorist organizations were forced to flee the chaos that invariably ensues after a country is handed over, or forcibly taken by so called Liberation groups.

I for one has to admire both the attitude as well as the resilience of those families that endured being forced to leave their homes subjected to deprivations at the hands of not only drunken or doped up nationalist terrorists ,but also the very people they would have expected to protect them. I was shocked to learn that the newly appointed  Portuguese Foreign Minister, Mario Soares when asked about the fate of those living in the colonies, his reply was “Atira-los aos Tubaroes”/”Throw them to the Sharks” and this asshole went on to become  Prime minister of Portugal 1976 – 1978 and 1983 – 1985 as well as become  17^th President of Portugal from 1986 – 1996.      

How can one not admire people that, as you will see saw everything they had worked for taken away, saw family members murdered, disappear as well as loved ones molested and raped in front of them and still managed to start afresh with their lives, whether that was in South Africa, Rhodesia, Portugal or Brazil. 

Some people fled after only having a day’s notice to pack up what belongings they could, many left behind factories, farms, large houses as well as furniture and clothing. They arrived with no jobs, no homes and many had to rely on the help of families or strangers to get them through those early days.      

  

Thousands ended up in Lisbon after deciding not to settle in South Africa or Rhodesia. Portugal was not ready to have them descend on its shores and many returnees had to camp in sheds, family farms, churches or in the living rooms of relatives. Many had been born in the colonies or had been young when they had left Portugal, so it must have been a traumatic time for them and to make it worse their return was not welcomed by the majority of Portuguese who saw them as internal strangers. Many felt (wrongly) that those returning in fact did not want to work, as they had lived a life of luxury in Africa were the blacks did everything for them and all they did was sit and drink coffee in café’s.

Those people that fled the former Portuguese colonies were called Retornados,“the returnees” this was seen as a derogatory name. Retornados clung to memories of how it was and the lucky ones who had managed to bring with them photo albums would look at photos of beautiful gardens, children’s birthday parties or pet monkeys, those not so lucky would reminisce of walks on white beaches as well as the fun times at one of the side walk cafes in Lunada or LM. Something that many people either don’t realise or have forgotten is that unlike other colonialists the Portuguese intermarried more with the locals and therefore Africa is in their blood and that blood was left behind, either in the African soil or in the offspring that they had fathered. 

The white population of Guinea Bissau was very small so the numbers of refugees from that country was minimal, the two colonies that were most affected were Angola and Mozambique. I thought for continuity sake I would look at each one individually and give a brief overview as to how and why so many people’s lives were disrupted and irrevocably changed.

Angola’s war had started in 1961 with the unexpected attacks by the UPA in the North of Angola that saw at least 1200 white settlers as well as thousands of blacks massacred.  While this action by the UPA was both unexpected and brutal, it was to be the catalyst of Angola’s economic growth, so much so that by the early 1970s it was the 2^nd biggest economy in Africa and growing faster than South Africa, in fact the war against the 3 Nationalist movements was so good for the economy, the people of Angola and the country’s infrastructure that had the Angolans seriously considering erecting a monument to say thank you to UNITA, MPLA and FNLA.

Mozambique’s war started 3 years after Angola’s and the fighting mainly happened up North with those in the cities, especially LM  not having any real idea as to what the military situation was like, also in Mozambique the Security forces were only fighting Frelimo.   

While this particular story is not specifically about the military or political situation in Portugal’s colonies, I do believe it pertinent to briefly discuss the reasons that Angolans and Mozambicans in particular had to leave their lives behind and start afresh for those readers that may not have any understanding of the history of Portugal, its people’s and its colonies.

Portugal’s fight to retain their African colonies was and still is unparalleled in modern history. Portugal was the first European empire to colonise Africa and the last to leave in 1975, more than 10 years after all the other European countries had given independence to their African possessions.  The French, Belgian and British on the whole abandoned their colonies when the pressure became untenable, Portugal however decided to hold on with a resolve that surprised many. This is not surprising seeing that the colonies where seen as a source of pride in the twilight of Portugal’s imperial power that had commenced with the “age of discoveries”, Portugal, as the various liberation groupings were to find out, would not give them up without a struggle.   

Holden Roberto (FNLA)

In Angola the Portuguese had to deal with 3 nationalist movements, but were fortunate that they initially spent more time fighting each other than the Portuguese security forces, but in the early 70’s MPLA and FNLA decided that joint effort was needed to rid Angola of the Portuguese. In late 1972 a meeting took place between the 2 movements in Brazzaville under the guidance of the OAU to establish a common front on military as well as political issues in Angola.

UNITA on the other hand decided to negotiate with the Portuguese and signed an agreement with them under the code-name “Operation Madeira”, this in turn saw the MPLA court the Cubans, in 1973 Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere persuade the Chinese to back the FNLA  over the MPLA who had been funded by the Chinese since 1970.

The MPLA however had seen that developments in the country necessitated the reorganization and restructuring of their organization. In September 1973 UNITA ended its agreement with the Portuguese and soon after this saw an offensive against them by the Portuguese that had no parallel with any of those that had been launched against either the MPLA or FNLA. 1973 also saw the formation of the Captains movement made up of disgruntled junior officers, mainly Captains who aligned themselves with the Communist party. The name changed to the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) and by the end of 1973 were a large dissident group whose members were drawn across the entire political spectrum.

        

Plans took place in Portugal for a coup d’ etat and high ranking military officers such as Generals Spinola and Gomes openly defied Premier Caentano’s policy of keeping Africa as part of the Portuguese mainland, for this defiance they were fired. The various factions within the MFA could not agree if links between Portugal and its African colonies should be dissolved and all Portuguese troops withdrawn immediately or that there should be a gradual and structured handover of power but that the colonies would for part of a Portuguese Federation. This confusion or Lack of cohesion within the ranks of the MFA was to follow them beyond the Lisbon coup of 25 April 1974.

In Angola UNITA took advantage of this confusion and on 26 April they ambushed a Portuguese company near Alto – Cuito and wiped them out – this was seen as a major blow for Portugal, not to mention what the civilian population in Angola, already nervous about the Lisbon coup, must have been wondering what the future held for them and Angola. 

In July 1974  Spinola, who had taken over the reins of power after the coup bowed to the wishes of the Officers in the MFA that favoured immediate independence of Angola, Guinea - Bissau and Mozambique. The MPLA, FNLA and UNITA in July 74, after a heated meeting agreed to negotiate as a single political organization with the Portuguese. It was doomed for failure as all 3 jockeyed for position and wanted to become the next government of Angola.

The South African Consol General in Luanda after a meeting with the newly appointed Governor General, Admiral Coutinho, also known as the “Red Admiral” due to his Communist affiliations as well as other influential Angolan citizens warned the South African government Angola was on the slippery slope to a civil war and also advised that the South African government should not become involved in backing any particular group.

Lisbon was anxious to give its African Colonies their freedom, in Mozambique they had negotiated with Frelimo and the Lusaka accord had been signed on 7 September 1974 this agreement saw Portugal formally recognizing the right of the Mozambican people to independence and also agreed as to a transition period when the country would be administered by the Portuguese and Frelimo until its independence at 1 minute past midnight on 25 June 1975. In Angola the Portuguese had the added problem of trying to negotiate with 3 nationalist movements that is why Angola was the last of the African colonies to gain its independence which was declared on 11 November 1975.

This date was agreed upon by the 3 movements and the Portuguese in Alvor, Portugal between 10-15 January 1975, this became known as the “Alves Accord” it was also agreed that Angola would be governed by a transitional government comprising all the parties who had signed the agreement. The Portuguese Had deliberately excluded those wanting independence for Cabinda as well as the any White dominated political party.

A new Angola defence force was established comprising 48 000 men, 24 000 would be supplied by Portugal and 8000 men from each of the movements. It soon became apparent however that Portugal had neither the commitment nor the means to ensure that the agreement succeeded and as for UNITA, FNLA and the MPLA hostility, suspicion and badly trained/disciplined men would lead them on the path to Civil war as the South African Consol General had foreseen months before.  

Jonas Savimbi

On 31 January the transitional government was sworn in but the truce between the 3 Nationalist movements was very fragile with Neto, Roberto and Savimbi jockeying for power and looking to become Angola’s first black president, “no matter the cost”. The MPLA fought amongst themselves, the FNLA used this to consolidate its position in the country and as for UNITA thsy asked South Africa for assistance. By June the OAU interceded and demanded that Savimbi, Neto and Roberto get together and settle their differences, this was not to happen and soon after fighting between the movements broke out with heavy fighting taking place in Luanda between the MPLA and FNLA. On 27 July 1975 the MLA declared war on the FNLA and soon after UNITA declared war on the MPLA, each of the protagonists looking to expand their sphere of influence in Angola, but it was the MPLA that gained territory much faster than its 2 rivals.     

Portuguese troops in Luanda

By the end of August Lunada was firmly in MPLA hands, this caused panic amongst the white population, especially after political prisoners were released from jail and armed by the MPLA, with that the relationship between black and white Angolans became very hostile. Houses were burgled, whites were openly harassed on the streets and in extreme cases women and even young girls molested or raped, sometimes in full view of passers-by or the Portuguese military, who to their everlasting shame stood by and allowed their own people to be treated this way. As can be imagined the situation in Luanda was chaotic and as the date for independence came closer the white population started to realize that they need to leave the country. 

The situation was no better in other major centers or towns in Angola with the MPLA and the FNLA in particular fighting for superiority this resulted in both whites as well as non MPLA or FNLA supporters heading for Luanda in an attempt to escape the death and destruction. Accounts from that time tell of heartache and loss. The USA arranged planes to assist in evacuating refugees, as did Germany, France and South Africa, this initiative certainly saved the lives of many men, women and children. I was under the impression that the Portuguese had sent no planes to assist in the evacuation of its own citizens, however this is not correct and thanks to Mr. Carlos A C Moita, I can advise that that the TAP (Portuguese Airlines) did in fact send their 747-200's to assist in collecting refugees from Luanda airport. This happened due to a man all but forgotten,  Lt Col Antonio Goncalves Ribeiro who refused to accept the indifference of the Portuguese government and badgered the MFA dominated government to assist in getting Portuguese citizens out of Angola.   

Information from a draft UK defence statement, dated 1976 that i received from a Mr Roy Nelson indicates that a total of 42 flights by RAF VC 10 aircraft were made during September and October 1975 that assisted in the evacuation of 5658 refugees from Angola to Portugal.   

Recently reading the book Banana Sunday "datelines from Africa" by Christopher Munnion he writes that soon after independence fighting broke out in Luanda between the MPLA and its coalition partners, the FNLA and UNITA with heavy gunfire and rocket launchers being the order of the day, buildings were daubed with political graffiti and all the pavement cafes closed. 

Soviet ships were lining up at the docks to offload war material and the hotels started to fill up with both Russian`and Cuban advisers. Jonas Savimbi gallantly tried to hold the coalition together but he and his men soon retreated from Luanda to the bush. The FNLA put up a last gasped effort to regain control of the city before they too had to flee northwards to Zaire. The FNLA made a stand at the old fort of Sao Pedro da Barra that overlooks Luanda. here they held on for 3 days against all odds before deciding that they had no chance of taking on the MPLA in a toe to toe street fight.

I came across this eye witness account by the Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski "I don't know if there had ever been an instance of a whole city sailing across the ocean, but this is exactly what happened" He then goes on to describe the rapid decay of Luanda, water ran short and then the pumps ran dry." I walked around dirty, needing something to drink so badly that i came down with a fever and saw orange spots before my eyes" 

The Police,the Firemen, the garbage collectors had all left, mountain of garbage stated to fill the streets, walking through streets became a huge effort and with its hot and humid climate it did not take long for the mounds of rubbish to rot and ferment which in turn ensured that the city stank.  it got so bad that all the cats in the city that had been abandoned by their owners started to die by feeding on rotten food. after a couple of days in the heat and humidity they bloated up to the size of small pigs with huge black flies swarming over their bodies..............The odour must have been unbearable.

The trickle of refugees that started in early 1975, became a flood mid-year and peaked by November, convoys that had been put together had to run the gauntlet of 3 sets of roadblocks manned by drunk and doped up ill disciplined members of UNITA, MPLA and FNLA.

Mozambicans unlike their Angolan counterparts had decided to fight back against the signing of the Lusaka accord and on the very day it was signed an unsuccessful  peoples revolt that was to last 4 days and scuttled a planned coup that had been set up for 20 September. While a large number of Mozambicans decided to flee the country soon after the coup attempt 7-10 September 1974 and were also harassed by Frelimo cadres or supporters of Frelimo, the majority left after October when a fire fight between a group of Commando’s and a Frelimo foot patrol in central LM led to the indiscriminate killing of a number of whites in that country.     

Stephen Dunkley

Port Elizabeth

10 August 2013

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