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Constand Viljoen
General Constand Laubscher Viljoen SSA SD SOE SM MMM (28 October 1933 – 3 April 2020) was a South African Army officer and politician. As the Chief of the South African Defense Forces from 1980 – 1985, he oversaw military attacks on the anti-apartheid movement both within South Africa and neighbouring countries. During South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy, he co-founded the Afrikaner Volksfront, a separatist group, and planned to lead an armed insurgency. After participating in discussions with Nelson Mandela and leading a failed armed incursion in Bophuthatswana, Viljoen left the Volksfront and founded the Freedom Front political party. His decision to participate in elections was instrumental in quashing the plans of white separatists to pursue armed insurgency. He served seven years in parliament.
In 1933, Viljoen and his identical twin brother, Abraham (Braam), were born in the town of Standerton, Mpumalanga. Their ancestors were 17th century European settlers. During the Anglo-Boer war, their father Andries had been interned in a concentration camp as a child with his mother and his siblings while his father fought the British in a Boer militia.
Constand and Braam grew up on Potfontein, the family farm. Viljoen graduated from Standerton High School in 1951. His political views differed from his family's: they supported Jan Smuts and the United Party, while he supported the National Party. His brother Braam became an anti-apartheid activist, theology professor, and clergyman. Viljoen was interested in fighting insurgencies.
He joined South Africa's pre-republic Union Defence Force at the Military Gymnasium in Voortrekkerhoogte for the Permanent Force Cadet Course of which he won the "Best Student" in 1952. He studied at the Military Academy from 1953 and graduated as Best Student in 1955 receiving a degree in military science at the University of Pretoria. He was among others Aide de Camp to Dr EG Jansen, Battery Commander at 4 Field Regiment, Instructor at the School of Artillery and Armour, OC 14 Field Regiment in Bethlehem, OC School of Artillery. Second in Command Orange Free State Command in 1968.
Col Viljoen qualified as a paratrooper at this time in Bloemfontein. OC Army College, Director of Artillery (on the staff of the Chief of the Army) and Director Management Services (on the staff of the Chief of Defence Staff). By 1974, Viljoen had been named the South African Army's Director of General Operations, subsequently serving as the Principal Staff Officer to the Chief of the South African Defence Force. He was appointed as Chief of the Army in 1977 and succeeded General Magnus Malan as Chief of the South African Defence Force in 1980. He was awarded the Master Gunner badge (crossed-barrels) in 1984.
Viljoen was the senior SADF military officer directing Operation Savannah in 1975.[citation needed]
Viljoen is credited with having planned the first major airborne assault in South African military history, the Battle of Cassinga, in 1978 in Angola. Despite his rank, Viljoen was present, offering what was described as a "swashbuckling" front-line leadership, which won him the respect of many fellow soldiers. According to Viljoen, it was an attack on a base belonging to SWAPO, the Namibian independence movement. The incident is also known as the Cassinga massacre. According to scholar Annette Hubschle and others, the attack killed more than 600 people, mostly civilians, in a refugee camp. In 1998, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released a report holding Viljoen responsible for the attack, which it condemned as a human rights violation. In 2007, Viljoen stated that some civilians were present but that most of the dead were fighters.
In 1980, the newly elected prime minister P.W. Botha selected Viljoen as Chief of the SADF, a position he held until he retired in 1985. Of the black soldiers in the SADF, he once stated: "If they can fight for South Africa, then they can vote for South Africa." Viljoen considered the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress, to be weak, believing that the SADF could indefinitely hold them off. According to Viljoen, the ANC started a "people's war" in the townships. The SADF's armed operations to repress the ANC harmed the South African government's reputation to the rest of the world. In the 1980s, white rule ended in Rhodesia and South Africa was experiencing increased international isolation. Viljoen and other military leaders urged the South African government to negotiate with the anti-apartheid movement as soon as possible, stating: "you end up in a much weaker position than if you had tackled the thing politically at the right moment.”
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Constand Viljoen
General Constand Laubscher Viljoen SSA SD SOE SM MMM (28 October 1933 – 3 April 2020) was a South African Army officer and politician. As the Chief of the South African Defense Forces from 1980 – 1985, he oversaw military attacks on the anti-apartheid movement both within South Africa and neighbouring countries. During South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy, he co-founded the Afrikaner Volksfront, a separatist group, and planned to lead an armed insurgency. After participating in discussions with Nelson Mandela and leading a failed armed incursion in Bophuthatswana, Viljoen left the Volksfront and founded the Freedom Front political party. His decision to participate in elections was instrumental in quashing the plans of white separatists to pursue armed insurgency. He served seven years in parliament.
In 1933, Viljoen and his identical twin brother, Abraham (Braam), were born in the town of Standerton, Mpumalanga. Their ancestors were 17th century European settlers. During the Anglo-Boer war, their father Andries had been interned in a concentration camp as a child with his mother and his siblings while his father fought the British in a Boer militia.
Constand and Braam grew up on Potfontein, the family farm. Viljoen graduated from Standerton High School in 1951. His political views differed from his family's: they supported Jan Smuts and the United Party, while he supported the National Party. His brother Braam became an anti-apartheid activist, theology professor, and clergyman. Viljoen was interested in fighting insurgencies.
He joined South Africa's pre-republic Union Defence Force at the Military Gymnasium in Voortrekkerhoogte for the Permanent Force Cadet Course of which he won the "Best Student" in 1952. He studied at the Military Academy from 1953 and graduated as Best Student in 1955 receiving a degree in military science at the University of Pretoria. He was among others Aide de Camp to Dr EG Jansen, Battery Commander at 4 Field Regiment, Instructor at the School of Artillery and Armour, OC 14 Field Regiment in Bethlehem, OC School of Artillery. Second in Command Orange Free State Command in 1968.
Col Viljoen qualified as a paratrooper at this time in Bloemfontein. OC Army College, Director of Artillery (on the staff of the Chief of the Army) and Director Management Services (on the staff of the Chief of Defence Staff). By 1974, Viljoen had been named the South African Army's Director of General Operations, subsequently serving as the Principal Staff Officer to the Chief of the South African Defence Force. He was appointed as Chief of the Army in 1977 and succeeded General Magnus Malan as Chief of the South African Defence Force in 1980. He was awarded the Master Gunner badge (crossed-barrels) in 1984.
Viljoen was the senior SADF military officer directing Operation Savannah in 1975.[citation needed]
Viljoen is credited with having planned the first major airborne assault in South African military history, the Battle of Cassinga, in 1978 in Angola. Despite his rank, Viljoen was present, offering what was described as a "swashbuckling" front-line leadership, which won him the respect of many fellow soldiers. According to Viljoen, it was an attack on a base belonging to SWAPO, the Namibian independence movement. The incident is also known as the Cassinga massacre. According to scholar Annette Hubschle and others, the attack killed more than 600 people, mostly civilians, in a refugee camp. In 1998, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released a report holding Viljoen responsible for the attack, which it condemned as a human rights violation. In 2007, Viljoen stated that some civilians were present but that most of the dead were fighters.
In 1980, the newly elected prime minister P.W. Botha selected Viljoen as Chief of the SADF, a position he held until he retired in 1985. Of the black soldiers in the SADF, he once stated: "If they can fight for South Africa, then they can vote for South Africa." Viljoen considered the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress, to be weak, believing that the SADF could indefinitely hold them off. According to Viljoen, the ANC started a "people's war" in the townships. The SADF's armed operations to repress the ANC harmed the South African government's reputation to the rest of the world. In the 1980s, white rule ended in Rhodesia and South Africa was experiencing increased international isolation. Viljoen and other military leaders urged the South African government to negotiate with the anti-apartheid movement as soon as possible, stating: "you end up in a much weaker position than if you had tackled the thing politically at the right moment.”
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