South African troops occupied seven towns in southern Angola in late July in a major invasion involving an infantry brigade, a motorised infantry battalion, and two mixed battalions of South African troops and mercenaries, according to a statement issued by the Angolan Ministry of Defence in Luanda on 29 July 1981.
The troops, backed by Impala jets and Puma and Alouette helicopters, penetrated Angola's southern province of Kunene in the region of Ngiva. The statement noted that, in the first two weeks of July, troop movements which had already begun in the last half of June began to take the form of an invasion. A command post had been set up at Mulemba, and the towns of Nehone, Ndova, Mupa, Evale, Chana, Caiolua and the village of Mutako were occupied. Mutako had been completely destroyed.
At the time the communique was issued, a motorised South African infantry battalion was proceeding towards the north of Cuvelai rural district about 120 miles from the Namibian border, while the South African air force was maintaining tight control over the airspace of the entire Kunene Province. South African troops and mercenaries, backed by helicopter units, were constantly attacking civilians and military vehicles on a number of main roads in the area.
The Defence Ministry communique called on Angola's armed forces, the paramilitary forces and the whole population to reinforce the country's defence system and evict the invaders.
The South African Defence Minister, General Malan, denied reports of the invasion, claiming that no large-scale operations were taking place. He added that follow-up and hot-pursuit operations were constantly carried out against SWAPO guerillas in southern Angola.
However, South Africa's policy of intensified aggression against Angola had been outlined by the Supreme Military Commander in Namibia, Major General Charles Lloyd, at a briefing given to journalists in Oshakati on 13 July. In what was described by the Windhoek Observer as "one of the more momentous announcements by the armed forces", Gen. Lloyd said that it would be military policy in future to strike at SWAPO bases inside Angola instead of pursuing individual guerillas inside Namibia. "We are going to go for the nest of wasps, instead of looking for the single wasp", Lloyd said.
Commenting on SADF strategy, the South African Broadcasting Corporation said that "the declared aim of Namibia's military authorities now is the total destruction of SWAPO's military strength. The security forces have been pursuing the fleeing terrorists right up to their bases and have wiped them out. There is a growing belief that a negotiated independence settlement for South West Africa/Namibia can be achieved only after the destruction of SWAPO's military machine, to force it to take part in the process on the same footing as the other parties".
The South African invasion means further destruction of Angola's economic infrastructure which has been severely damaged by continuous raids, and is forcing the Angolan government to divert increasing resources towards the defence of the country. At a press conference in Lisbon on 28 July 1981, the Secretary of the Angolan MPLA Workers' Party, Lucio Lara, said that South African attacks were causing his government to devote over 50 per cent of its budget to defence.
Prior to the invasion, an indication of the new South African policy of aggression was already given in official military statistics listing the total number of SWAPO guerillas killed over the year to July 1981 as 700. 225 of these were reported killed over the four week period from mid-June onwards, and 130 in the course of "intensive counter-insurgency operations" over the 12 days prior to 16 July. These operations were described by the Windhoek Observer as having been conducted by "South African shock troops" who "converged on various targets in the south of Angola in a strike which, for its murderous sting, has had few parallels in the long and bloody bush war".
The South African military authorities maintained that no contact with Angolan armed forces (FAPLA) units had occurred, and that the South African troops involved were under orders to avoid contact both with FAPLA and with Angolan civilians. However, Luanda radio reported that 127 people, mostly Namibian civilian refugees but also including Angolan soldiers, had been killed in the series of raids. Airborne specialist troops are being used to 'soften up' targets inside Angola, operating in close liaison with South African ground troops.
According to a statement issued by the Central Committee of the MPLA-Workers Party on 20 June 1981, South African attacks on Angola during the first six months of 1981 reached "a degree of intensity and continuity not previously seen since the South African-led invasion of Angola in 1975-76". South African forces mounted a total of 472 reconnaissance flights into Angola from the beginning of 1981 up to 20 June. Other acts of aggression over this period included: * 22 incidents of strafing from the air * 30 bombing raids * 111 landings of heliported troops * 4 incidents of dropping paratroopers * 2 incidents of artillery shelling * 22 build-ups of forces and material in addition to hundreds of civilians and military killed and wounded; the destruction of transport facilities, social and economic targets; the demolition of six bridges, the destruction of entire villages including the Evale commune; and the destruction of roadway infrastructure in the south of Angola.
