Angola achieved independence from Portugal on November 11, 1975 and by February 29, 1976, the last of the colonial Portuguese forces had withdrawn. Cuban forces (acting as Russia's proxies in the Cold War) began to move into Angola in April 1975 to support the communist-backed MPLA (People's Liberation Army) and to help them to gain power in the post-colonial power vacuum. South Africa's minority white government faced the prospect of a communist state bordering SWA, then a territory administered in terms of a mandate received after World War I.

The South African government, with the covert assistance of the CIA, began assisting the pro-western factions, Unita and the FNLA. According to some sources, the conflict changed from a struggle against colonialism to a Cold War conflict between the Russians and the West.

In the latter half of 1975, South African forces entered Angola during Operation SAVANAH and within thirty three days had covered two-thirds of Southern Angola, stopping within artillery range of the Angolan capital of Luanda. They had also landed paratroopers north of Luanda and were poised to move into the capital. The operation was kept secret from the public and news broke only in the West while South Africans remained in the dark.

The very real danger of a major broadening conflict and escalation of the Cold War loomed. However, during the Watergate era the United States Congress found out about the CIA's support of South Africa and forced them to withdraw. Although South Africa, which by then had beaten back the Cubans and the MPLA, could have have annexed the entire country, it was hamstrung by lack of American support for the war. Just before Christmas 1975, the decision was made not to enter the Angolan Capital but rather to scale back the operation from a full scale conflict to one of creating a buffer zone and defending the bottom one-third. of Angola - the part bordering on its territories. This is almost identical to what Israel did in Lebanon.

The Angolan War waged on for some thirteen years before the SADF were finally defeated at the Battle of Cuito Carnevale and forced to retreat to South West Africa, now Namibia.

Opposition to the Angolan War

According to Roger Field, the Committee on South African War Resistance (COSAWR), an organisation of exiled conscientious objectors, was formed in the aftermath of South Africa’s invasion of Angola in 1975 and the Soweto uprising the following year. Its aim was to raise international awareness about the role of the SADF and to provide support to objectors in exile.

Opposition to South Africa's invasion of Angola continued through organizations such as the End Conscription Campaign, which was active on various campuses in the country from 1983-1988 when it was banned by the Botha government.

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