Shadows in the Sand: A Koevoet Tracker's Story of an Insurgency War
Namibia South West African Police Counterinsurgency, Sisingi Kamongo, Leon BezuidenhoutWhere dust can tell time ... for the first time, a Koevoet operative’s story of the bush war
This is the story of a Kavango tracker who served for six years with Koevoet (‘Crowbar’), the elite South African Police anti-terrorist unit, during the South West African–Angolan bush war of the ’80s. Most white team leaders lasted only two years;
the black trackers walked the tracks for years. Sisingi Kamongo tells the story of the 50 or so firefights he was involved in; he survived five anti-personnel mine and POMZ explosions and an RPG rocket on his Casspir APC vehicle; he was wounded three times; he tells of the trackers looking for the shadows on the ground, facing ambush and AP mines at every turn; he tells of the art of tracking ... where dust can tell time. Kamongo’s story is supported by two accounts from renowned Koevoet team leaders, Herman Grobler and Francois du Toit—a powerful collection of experiences from South Africa’s most successful counter-insurgency unit.