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July 2, 2008
 By Diane de Beer
Linda de Jager grew up in the wind-washed harbour town of Walvis Bay, the last enclave of the South African mandate over that country – then South West Africa, now Namibia.
As a child she often heard old men arguing, sometimes until late at night, about South African politics and even though still young, she knew these were heated discussions and that the participants were angry with one another.
Much later, as the producer of Grensoorlog, it was these fiery emotions that she wanted to capture in her first 26-part series. The original idea came from radio personality Derrich Gardner, who was given South African Defence Force (SADF) archive access.
The mandate she gave herself was to understand the conflict, where this battle, that lasted more than two decades, originated and how two such different points of view would end up slugging it out.
Importantly though, she knew she had to get all the historical facts correct and that she would need all the participants to tell their stories.
“Emotions often result in ‘bad memories’, so I often had to double-check details in history books, often in itself one-sided,” she notes.
And this is what makes this series unique, because it shows both sides for the first time.
But it was the culture of secrecy that she grew up around – what was really behind those fences surrounding the army base in her hometown – that she wanted to unravel as adult producer.
“And what, for example, lurked behind the words Rooi Gevaar (red danger) and communism,” she says. “It was an extremely satisfying moment to hear the Russian perspective of veterans who had fought in Angola during the border wars,” she adds.
And this is what she hopes she can give the viewer who watches the series – a feeling of release. So many people who participated in those wars or were simply on the sidelines, were familiar with some of the facts, but never the full story. De Jager believes the series brings us closer to the who, why and where of the border war.
She introduces the different political players of the time, including people like Chester Crocker (the American face), Pik Botha as well as the current Namibian Minister of Defence, Charles Namoloh. And then juxtaposes that with the perceptions and experiences of the foot soldiers.
When she finally tracked down the first Swapo cadre who crossed the Namibian border with a gun and subsequently trained many others, it was a huge relief.
“It was extremely tough to find the people (on all sides) and then convince them to talk,” she explains.
She also managed to get SADF’s General Jannie Geldenhuys and SADF war veteran Eddie Viljoen as well as Swapo’s Charles Namoloh (Minister of Defence) and Martin Shalie (head of the Namibian Defence Force) around one table.
“It was a year of pleading,” she says, but worth the effort, because it is this kind of footage that gives the series its weight and credibility.
One of the things that astonished the producer was her limited perception of the border war.
In her research, with the help of Tienie du Plessis, publisher with an interest in military history; Professor Ian Liebenberg, from the Saldanha Military Academy; and Johan Potgieter, former soldier as well as mulitmedia journalist Wes- sel van Rensburg, the far-reaching effects of the war caught her unawares . That and the fact that the battles, especially in the last phase, (late ’80s) were so fierce.
Professor Liebenberg had access to the Cuban archives and photos as well as photos made available by the Moscow Institute of African Studies which have never been seen in SA. When Ruda Landman joined the team, in the last phase of production, that added another dimension, because of her experience and gravitas.
“It was wonderful to have that experience without emotional attachment to the series on board,” explains De Jager.
She was often overwhelmed by the scope of what she was trying to achieve and the breadth of this epic tale set against the background of the fall of colonialism. And she was constantly reminded of the many wounds that still fester, the physical and emotional hardships that are part of so many lives still today.
“For many people the pain of the border war is still piercing and many, on both sides, lost family and friends.”
It took her hours to find balance in everything she wanted to portray and to tell a story with a chronological timeline. Single episodes stand alone, but the importance of the series lies in the full picture, which tells a complete story as key incidents of the time are highlighted.
And for many, it is the zeitgeist so magnificently captured that will take them back to days when things were very different.
As one soldier notes: “I think there is a bigger ideology than oneself. One must fight for our group. It is now the rainbow nation, not only the Afrikaner.” |
