The covert war : Koevoet operations, Namibia 1979-1989

This is the detailed history of the elite policing unit operated by the South African forces on its Namibian border during the 1980s.

The unit was handled by the top secret Project Koevoet ('crowbar') to provide operational intelligence by capturing and interrogating insurgents, but its commander came to realise that Namibia was different from the Rhodesian situation.

So, the team reverted to basic police work, building informer networks, recruiting black police officers and skilled trackers.

In its ten-year existence Koevoet fought in 1,615 encounters and took 3,225 prisoners.

But after heroically repelling SWAPO's invasion of Namibia in April 1989, the unit was ignominiously disbanded and its black members disgracefully abandoned.