Private funding is required to record the stories of the military veterans from the South African Defence Force (SADF)

The Stories of the SADF Military Veterans Foundation NPC, Registration number 2019/466755/08 (the Project Ambassador) promotes this project and conducts fund raisings so that it can instruct the SADF Military Veterans Interviews Proprietary Limited, Registration number 2020/041167/07 (the Production Company) to film interviews with military veterans and their loved ones. It also sources existing material which can be utilised for the purpose of the project. These interviews and material are then edited into clips which are preserved on the public site under the different topics for viewing by the general public. This project is not funded with government funds. Until government funding can be secured this project will have to rely on a funding model based on the goodwill and support of military veterans and the general public who subscribe to the membership site to sponsor the publication of a clip on the public site.

Recognition for your support of the project.

The member site for The Stories of the SADF Military Veterans website is where the subscribers can preview the clips of the interviews which are not published on the public site of the website yet, and access thereto is gained by subscribing to the member site and paying the membership fees.

  • Your membership fee allows you access with a username and password to the member site where you can preview the next 64 clips before the public can see it.
  • Your membership fee also allows one of these 64 clips to be transferred from the member site to the public site where the general public can view it, while this transferred clip gets replaced with a new clip to keep the total clips available on the member site at a constantly changing 64 clips.

When this clip appears on the public site your name as sponsor of this clip will be added to the information relating to the clip to give you recognition for your contribution to this project, unless you prefer your support to be made anonymously.

Guidelines to help with the preparation for the interview to tell your story

The interview will not consist of one long uninterrupted interview but of several short individual interviews consisting of single stories of 30 seconds up to 5 to 7 minutes on the 16 topics set out below. This gives the story teller some respite with breaks between the interviews to gather his thoughts and prepare himself for the next interview. Some stories cannot be told within 5 or 7 minutes and those stories too will be accommodated. Other stories can, as in the case of a story about a military operation or exercise, be broken down into different segments like stories about the planning, movement to the target, the attack, consolidation after the battle, etc.

These stories will, after the producers completed the editing thereof, get uploaded on a website where the stories of our SADF military veterans will be preserved permanently. These stories are stored specifically in this shortened format instead of long winding interviews in order to keep the attention of the viewers, and also not to deplete their data with on long story. The story teller may tell as many stories per topic as he wishes. This is an opportunity for the story teller to get off his chests all that he wanted to after all these years, and also to paint a realistic picture to the general public of what it was to be a soldier in the South African Defence Force.  If the story teller thinks of more stories to tell after the first interview we will ensure that this is attended to.

Your personal background and overview of your career or time spent in uniform in the SADF/SANDF

The very first interview will start where the story teller tells who he is, where and when he was born, who his people are, how he ended up in the SADF/SANDF – as national serviceman, volunteer or career soldier with information about the Citizen Force or commandos too and where he is now in terms of his journey through life.

Next will follow a short summary of your military service – which year he reported to his first unit, how old he was then, where the unit was, which corps this unit fitted into, what was done at that unit, the people he met at the unit and the staff members who served at that unit. He can give a short description of each unit where he served with reference to the years when he served there, as well  mentioning the names of the people with whom you served.

The different topics for your stories

The pointers with each of the topics here below will assist you with your preparations to tell your story before the camera. Please peruse these points and ponder about it while you organise your thoughts for the interview, but you are more than welcome to use your own pointers to tell your story.

The purpose of these pointers is to help you refresh your memory, verify the names of places, bases and buddies (try and name as many of them as you can remember in your story), check up on dates, confirm timelines and facts to ensure that you are at ease with these facts when your interview is recorded.

Military units

Tell shortly of each military unit where you served – how did you get there, when did report there, the people who served with you, the training area, incidents which occurred at the unit, accidents, funny incidents, anecdotes about the people of the units. Each unit will compose a separate clip, or if you have much to tell about the unit more than 1 clip can be dedicated to the unit. What is your best memory, what is your worst memory?

Military exercise

Explain what a military exercise is, the name of the exercise, when and where it took place, which forces where involved, with which unit of force you served, what was your role, who too part with you – staff members and buddies, what
was the purpose of the exercise, what did you think of the planning and preparation, how was the execution of the exercise, what did you do, what happened after the exercise? What is your best memory, what is your worst memory?

Training

Tell what type of training you underwent – basics, specialist training like rifleman, LMG, driver, admin, signaller, mortars, section leader, junior leader, courses, etc, who was with you – buddies, subunits, staff members, commanders, how did you experience it, how did you experience your instructors and what did you think of them, how did you feel about the training. What is your best memory, what is your worst memory?

Military operations

Explain what a military operation is, the name of the operation, what was the aim of the operation, which year did it take place, where did it take place, which forces took part, which force were you part of, what was your role, who was there with you – buddies, subunits, staff members, commanders, how was the planning and preparation, how was the execution, what did you during the operation, what happened after the operation, how do you feel about the operation?

Humour in uniform

Many funny things happened while serving in uniform, and still happens in the SANDF. Some incidents were well planned pranks, but many things happened spontaneously without a pre- planned script with hilarious consequences. There were also many funny characters in uniform who left memorable impressions with their antics. Tell about the characters and incidents. Sometimes the system causes strange things to happen with unintended consequences.

Combat, contacts and enemy engagement

During military operations and contacts there were battles with the enemy. There was also other interactions with the enemy where there was no contact with the enemy, even if all the preparation for that was done, like patrols, land mine incidents, ambushes, jakkals operations. Tell when, where and what happened, with which unit were you deployed, where did you fit into that unit and what was your role – who was with you – buddies, subunits, staff members,
commanders, how did you engage with the enemy, what did the enemy do, what did you do, how did you feel at that moment, how did you feel afterward, how do you feel today about it?

Blunders & accidents

The SADF existed and the SANDF still exists of ordinary human beings who are imperfect and prone to error. This means that things can go wrong because of human error, sometimes with fatal consequences. Many soldiers were killed in accidents – shooting accidents, hand grenades, mortars, artillery fire which landed short, military vehicles which collided or rolled, or in private vehicles on the way or back from pass. Sometimes own forces engaged each other accidently in the bush while on patrol. Tell us about these accidents and blunders which reflect the normal human side of the soldier.

The former enemies

Who was the enemy in SWA and SA? What did you know about this enemy in SWA, why did we have to fight against this enemy, why did the enemy in SWA fight against us, why do you think the politicians reached a negotiated settlement in SWA, what did you know about the enemy in SA, why do you think the politicians reached a negotiated settlement in SA, have you encountered any of the former enemy after the hostilities were ended, how do you feel about the former enemy?

National service

In which year did you receive your call up papers, at which unit did you have to report and when, if you volunteered why did you volunteer and how did the process work, how did you feel about national service, how long was your national service, did you do any courses, what did you do after you klaared out, how do you feel today about your national service, do you think it was worth the while, why do you have this point of view? What is your best memory, what is your worst memory?

Families & loved ones

How did your parents and family feel about your national service or volunteering for service, Citizen Force obligations, commando obligations, your career as soldier, did your service have an impact on your parents and family, what impact did it have om you, what sacrifices did you and they have to make, how did they feel about those sacrifices? If any of your loved ones whish to talk about this, their stories can be filmed too.

Citizen force

Were you allocated to a unit in the Citizen Force after completion of your national service, which year, which unit, where was the unit’s HQ, what type of unit was it, what was your role in this unit, how long did you serve at that unit, did you do courses, where did you attend these courses, did you take part in military exercises and operations, did you receive promotions, how many camps did you have to do, where and when did these camps take place, what impact did it have om your personal life, what sacrifices did you and your family have to make, do you think it was worth your while, why do you have this point of view. What is your best memory, what is your worst memory?

Township deployment

Did you do service in the township, which years, how many times, with which units (national service and Citizen Force), for how long were you deployed, what did your unit do in the townships, what did you do, in what capacity, eg rifleman, section leader, etc, were you in a contact or engagement with the enemy, how did the township dwellers respond to your presence in their space, what was the worst you encountered, was someone in your unit injured or killed, what happened, what did you think of serving in the townships, what impact did it have om your personal life, how did township duty differ from border duty? What is your best memory, what is your worst memory?

Commandos

How did you land up at the commandos, which year, which commando, give some background to the history of this commando and where it functioned, what type of unit was it, what was your role, how often did you have to report for duty and for how long, did you do courses, did you receive promotions, what sacrifices did you and your family have to make, do you think it was worth your while, why do you have this point of view? What is your best memory, what is your worst memory?

Reflections & background

How do you feel about your time in uniform, do you think we were well informed about the reasons why we had to serve, are there specific things you feel proud about, are there specific things you feel disappointed about, do you feel unhappy about anything related to your service, will you do it all over again, how do you feel about war, how do you feel about politicians, do
you think it was worth the while? What is your best memory, what is your worst memory?

The border war

Did you serve on the Border, which years, how many times, with which units (national service and Citizen Force), for how long, at which bases were you stationed, what was your unit tasked to do on the Border, what were your duties, were you in a contact, ambush, mine incident, did you take part in a cross border military operation, did somebody from your unit die or got wounded and injured during Border duty, what is the worst thing you saw, how did the local population respond to your presence, what impact did it have om your personal life, what sacrifices did you and your family have to make, do you think it was worth your while? What is your best memory, what is your worst memory?

SANDF stories

After 1993 compulsory national service was abolished. Many career soldiers of the SADF stayed on in the military and pursued a career in the SANDF. How did you experience the transition, how did the integration of the non- statutory forces into the SANDF go, what was the attitude of these members from the non-statutory forces, how did the SADF veterans respond to the members from the non-statutory forces, what was your role in the SANDF, at which units did
you serve, were you ever deployed in Africa as part of a peace keeping force, how long did you serve in the SANDF, when did you leave the SANDF or are you still serving, what is your best memory of the SANDF, what is your worst
memory of the SANDF?