Rough Roads To Reconciliation

In this second trip to help ex-combatants wrestle with the ghosts of their past in Angola battles, the group has expanded to a convoy of 26 vehicles and 83 people…

- Tammy Booysen

In 2015, the road to reconciliation started when my dad, my three uncles and I visited the south-east of Angola on motorbikes. Why did we visit this specific area? To put the ghosts of war to rest, 27 years after the Angolan Border War had ended.

During this 2015 trip, we met Angolan General Fernando Mateus, who became a close family friend. As a result, we decided to make it our life’s mission to bring more ex-soldiers to Angola to build new friendships and encourage reconciliation. We put a planning group together, consisting of Oom Jaap, Dad and me.

We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into!

Now it is May 12, 2018, and the group that is entering Angola consists of 83 people and 26 vehicles. At the border post of Katwitwi, we are met by area administrator Carla Cativa, who proves to be a strong lady who knows how to take control of a situation. Getting 26 vehicles to cross into Angola is no easy task, and yet she handles it as if she does this daily. When we enter Angola on the gravel dusty road, all the radios go quiet. I think it is finally sinking in that we have entered Angola – with passports this time – and this is a first for many of the men on this journey.

Among us are soldiers who have fought in battles in this country, including the former Russian soldier Andrei Polikanov and his son, as well as some of the wives who have joined their husbands on the pilgrimage. Some of them have never camped before. I must add that very few of us actually have any experience of real 4x4ing.

The sandy road to Menongue

The first 276km of road surprised many of us. And the first car needing to be towed was Jasper’s Landy. Needless to say, a few Landy jokes did the rounds.