Fallen Heroes and First Peoples: Memory Composition Among Two Ex-Military Communities in South Africa

The apartheid-era South African Defence Force’s most notorious units, 31 Battalion and 32 Battalion, were composed of African troops. With the onset of Namibia’s 1990 independence, these soldiers and their families relocated to South Africa and adapted to a rapidly changing political landscape. Drawing on oral history interviews, I examine key historical narratives within each group to understand how their memory compositions reflect their identities and social positioning in post-apartheid society. To understand and frame themselves historically, 32 Battalion veterans turned to the central institution in their lives: the military. Viewing military service as epitomising national contribution, they identify as fallen heroes who ‘secured’ South Africa’s democratic transition. Conversely, the 31 Battalion community has embraced an indigenous, San identity. They have grafted the racist ‘empty land’ myth onto their modern experiences of displacement and contemporary feelings of minoritisation. This identity has been reinforced by participation in the post-Cold War human and indigenous rights framework. Both group identities remain tethered to militarisation: while one directly claims martial heroism and post-war neglect, the other is ostensibly distanced from the military but connected to an image and identity, underpinning their militarisation, as ‘Bushmen’. Their collective memories and identities bear the imprint of their foundational histories of war, dislocation and disbandment.