Episode 63 – 4 Recce and the Rhodesian SAS target Beira fuel depot and port in a series of raids

South African Border Wars

WE pick up the seaborne operations story in early 1979, and much of this episode is based on the book Iron Fist from the Sea by ex-Recce Douw Steyn and his navy colleague, Arne Soderlund.
By 1979 the writing was on the wall for Rhodesia, if not before. The shock wave that had rattled Salisbury in 1975 as Portugal pulled out of Mozambique weakened the state, after this all it had was South Africa as an ally – and the Nationalist government in Pretoria wanted Ian Smiths’ government to negotiate a peaceful solution to the Bush war.
This was so that South Africa’s détente attempts with the rest of Africa would be given a shot in the arm. The reality was post-colonial African government’s wanted nothing to do with Pretoria, except for outliers such as Zambia. It’s president Kenneth Kaunda had held secret talks with the apartheid government, with other countries such as Botswana and Tanzania involved.
Up to 1975, 80 percent of Rhodesia’s foreign trade had been exported and imported via Mozambique, now they had to send and receive all goods via Durban. A leftist Mozambique was a haven for Rhodesian guerillas and a barrier to trade.
Needless to say, the upcoming attack on the fuel depot in Beira was very much part of Salisbury’s attempt at undermining the FRELIMO government in Maputo. The SADF involvement was a critical balancing act, and was obviously top secret. While Pretoria publicly met and negotiated with some frontline states, behind the scenes they were hard at work blowing up Mozambique’s infrastructure.