The Nigerian military and the state

How far have the South African military and the police force shaped the South African state during the twentieth century? Focusing, in particular, on the past thirty years, Annette Seegers' book examines the government of the country in the light of these powerful forces.

Looking at the 'security establishment' - the South Africa Defence Force (SADF), South African Police (SAP), the Department of Defence (DOD), the intelligence services (NIS), the State Security Council (SSC), and the arms industry (ARMSCOR), Seegers attempts to identify and explain the features of the South African state. Did the military and police indeed stand at the centre of the state's development?

Providing histories of the military and the police in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including first-hand accounts from retired officers and state employees, this book contains much original thinking and analysis, and shows the South African state evolving from white minority rule to multi-racial democracy - and the role of the military in that process.