National Service

In August 1988, Rob was drafted for compulsory national service under the then apartheid government. He objected to national service and appeared briefly in the High Court of Bloemfontein the following year. Prior to his court appearance, he was questioned on multiple occasions for possibly being a member of the then-banned African National Congress and/or the End Conscription Campaign, neither to which he belonged. After being labeled a “selfish traitor” to his country by the court (the usual berating given to objectors back then), he was transferred to Cape Town to a minimum-risk military installation. His parents’ home was placed under constant surveillance for the remainder of his service. By 1990, conscription was phased out, officially ending in 1993. Thousands of young men around South Africa had been objecting to national service since the early 1970s. Their motivations for doing so all differed, but the multitude of objections eventually resulted in the government being forced to end conscription. The end of conscription spelt the end of the war.