Extract: Sons of Mud by Johan Vlok Louw
At an army base close to Voortrekkerhoogte in Pretoria, at the height of summer and South Africa’s Border War, 18-year-old recruits endure an appalling drill sergeant bent on turning them into killing machines for the SADF. They are sleep deprived, and tension mounts in this group of disparate individuals – boys from all walks of life – expected to function as a unit.