Warnings from SWAPO that the South African government is training Namibians to fight their fellow countrymen have already been put into effect. The "tribal armies" being built up by the South African Defence Force as the basis of an independent Namibian army are known to have been deployed in action against SWAPO guerillas in the north of the country. A Defence Force spokesman told military correspondents on 20 February that a patrol of the Ovambo Battalion had shot and killed four "insurgents" in an early morning battle on 14 February.
Recruiting for all tribal units is reported to have been suspended with effect from 15 February 1977, on the grounds that they are now up to full strength and ready to move into a final phase of operational training. Speaking on SA TV on 8 January, the Officer Commanding SWA, Maj. Gen. Jannie Geldenhuys, said he felt confident that Namibia would be able to provide her own basic defence force manpower needs in the next few years. (According to a statement in July 1977 by Commandant J. T. Louw, officer in charge of "tribal armies", an initial intake of up to 160 men were to be trained from each "population group", making a total, assuming that these recruiting levels have been reached, of 1,600 troops).
