Speaking to a National Party Congress a few weeks before his appointment as South Africa's Prime Minister, Mr. P.W. Botha warned that South African troop strength in Namibia "might be increased if violent incidents in the territory continued".
Recent military developments in Namibia include an announcement from the SWA Command of the SADF that plans to create the territory's own paratroop battalion have reached "an advanced stage". Recruits from Namibia are due to begin training in South Africa in mid-1979. SWA Command also reported in September that members of the 41st Paratroop Battalion of the SADF had left for service in the operational area of Namibia - this is the first time that the Battalion, which was established in 1977 - has been used in a counter - insurgency role.
The SWA Command confirmed at the end of October that units in Namibia had been issued with a new type of 7.62 mm sub-machine gun not used in South Africa. It appears that the "tribal armies" recruited in Namibia on an ethnic basis may be using this weapon.
