A further, extremely substantial build-up of South African military forces in northern Namibia has been reported, bringing the number of South African troops and paramilitary police in the territory to an estimated 100,000. Western intelligence reports have reportedly confirmed a build-up of troops, and the arrival of more howitzers and armoured cars. According to the London Sunday Telegraph, South Africa is believed to be preparing for a major push into southern Angola, following the dispatch of some 20,000 troop reinforcements into Namibia.
In a press statement in January, SWAPO's London office warned that a massive military build-up of South African troops in Namibia was underway, in preparation for further attacks against the civilian population in Namibia, Namibian refugee settlements in neighbouring states, and Angolan and Zambian civilian and economic targets. The increase in troops and hardware was on a scale exceeding even that which took place before the Kassinga massacre and other major acts of aggression launched from Namibian soil, the statement said. This constituted a major threat to international peace. In a second statement in March, SWAPO reiterated its warning of an unprecedented military build-up in northern Namibia, and its belief that the Pretoria regime intended to launch an attack into Angola, which would be tantamount to an invasion.
An intensification of the war in Namibia, and of the scale and frequency of South African attacks into Angola, have been expected since the collapse of the pre-implementation meeting in Geneva in January following the refusal of the South African delegation to agree to a firm date for a ceasefire. The Officer Commanding the South African forces in Namibia, Major-General Charles Lloyd, told foreign journalists who had been taken on a tour of the Namibian border, that South African forces could in future engage in direct battle with the Angolan army. He admitted that South African forces had damaged the civilian infrastructure in southern Angola and fought against Angolan soldiers, but claimed that this was not policy but an accident. The Angolan government has reported numerous attacks by South African armed forces on its civilian population. Detailed information about South African aggression against Angola is contained in a special issue of FOCUS: "Angola: Fighting Apartheid", Special Issue No. 2, April 1981, comprising evidence submitted to the Second Session of the International Commission of Inquiry into the Crimes of the Racist and Apartheid Regime in Southern Africa.
