SWAPO's political activities in Namibia, already severely restricted by frequent police harassment and detention of its members and officials, are being further curtailed with the promulgation of the Prohibition and Notification of Meetings Act No. 22 of 1981 on 23 December.
The Act stipulates that no person within the borders of South West Africa may hold a meeting that has as its object, or favours, the overthrow of the government by forcible means or intimidation. The same applies if the objective is to bring about political, social or economic change by intimidation or forcible means. Section 3 of the Act requires that any gathering of more than 20 persons must be preceded by 24 hours written notice to the magistrate of the district in which the meeting is to be held. The organisers must submit information about the time and place of the meeting, and its nature. The name of the person or organisation on whose behalf the meeting is organised must be given, as well as the names and addresses of speakers. The magistrate is empowered to ask for the constitution of a political party and he may ban any meeting if he considers such a document to advocate the overthrow of the current order. He may also require the organisers of a meeting to furnish him with a written declaration stating expressly whether or not they favour the overthrow of the present order by means of force. The penalty for contravening the provisions of the Act is three years imprisonment or a maximum fine of R3,000 or both.
The Act is clearly aimed at silencing SWAPO, but is also being used against other political groups not included in the DTA-headed 'internal government'. It legitimises the South African-installed internal regime by prohibiting any political activities opposed to it. The SWA National Union (SWANU) was given two warnings by the security police that it could become liable for prosecution if it held its Congress in January 1982 as planned. Two members of the security police took the names and photographs of all delegates present at the Congress. SWANU had earlier indicated that it would resort to any means to hasten Namibia's independence.
Another new security measure, the Combatting of Terrorism Bill, has been referred to a select committee of the National Assembly for review following objections to it by a number of political groups. Opposition has been particularly strong among the Ovambo tribal authorities. At a meeting in Ondangua, Mr Kalangula, the president of the DTA and chairman of the Ovambo tribal authority, said the Bill would only affect Ovambos and 'we want no part of it'. It would place people in Ovamboland in an extremely vulnerable position, and make it too easy for vindictive people to frame the innocent by having to give a minimum of evidence. 'The people of Ovambo have been victimised, bullied, tortured, shot and maimed. They have all lost members of their families and it is not right to expect them to accept an additional burden', he said. Another Ovambo official said: 'The people outside Ovambo forget that the so-called terrorists are our people, our children. Why do they expect us to be so harsh on our own people?'
A legal expert pointed out that the Bill aimed to clamp down on cooperation with 'terrorists' and particularly to help track them down. Any person caught informing or feeding guerillas could get a 20 year prison sentence.
The select committee reviewing the Bill was expected to report back in March.
