An estimated 1,000 people were rounded up by soldiers of the South African Defence Force in the Ovambo area and asked about their voting intentions. The army operation in the Ovambo region began on 15 March, when soldiers began seizing and detaining people, mostly young men and women.
According to reports, houses and villages were raided. On 18 March, a Sunday, people were arrested on their way to church, and nurses were prevented from reporting to work at the Onandjokwe Lutheran Hospital. Some pastors who had intended to conduct church services were also seized.
Those arrested were taken in military trucks to an open spot near the Ondangwa military base, and asked which political party they would vote for in elections. They were specifically asked whether they would vote for SWAPO or South Africa. According to eyewitness reports, the answer of each person was recorded, together with his/her name, and each villager was photographed by military photographers.
The 'poll', carried out on 18 and 19 March, was condemned by Bishop Kleopas Dumeni of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. He said in some parishes services had been disrupted in a rude manner and parishioners had been hindered from going to church.
The action, condemned by observers as 'pure intimidation', was justified by an army spokesman as part of 'follow-up operations' for the protection of the population.
