Although the Namibian settlement talks held in Lusaka from 11-13 May failed to make progress towards the implementation of the UN independence plan, they were the scene of a remarkable gathering of support for SWAPO and the liberation struggle.
Representatives of a wide range of political parties and organisations inside Namibia travelled to Lusaka to publicly align themselves with SWAPO and against the continued South African occupation of their country. Through their common call for South Africa to sign a ceasefire with SWAPO and for the immediate implementation of UN Resolution 435, they gave the lie to the South African government's efforts to present the Multi-Party Conference (MPC) as the mouthpiece of majority opinion inside Namibia.
Sixty-eight people travelled from Windhoek on 9 May to join the SWAPO delegation in Lusaka, of whom 54 were SWAPO members and officials, while the remainder represented other parties. They were flown from Strijdom airport on a Zambian Airways flight provided by President Kaunda, the convenor and co-chair of the Lusaka talks.
The SWAPO delegates were drawn from branches all over Namibia and included many people under various restrictions and even house arrest: Nathaniel MAXUILILI, Acting President of SWAPO, restricted to the Walvis Bay enclave since 1968 under a banning order; Vice-President Hendrik WITBOOI; Andimba TOIVO JA TOIVO, released from Robben Island on 1 March 1984; Nico BESSINGER, Joint Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and Gertrude Rikumbi KANDANGA, Deputy National Secretary of SWAPO Women's Council, restricted to Walvis Bay since 1981.
Only six of the 54 SWAPO delegates from inside Namibia were in possession of passports and travel documents prior to their departure from Windhoek. The pilot of their Zambian Airways flight refused to take off until the Department of Civic Affairs and Manpower in Windhoek had agreed to process applications and issue documentation for the remainder.
The news that 15 Namibian prisoners had been transferred from Robben Island to Windhoek pending their release came through to the airport while delegates were waiting for the delayed flight. SWAPO had included the names of five Robben Island prisoners on its list of delegates and, according to one local press report, 'the announcement on the imminent release was seen as a propaganda stunt on the part of the South African government on the eve of the talks'.
Those travelling with the SWAPO delegation on the Zambian Airways flight included representatives of the 'dissident' section of SWANU (other SWANU members formed part of the MPC delegation), the National Independence Party, the Mbanderu Council, representing Herero speakers, the Namibian Christian Democratic Party, the Damara Council, the Nudo Progressive Party, Antonio Lubowski of the Windhoek Bar Council, and various church leaders.
At a meeting in Lusaka on the eve of the talks, Sam Nujoma, the President of SWAPO issued a strong call for unity to around 100 emissaries of SWAPO and other political parties not part of the MPC, including the Interessengemeinschaft, a group representing white, German-speaking Namibians. He admitted that there were differences among Namibia's inhabitants which had been exploited by South Africa. Those concerned to see Namibia free, he went on, had a responsibility to form a united front to demand immediate independence through the implementation of UN Resolution 435.
'If we do not confront the enemy with a collective demand', Sam Nujoma said, 'South Africa will continue to apply the old colonial policy of divide and rule. We are citizens of one country and of one nation'.
He assured those whom he called his 'white countrymen' that SWAPO was also fighting for their rights and that they would have an equal stake in an independent Namibia.
He said that the Namibian people expected that those present in Lusaka 'must not leave the Zambian capital as a divided people but as a united one... SWAPO would make its contribution to ensure the laying of a strong foundation with the assistance of other patriotic parties'.
