The Multi-Party Conference (MPC) administration in Namibia is faced with an uncertain future following strong criticism by the South African Administrator-General.
At the beginning of 1987 the MPC declared that it intended taking further steps towards unilateral 'independence' outside the UN plan set out in Security Council Resolution 435. It stated that it would officially adopt 'Namibia' as the name of the territory instead of 'South West Africa/Namibia' and that it would seek to establish a national flag and anthem. More substantive moves would involve the establishment of a Ministry of Internal Security to oversee the South West Africa Police (SWAPOL) and Territorial Force (SWATF) and a Ministry of International Co-operation and Development to develop 'a substantial degree of formal autonomy in the conduct of foreign relations'. These functions are currently exercised directly from Pretoria.
Shortly after the MPC's 'Programme of Action' was announced, the Administrator-General, who acts directly on the orders of President P W Botha, severely criticised the administration and brought its programme into question. 'South Africa does not necessarily identify the wishes of the people of the territory with the wishes of the majority in the present transitional government', he declared. As the MPC administration was appointed by Pretoria to administer the territory, this amounted to a declaration of no confidence in the client regime.
While he stated that he had no objections to adopting the name 'Namibia', he said that the issues of control over SWAPOL and SWATF as well as the MPC's international profile needed careful negotiation with Pretoria. Earlier, the outgoing South African military commander, General Meiring, made it clear that military authority rested with Pretoria and that this was not likely to change.
A 'national intelligence department' was due to be established in Windhoek on 1 April, but it was not clear how much autonomy it would have. The department was placed under the directorship of Jacobus Maritz, a civil servant in the Central Personnel Institution.
The MPC administration has also prepared legislation to establish a Publications Control Board to take over censorship and the banning of publications from the South African board.
Pretoria's lack of confidence in its Namibian administration reflects the latter's poor performance since its inception in June 1985. A coalition of six small parties, the MPC has been riven by internal divisions and has failed to gain significant representation from the northern bantustans where over half the population lives. Crucially, it has been unable to reach consensus through the Constitutional Council on a draft constitution which could provide the basis for South African controlled pseudo-independence.
The Constitutional Council cannot agree on the future of the bantustans and segregated second-tier administrations which were imposed by the Administrator-General through Proclamation AG 8 in 1980. Two of the MPC parties see the scrapping of the second-tier administrations as vital to establishing support, but other parties, including the white National Party, are committed to their retention.
In October and November last year MPC officials were called to Pretoria for talks, at which they were told by President Botha that 'group identity' had to be the basis for a South African-controlled 'independence' process. The Administrator-General made it clear in his criticisms of the MPC that Pretoria wanted approval for the draft constitution from bantustan officials such as Peter Kalangula who are not participating in the MPC administration.
The Administrator-General stated that elections for bantustan authorities could be held this year. This would further entrench the bantustan system. Elections are opposed by the MPC which fears that the bantustan leaders would undermine its power. Kalangula, chairman of the Ovambo bantustan administration, has said that second-tier elections are a condition for participation in the MPC's Constitutional Council.
The Constitutional Council plans to have finalised an 'independence' document by the middle of the year, which could provide South Africa with the opportunity of engaging in a bogus independence process to further undermine the UN plan for a settlement. However, given the weakness and divisions of the MPC, power is almost certain to remain in Pretoria's hands.
Dismissing the MPC's 'Programme of Action' for 1987 as a game of 'musical chairs', the liberation movement SWAPO stated that the MPC constitution 'will never be worth the paper on which it was being written because its authors have absolutely no support from the Namibian people'.
