While blocking Namibian independence negotiations since 1981 the South African regime has been systematically strengthening its military presence in the territory. New bases and units have been set up and large military exercises carried out. Greater attention has been paid to psychological warfare in an attempt to 'win hearts and minds' through propaganda and pseudo-cultural organisations and by involving the army in education and development projects.
A variety of SADF and SWATF publications are widely distributed throughout the territory, and troops give 'information' lectures in the war zones as part of their operational strategy. The military runs several 'educational' projects, training courses and 'adventure' camps for youths.
## EDUCATION The most obvious form of military interference in education has been the system of posting white soldiers to schools as teachers. While armed troops are still widely deployed, they were withdrawn from schools in the Ovambo bantustan in 1985 following protests by the bantustan authorities. The troops were accused of trying to organise unauthorised extra-curricular activities, and of blowing up a school building. At the same time, troops deployed as medical personnel in the bantustan health services were also withdrawn.
Despite their removal from classrooms in the main war zone, troops still exert influence over Ovambo bantustan schools. Military and police operational bases have been set up close to schools and pupils have been harassed, detained and tortured. The army has been accused of recruiting pupils and teachers to spy on school activities, and earlier this year there were reports that some pupils had been issued with firearms and were taking them to school.
Outside the military 'operational areas', the army exerts influence by arranging extra-curricular events, through the schoolboy cadet system and through involvement in youth projects and 'leadership' training centres.
One of the centres, the Friedenau Youth Centre, about 50 kilometres west of Windhoek, has been described by the Namibian National Students Organisation (NANSO) as an 'in-doctrination and spy recruitment centre'. Pupils recruited on the grounds of 'leadership potential' are taken to the centre from several Windhoek schools for 'awareness' courses of up to three days duration.
In Ganigobes, in the south of Namibia, troops visited the local school to question staff about their attitudes to the army, and some teachers were flown to the northern war zones for lectures on 'communism'. Shortly afterwards the Nama bantustan authorities announced that the school would be closed to make way for a new Youth Centre. This would provide 'physical and spiritual' training to pupils from local schools on a rotational basis. From Walvis Bay, there were similar reports earlier this year of army involvement in a youth club established by the municipality.
The use of schools for registration for compulsory military service has been a cause of widespread student protests. Black Namibians have been selectively conscripted into the occupation army since 1981. Military and police representatives also tour schools on recruitment drives, showing films and videos and demonstrating equipment. Pupils at Katutura Senior Secondary School in Windhoek boycotted a police recruitment meeting in September this year.
Military influence is also maintained through the cadet system. Cadet training is compulsory for white boys between the ages of about 12 and 17 in schools run by the Administration for Whites, and some black schools also have cadet detachments. Many male teachers at white schools are involved as cadet officers. The system is closely linked to the military and involves training during school holidays at army bases.
The Administration for Whites conducts compulsory training courses for white women teachers, in lieu of cadet duties. The five-day courses, which are held at the Keikanachab base under the auspices of the SWATF, are aimed at making 'the teacher as wife and educator able to defend herself against the total onslaught'. Lectures on topics such as 'Patriotism', 'Aims of Communism', 'The KGB', 'The Onslaught Against the Youth and Pop Music' and 'SWAPO and Front Organisations in SWA' are interspersed with flag raising ceremonies, slide shows on 'ethnic groups', Bible studies and campfire singing.
## CULTURAL FRONTS At least three 'cultural' organisations have been established by the authorities to garner support for the military occupation and to promote the bantustan concept. Etango and Ezuva, both meaning 'sun', operate in the Ovambo and Kavango bantustans respectively, while Namwi is active in the Caprivi.
Recruits for Etango, which was formed in 1982, were initially drawn entirely from the army and police force, but it now aims at teachers, bantustan administrators, health workers and other potentially influential groups. The organisation is administered by an ex-SADF soldier, Andre van der Kolff, from offices in Oshakati, the military headquarters of the area. Van der Kolff claimed at the end of last year that Etango had a staff of 15 people and a monthly budget of R18,000, all of which was donated by individuals or 'culture organisations'. He stated that 10,000 people had undergone Etango courses but the organisation intended to reach half a million.
Etango runs a variety of training courses which stress 'ethnic' identity and support for the South African occupation, and warn against SWAPO and 'communism'. It has also established a church, the Evangelical Reformed Church in Ovambo, which attacks the pro-independence stance of the main Namibian churches. According to Abisai Shejavali, the General Secretary of the Council of Churches in Namibia, 'Etango people are working very hard to penetrate every sphere of community life in Ovambo...They try to win over the youth by involving them in sporting competitions. At schools Etango members organise tours whereby they fly students to remote areas to undergo courses...'
The organisation is closely associated with the feared Koevoet police Counter-Insurgency Unit, many members of which have undergone courses. Etango has been accused of intimidation and atrocities in rural areas, but has blamed these actions on Koevoet. In turn, Koevoet has accused Etango of responsibility for violent intimidation. Although Etango promotes bantustan concepts, it has incurred the opposition of the Ovambo bantustan leader, Peter Kalangula, who has accused it of promoting his opponents. Kalangula has refused to join the MPC administration although he participates in bantustan structures.
In addition to Etango, the SWATF's 101 Battalion, a locally-recruited unit more than 2,000 strong, despatches teams of 'communicators' backed by troops and armoured vehicles, who tour homesteads in the bantustan, giving lectures similar in content to those of Etango. According to local people, they tell Namibians to 'forget' about UN Resolution 435 - the international plan for Namibian independence - and to support the SADF.
Ezuva is a Kavango bantustan equivalent of Etango, using the same slogan 'We fight for true freedom' and similar methods of organisation. The 'hearts and minds' programme is more developed in Kavango, and Ezuva has a firm grip on the bantustan administration. Virtually all bantustan employees are reported to have undergone courses at the Ezuva training centre at Diyundo, near 32 Battalion headquarters in the remote Western Caprivi, and according to a Namibian church delegation which visited the area 'Ezuva exerts total control over the people of the region'.
Many church schools in Kavango have been closed by the authorities on 'security' grounds. Students are recruited for Ezuva-oriented youth camps, and teachers are sent on special courses. The organisation is closely associated with the SWATF's 202 Battalion, which also carries out 'hearts and minds' activities.
In the Eastern Caprivi bantustan the Namwi Foundation has been established to 'promote traditional and cultural values'. It holds training courses on Hippo Island in the Kavango River, which is an SADF 'recreational' base. Namwi propaganda, notably a magazine called 'Buniti', which virulently attacks the Council of Churches, SWAPO and the Namibia National Students Organisation, is distributed by troops. There have also been reports of Namwi propaganda being dropped by aircraft. According to a Namwi pamphlet, it is 'not a military organisation but wishes to cooperate with all military persons who support the aims of Namwi'.
## CHRISTIAN GROUPS In addition to bantustan 'cultural' organisations, two Christian groups have been set up in Namibia to support the illegal South African occupation. Christian Action, headed by a SWATF officer, Colonel Desmond Radmore, has distributed propaganda widely, attacking the Council of Churches and accusing it of being a 'communist front'.
Frontline Fellowship, a South African-based Christian group, has been actively promoting 'a dynamic Biblical response to the dangers of communism, liberation theology, immorality and pacifism'. According to a spokesperson, the fellowship is supported by many army chaplains and is active amongst troops.
Another South African organisation which has recently become involved in promoting the cause of the SADF in Namibia is Veterans for Victory. It has distributed propaganda 'saluting the peace keeping forces in South West Africa' and praising the SADF for 'leaving a legacy of peace' in the territory.
