Threat to fair elections Anti-SWAPO activities stepped up As United Nations forces moved into Namibia to oversee the independence process, South Africa stepped up its efforts to influence the elections in order to keep SWAPO from power. Troops and police launched an anti-SWAPO propaganda drive, while the South African Administrator-General (AG) sought to introduce measures aimed at restricting the size of the vote in favour of SWAPO.
Commanders and advance units of the UN Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) arrived in Windhoek in February and March to prepare for the arrival of the main body of troops on 1 April. Lieutenant-General Prem Chand, the UNTAG commander, was greeted with a tumultuous welcome by 3,000 SWAPO supporters on 26 February.
At the insistence of the permanent members of the UN Security Council and despite opposition from African and non-aligned countries, the military component of UNTAG was reduced from a planned 7,500 personnel to 4,650. Twenty-one countries are providing personnel, with the main force composed of three enlarged infantry battalions from Finland, Kenya and Malaysia. Five hundred UNTAG police monitors are also to be deployed, together with 760 administrative staff and 620 electoral supervisors.
The UN force will bring its own helicopters and aircraft, but will lease 'non-lethal' military equipment, including armoured vehicles, from the South African Defence Force. It will also purchase supplies from South African companies.
Authority The UN plan entails the withdrawal of all but 1,500 South African troops by 1 July and UN-supervised elections in early November for a Constituent Assembly which will draw up a constitution for an independent Namibia. Overall authority during the election period will remain with the South African AG, Louis Pienaar, although his actions will be subject to the approval of the UN Special Representative, the Finnish diplomat Martti Ahtisaari. On 1 March the South African-backed 'transitional government', the Multi-Party Conference Administration, was dissolved, and the AG took control.
Elected representatives to the second-tier authorities were due to stand down on 1 April, but in mid-March the White Legislative Assembly declared that it would refuse to dissolve itself. Elections were held to the Assembly on 1 March, all the seats being won by the National Party of South West Africa, whose leader declared that his supporters would resort to violence to defend their interests. The second-tier Rehoboth Legislative Assembly, also dominated by a right-wing party, announced at the same time that it would not dissolve and threatened to declare unilateral 'independence'.
Repeal of legislation The UN plan calls for the repeal of 'repressive and discriminatory' legislation and the release of all political prisoners. However, the AG declared on 1 March that he intended repealing only legislation which in his view would directly affect the elections. He also said that although detainees and political prisoners would be released, people standing trial would not necessarily be freed.
Military forces The UN plan entails the phased withdrawal of South African Defence Force (SADF) troops. However, there have been reports of troops caching arms and handing out weapons to anti-SWAPO factions.
The 30,000 locally-recruited members of the South West Africa Territory Force (SWATF) are required to be demobilised under the UN plan, and their weapons cached under UN supervision. However, the South African authorities have said that they will continue to pay full-time members of the force, which will not be dismantled. The strategy was spelt out in 1982 by the officer then commanding SWATF, who said that 'the demilitarisation of the SWATF is ... a temporary phase that should last only for the duration of the election campaign'.
Police Under the UN plan, South African police are responsible for 'maintaining law and order' during the election period, under the supervision of 500 UNTAG monitors. Following UN pressure, Pretoria agreed last year to disband the police counter-insurgency unit Koevoet, but it was subsequently revealed that its members had been 'integrated' with the regular police.
In an interview in February, the Commissioner of Police, General Gouws, disclosed that all 3,000 members of Koevoet had been retained in police service and were ready to be deployed under UN supervision. Koevoet personnel would make up half the police force responsible for maintaining order during the elections.
Koevoet police were reported to be continuing their usual activity of patrolling in heavily-armed Casspir vehicles, the only difference being that they were now dressed in regular police uniforms.
On 25 February police were implicated in an attempt to assassinate Pastor Hendrik Witbooi, who, as Acting Vice-President of SWAPO, is one of the most prominent SWAPO representatives in Namibia. A police informer, Lucas Rooi, who had undergone an army explosives course, confessed to attempting to plant a bomb under Witbooi's car, on the orders of two policemen.
In mid-March an urgent application was lodged in the Windhoek Supreme Court for an order restraining police and soldiers from harassing SWAPO supporters. Several affidavits were submitted detailing attacks on SWAPO meetings, assaults on SWAPO supporters and the attempted assassination of Witbooi. Two members of Koevoet, who resigned from the unit in February, said in supporting affidavits that they had simply been told to remove their Koevoet insignia and that from then on they would be members of the regular police. They continued to operate as a unit, with the same commanding officers, and had been ordered to take part in anti-SWAPO propaganda exercises.
There were widespread reports of police and soldiers trying to hold meetings with local people to persuade them to vote against SWAPO, and handing out anti-SWAPO leaflets. On one occasion, troops from 101 Battalion in northern Namibia assisted the main anti-SWAPO grouping, the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) in holding a public rally.
Extensive army and police propaganda activities were reported from the Kavanago and Caprivi regions. Church officials said that troops were showing films and distributing pictures of starving people, and telling local people that a SWAPO electoral victory would lead to starvation and the confiscation of property. In the Ovambo bantustan, residents reported that troops were going from village to village, handing out gifts of canned food and medicines and calling on people to vote against SWAPO.
Electoral regulations The UN Special Representative is responsible for ensuring the 'fairness and appropriateness of all measures affecting the political process', but the AG is responsible for drawing up the electoral roll. He has said that he intends introducing a voting age of 21, instead of 18 which is usual in the region and is favoured by the UN. This would deny SWAPO votes amongst the youth who are generally strong supporters of the liberation movement.
