Overwhelming popular support for SWAPO was demonstrated at rallies and meetings around Namibia after the arrival of the UNTAG forces. On May Day, pro-SWAPO worker demonstrations were held in most Namibian towns, and rallies were held to commemorate the anniversary of the Kassinga massacre on 4 May. Workers also held a demonstration on 1 April against South African privatisation measures — seen as constraining an independent government — but the march was stopped by police.
Many South African troops and police attempted to force people to support the main anti-SWAPO group, the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), which draws together ten parties based in the segregated second-tier authorities. The DTA, which is lavishly funded, was reported to be handing out food and threatening pensioners that their pensions would be stopped if they did not take out DTA membership. Other small parties formed three alliances — the Namibia National Front, which is dominated by the SWA National Union (SWANU), the United Democratic Front and the Namibia Patriotic Front, which involves some parties previously participating in the South African-installed MPC administration.
