Despite widespread intimidation by South African police, and growing concern at bias against SWAPO in the electoral arrangements, SWAPO leaders returned to Namibia with thousands of other exiles during June and July and began campaigning for the independence elections. South African-controlled police and most administrative structures remained, but by the end of June the 1,500 South African troops remaining in the territory were confined to three bases.
The withdrawal of troops was achieved on schedule after initial delays, but all other aspects of the UN plan for independence were delayed. The elections have been set for 6 November.
By mid-July the process of registering voters had begun and some discriminatory legislation repealed, but election rules had not been finalised, not all political prisoners and detainees held by South Africa had been released and the return of refugees had fallen behind schedule.
During May there was an ongoing dispute between the UN and the South African Administrator-General, Louis Pienaar, concerning the extent of his control over the electoral process. Pienaar claimed full control over the administration and police, relegating the UN's role to monitoring developments. The UN Security Council, however, insisted that its authority over the process is paramount.
The UN Secretary General appointed Botswana's representative to the UN, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, as deputy to the UN Representative in Namibia, Martti Ahtissari, and announced that he would visit Namibia in mid-July.
The repatriation of refugees and exiles was held up by continuing violence from the South African police and delays in the repeal of repressive and discriminatory legislation and the issuing of a general amnesty. The first official returnees arrived at Windhoek airport on 12 June, and by 5 July some 14,000 refugees and exiles, mostly flown from SWAPO camps in Angola, had passed through designated entry points. They were subjected to rigorous searches by South African police and officials. The Council of Churches (CCN), which is looking after their welfare, was denied access to the arrival points. Most returnees were initially accommodated at CCN-run reception camps, which many were afraid to leave.
The main opposition to SWAPO unsuccessfully attempted to include 40,000 Botswana citizens in the repatriation process, arguing that they were descendants of Namibians who had fled the German genocide against the Hereros at the turn of the century.
Legislation governing the registration of voters was promulgated on 29 June. It differed little from earlier draft proposals which were widely condemned as inadequate and opening the way to electoral abuse. Anyone over the age of 18 born in Namibia or whose parents were born there, or who has lived in the territory for four years will be entitled to vote. This could allow the registration of South African officials and military or police personnel — who will be required to declare that they intend staying in Namibia — as well as many of the 30,000 Angolans in Namibia and an estimated 40,000 to 100,000 South Africans who at one stage may have lived in Namibia. Advertisements placed in South African newspapers to encourage qualifying South Africans to register. Registration began at over 70 points on 3 July and was due to be completed by 15 September.
In early June The Namibian newspaper disclosed that Andries Visser, the Chief Electoral Officer appointed by the Administrator-General, had been a member of the National Security Council (NSC). This secret body functioned until March this year to co-ordinate South African strategy in Namibia. Heads of administrative departments — who will be playing an important role during the elections — met regularly with officials of the South African-installed Multi-Party Conference administration as well as police and military commanders to plan anti-SWAPO strategy.
Minutes of a meeting of the NSC held in September last year revealed that Brigadier van Niekerk assured the council that 'steps had been taken to ensure that SWAPO did not win the elections'. General Lloyd, secretary of the State Security Council in South Africa, had convened a secret seminar 'to establish what could be done to beat SWAPO in an election'.
The Chair of the NSC meeting, Dirk Mudge, who is Chairman of the DTA and was at that time an official of the MPC administration, called for one of the NSC committees, Strategic Communication (STRATCOM), to 'draw up a propaganda strategy' in the event of the implementation of the UN Plan.
In spite of the disclosures, the Administrator-General refused to dismiss the Chief Electoral Officer and other officials involved in the NSC'S anti-SWAPO strategising. He admitted that a National Intelligence Service continued to function through regional committees but said it now only gathered information on 'social and administrative matters'. The police Security Branch has also continued operating, as have anti-SWAPO organisations with close links to the military, such as Etango and Ezuva.
In response to demands for impartiality from the SWABC, which controls all radio and television broadcasting, the Administrator-General argued that as a 'parastatal', it was not required to accord equal coverage to parties contesting the elections. However, the SWABC was earlier criticised by the O'Linn Commission, set up in May by the Administrator-General in response to complaints of intimidation and electoral bias. The Commission said that the SWABC's guidelines for impartiality were incompatible with free and fair elections.
The head of SWAPO's election campaign, Hage Geingob, arrived with other exiled leaders in mid-June. The SWAPO Secretary for Information, Hidipo Hamutenya, said that because the movement was largely denied access to the media, it had mapped out a series of house, village, group, regional and national seminars and rallies to spread its message. The SWAPO election campaign began with a rally of 30,000 people in Katutura near Windhoek when the movement's election manifesto was made public.
The manifesto calls for 'an independent, secular, democratic state whose territory includes Walvis Bay and the offshore Penguin Islands' with separate executive, legislative and judicial organs and democratically elected local authorities. The constitution would enshrine freedom of conscience and religion and a SWAPO government would prioritise health services, provide for universal and compulsory schooling and make fundamental changes to the labour system, extending trade union rights to all workers. Calling for a mixed economy and land reform, the manifesto states that 'SWAPO does not conceal its belief in the moral superiority of socialism over capitalism. . . [but] no wholesale nationalisation of the mines, land and other productive sectors is envisaged in the foreseeable future.'
