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In 1962, OPC/O changed to a broader
party for national outlook into the South West Africa People's Organization (SW
APO). It recruited from tribal faction ridden parties like SWANU and became the
largest and most organized nationalist party in Namibia.
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From 1960's, SWAPO secretly
recruited Namibian youth and sent them to bases in Zambia, Tanzania, Egypt,
Algeria and the USSR for guerrilla training.
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It established a military wing
called the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) and by 1966, it had waged
a full scale guerrilla war against South Africa in Namibia.
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Though SWAPO was national in
character, recruitment was largely carried out in Ovamboland as a major base.
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In 1969, the Apartheid South African
regime passed an Act that turned Namibia into a province of South Africa and
created African reserves or Bantustans, which limited African movements in the
struggle.
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In the late 1960s, SW APO held a
Congress in Tanga, Tanzania where members were officially inaugurated
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It also lobbied the UNO to put
pressure on South Africa in order to relinquish her control over Namibia and
the result was the International Court of Justice at Hague to rule that South
Africa should vacate Namibia in 1971.
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The UNO Security Council and General
Assembly also declared South African control of Namibia to be outside the law and
due to SWAPO pressure called upon member states to isolate the apartheid regime
in Namibia.
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With support from UNO, SWAPO
organized nationwide strikes December 1971 in order to paralyze South African
regime in Namibia, which led to over 20,000 contract workers to go on strike
starting from Ovamboland and later other areas as the South African government
over reacted.
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Peasants also joined the strikes and
destroyed white settlers' farms and livestock in January and February 1972,
which led to declaration of a state of emergency in Ovamboland. About 50,000
villages were erased to the ground by the Apartheid forces to create a 1 km
wide no man's land along Namibian border with Angola.
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SWAPO condemned this act including
the arrest, torture and massacre or detaining of hundreds of Africans.
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To divide and weaken the African
resistance, the Apartheid South African government granted limited
self-government to Ovambo-Karango homeland in 1973.
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The Nama-Herero and Khoisan people
(minority) were also recruited into the forces to fight alongside majority
Ovambo in SW APO as some fought SW APO. Despite this, the nationalists
continued with the liberation struggle.
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SW APO also influenced Namibian
black people to boycott South Africa’s legislative council elections.
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The independence of Angola and
Mozambique inspired the Namibian independence struggle especially to fight and
continue with hope for similar success under SWAPO.
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Angola and Mozambique equally
provided bases for the training of SWAPO guerrilla forces or the PLAN.
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These developments led South Africa
to invite or hold a conference in September 1975 over the future of Namibia,
though SWAPO wasn't invited. This conference at Windhoek intended to derail the
Namibian masses in their struggle for independence by side-lining SWAPO and
other organizations. The conference came up with the TURNIIALE proposals that
promised Namibian independence in 1978, but no practical steps were realized.
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The South African Apartheid
government was disturbed with Soviet -Cuban Angolan and Mozambican support to
SWAPO and in 1976 they bombarded SWAPO military bases in Angola and Mozambique.
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By 1976, PLAN had to withdraw from
Angola and established internal bases inside Namibia in order to strengthen
their moral, which went hand in hand with foreign financial and military
assistance to SW APO from USSR and Cuba, Tanzania, among others.
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SWAPO also gained support from the
capitalist members of the UNO Security Council, for instance Britain, France,
West German, USA and Canada. These states rejected the 1975 TURNHALE proposals
of the Windhoek Conference that provided independence of individual homelands
in Namibia and eventual partial independence 1978.
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Capitalist states also drew up plans
for the independence of Namibia, which could involve negotiations between South
Africa, SWAPO under UNO supervision. South Africa rejected the proposals and
even annexed other Namibian areas earlier unoccupied including the Walvis Bay
in 1977.
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The USA in 1970s under Jimmy Carter
strengthened SW APO's independence struggle. Despite western interests in
Namibia, the role of USA led to the 1977 independence Constitution that allowed
local elections in Bantustans and foreign affairs and defense matters in
Namibia to go to South Africa.
·
SWAPO also rejected the 1977 Constitution.
In 1978, western powers proposed a UN peacekeeping mission in Namibia, which
was also supported by the UN. South Africa rejected the proposals and in May
1978 attacked SW APO camps inside Namibia at Kassinga killing 867 of their
forces and wounding 464 of them.
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By then while Sam Nujoma negotiated
with the capitalist states, armed struggle against South Africa intensified,
for instance in August 1978, PLAN attacked and defeated South African military
base at Kitima Mulito in the Caprivi Strip.
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It also in the same year boycotted
the legislative council elections and urged Namibian people to do so.
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By 1980, its military strategy in
the armed struggle of Namibia had led to the PLAN blowing up South Africa's
electric line at Ruacaca leaving almost half the country in a power blowout
including Windhoek.
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From 1980 to 1989, SWAPO appealed to
the international community to tighten sanctions on Apartheid South Africa in
order to enforce dialogue, it also had links with other liberation movements,
it appealed to other world bodies and states .
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By 1989, the South African
government was over whelmed militarily by the People’s Liberation Army of
Namibia (PLAN) and due foreign pressure, allowed Namibia to form a
self-government and a Constitution was prepared.
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By April 1990, Namibia gained her
independence after almost 40 years of struggle and Sam Nujoma of SW APO became
the first President of the independent Namibian state
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