| 1988 |
The National
Progressive Party is formed under the presidency of Patrick Mufalo Limbo
after the UDP splits. The Federal Convention of Namibia (FCN) is formed in
Rehoboth under Hans Diergaardt and Mburumba Kerina.
Aksie Kontra 435 (Action against 435) is formed in Keetmanshoop under the
leadership of Louis van der Westhuizen.
Andrew Kloppers disbands the CDU and merges with the LP once again. The LP
leader is Reggie Diergaardt.
The Namibia Volksparty (People’s Party) is formed by Willem "Billy"
Phillips, after he leaves the LP with a number of supporters.
The Supreme Court gives an advisory opinion that AG8 contradicts the Bill of
Fundamental Human Rights as contained in Proclamation R101. The SA Court of
Appeal rejects the opinion.
The potential for escalating conflict in southern Angola between SA/UNITA
and Cuba/MPLA halts internal constitutional developments in Namibia as
negotiations around SC Resolution 435 and related matters begin between
Angola, Cuba and SA, with US mediation and with support from the Soviet
Union.
Mosé Penaani Tjitendero becomes Director of the UN Vocational Centre in
Angola.
The Okorusu fluorspar mine is reopened by Okorusu Fluorspar (Pty) Ltd.
The Yeyi community in the Eastern Caprivi Strip directs an application for
autonomy to the chief of the Fwe, Richard Muhinda Mamili. Mamili rejects
this and punishes the rebellious Yeyi. He appoints his uncle, George
Simasiku, as chief of the Yeyi.
The South African Defence Force destroys Ondonga King’s Immanuel Elifa’s (Kauluma)
homestead at Onamungundo (Olukonda) because he is a strong supporter of
SWAPO. |
| 16.01. |
A series of military
battles take place in the south-eastern corner of Angola. They derive from a
MPLA-Soviet-Cuban assault on UNITA-held territory and bases, UNITA being
given substantial support by South Africa. The MPLA troops fail in their
assault on Mavinga and then loose a battle at the Lomba River. About 6 000
SA troops together with UNITA forces commence operations to conquer Cuito
Cuanavale, but they are finding strong resistance. UNITA breaks off contacts
with the SA troops. In May the SA forces return to the Namibian side of the
border, calculating that there would be no further assault by the MPLA
before the end of the rainy season. |
| 28.01. |
During the visit of
the West-German right-wing politician Franz-Joseph Strauss in Windhoek, PLAN
explodes a bomb in the South African Suiderhof military base. |
| 17.02. |
A bomb explodes in
the First National Bank in Oshakati, killing 27 and wounding 70 people.
Among those killed is the daughter of ELCIN Bishop Kleophas Dumeni. Both
sides blame each other for the atrocity, although strong indications show
that the South Africans, in attempt to discredit SWAPO, are responsible.
Subsequently Leonard Sheehama is arrested on 09.07. and charged with the
attack on the Oshakati bank. The court case is still pending at Namibia’s
independence on 21.03.1990 and is not pursued further after the
implementation of the policy of national reconciliation after independence.
After Sheehama’s arrest it is established that he had allegedly planted
bombs in various public places in Walvis Bay and at the Okambebe School in
the Omungwelume area in Ovamboland. However, during the court case, the
South African police officer, Lieutenant Hillhause, admits third degree
methods, including vicious assaults on Sheehama. Consequently his appeal
(28.03.1991) against the death sentence for the Walvis Bay bombings is
successful and he is released and returns to Namibia. |
| March |
Several attacks by
PLAN troops on South African military bases in Okatope, Eenhana, Okongo,
Onesi and Okalongo take place. |
| 07.03. |
An application is
brought before the SWA Division of the Supreme Court whether the
Proclamation on Representative Authorities according to the AG 8 Act of 1980
are not in contradiction to the "Bill of Fundamental Rights and Objectives"
in the annex to Proclamation R101 of 1985. The court rules in favour of
abolishing of the AG 8 Act. However, the Action Front for the Retention of
Turnhalle Principles (ACTUR) remains opposed to the abolition. The dispute
in the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGNU) is still not
resolved by the 1 April 1989, when the implementation of SC Resolution 435
commences. |
| 04.05. |
About 50 000 Cuban,
Angolan and PLAN troops succeed in pushing the SADF back at Cuito Cuanavale.
The Cuban forces together with their allies are even successful in carrying
out a flanking manoeuvre south-westwards. They establish a 400 km southern
front running parallel to, and in some cases only 20 km from the Namibian
border. The front is protected by the Cuban and Angolan Air Force stationed
at the newly upgraded airbases at Cahama and Xangongo. The Cubans have
MIG-23 planes and are equipped with the full range of modern Soviet
weaponry, with heavy armour, full air-defence radar and several
ground-to-air missiles. For its part, South Africa begins bringing up
heavier fighting units and mobilises the SWA Territory Force (SWATF). During
the advance Cuban war planes carry out a successful air attack on Techipa
and the Calueque Dam, just outside Namibia on the border of the two
countries, threatening the water supply to northern Namibia and the
electricity supply from Ruacana. Cuban planes even begin to appear in
Namibian air space including some low-level fly-pasts above the huge SADF
air base at Grootfontein. By this stage, also, though the South African
military is still generally well-equipped, the international arms boycott is
affecting aspects of its capability, especially as regards aircraft, two of
which are lost at Calueque. Nor does the SADF possess attack helicopters.
Estimates are placing the cost of the war at not less than US$ two billion a
year, and it is increasingly unpopular among South African conscripts and
their families. The impact of sanctions, and of the huge disinvestment that
had taken place are finally taking a major toll on the South African
economy. Chester Crocker quotes an estimate of 17% decline in the South
African GNP from 1987 to 1991. Even nature turns hostile - a virulent, often
fatal, strain of malaria in the border regions had become resistant to
prophylactics and is rife among South African soldiers. South Africa’s will
to defend Apartheid is weakening, as is its control over Namibia. All
these events force SA to begin serious negotiations on the implementation of
SC Resolution 435, despite the fact that SA and UNITA still both claim
victory.
On the same day Sam Nujoma announces in Washington D.C. a policy of national
reconciliation, neutrality and non-alignment by a future SWAPO government in
Namibia. |
| May-August |
Angola, Cuba, and SA
meet in London, later Cairo (where on 24./25.06. the uncompromising attitude
of the South African Defence Minister Magnus Malan nearly wrecks the second
round of negotiations), then in New York (20.07.: The agreement on
"Principles for a Peaceful Settlement in South West Africa, Angola,
Cuba and South Africa") and finally in Geneva (02./05.08.). |
| Beginning June |
75 000 school
students boycott schools throughout the country in protest at the South
African army and police repressions. The boycott begins at the Ponhofi
Secondary School in Ovamboland. |
| 20.-21.06. |
The National Union of
Namibian Workers (NUNW) organises a general strike in support of the
students. More than 60 000 workers support the strike. |
| 27.06. |
There is a heavy
clash between PLAN, Cuban and Angolan troops on the one side and South
African troops on the other at the Calueque Dam near Ruacana. |
| June-July |
The SWAPO leadership
(Sam Nujoma, Hage Geingob and Hidipo Hamutenya and others) and a delegation
of "whites" from Namibia meet in Stockholm. Present is also the newly
appointed UN Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson.
SA continues its troop withdrawal from Angola.
A conference is held in Bremen, West Germany, on "Education for Liberation",
attended by SWAPO members including, inter alia, Mosé Penaani
Tjitendero, Nahas Angula, Helmut Kangulohi Angula, Nangolo Mbumba and Klaus
Dierks, as well as a representative of the University of Bremen, Manfred
Hinz. |
| August |
During the 11<sup>th</sup>
annual congress of the Interessengemeinschaft Deutschsprachiger Südwester
(IG), the Namibisch-Deutsche Stiftung für kulturelle Zusammenarbeit (NaDS)
is established (board members: Volker Gretschel, Gerhard Tötemeyer, Imke
Weitzel and Marianne Zappen-Thomson). |
| 01.07. |
The Multimodal
National Transport Corporation is established. |
| 02./05.08. |
Discussions in Geneva
between Angola, Cuba and SA lead to the "Geneva Protocol", which stipulates
that SC Resolution 435 will be implemented on 01.11. Angola and Cuba sign a
bilateral accord to govern the Cuban withdrawal from Angola (02.08.: The
South Africans again delay the negotiations by a new demand that Angola
ceases assisting the South African ANC). Mediator is Chester Crocker.
In view of the fact that SWAPO is not a party to the "Geneva Protocol", it
is provided that "Angola and Cuba shall use their good offices so that,
once a total withdrawal of South African troops from Angola is completed and
within the context also of the cessation of hostilities in Namibia, SWAPO’s
forces will be deployed to the north of the 16<sup>th</sup> parallel." |
| 08.08. |
SA voluntarily
commits itself to a de facto cessation of hostilities. |
| 10.08. |
S/20109 conveys the
US Permanent Mission’s verbal note to the UN Secretary-General, and also
contains the text of the joint statement issued in Geneva on 08.08. |
| 12.08. |
The cease-fire is
observed by SWAPO (S/20129). |
| 30.08. |
SA completes the
withdrawal of its troops from Angola. |
| 24.08./-13.12. |
Five meetings are
held in Brazzaville, Zaire (Congo), between Angola, Cuba and SA under the
chairmanship of the US and with Soviet observation. |
| September |
UN Secretary-General
Péres de Cuéllar visits Angola and SA (the South Africans still try to delay
the peace process by demanding an all-party conference in Namibia before SC
Resolution 435 comes into force) to discuss the implementation of SC
Resolution 435. |
| 20.09. |
In S/20208 the UN
Security Council President indicates Council members’ support for the
implementation of SC Resolution 435. |
| 29.09. |
The summit meeting
between the US President Ronald Reagan and the Secretary-General of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union Michael Sergejewich Gorbachev paves the
way to finally resolve the situation in Namibia and Angola. |
| October |
A number of African
heads of state meet in Franceville, Gabon, and Gbadolite, Zaire (Congo), to
discuss and facilitate the peace process in Namibia. |
| 09./11.10. |
A "Consultative
Conference" is held between SWAPO and progressive Namibians (inter alia
Immanuel Ngatjizeko, Anton Lubowski, Frieder Rohn, Gerd Hanekom, Klaus
Dierks, Bernd Riehmer, Peter Borsutzky, Hans Röhr, Christo Lombard) in Kabwe,
Zambia. Prominent exiled SWAPO leaders are present, including, inter alia,
Sam Nujoma, Hage Geingob, Theo-Ben Gurirab and Hidipo Hamutenya. Bryan
O’Linn, Chairman of the Namibia Peace Plan 435 (NPP-435), takes not part
because the CDA leader, Peter Kalangula, is not invited by SWAPO. |
| 16.11. |
The SA Foreign
Minister, Pik Botha, and the head of the SA National Intelligent Service,
Neil Barnard, argue the need for the earliest action to resolve the Namibian
question, which is destabilising the region and "seriously complicating"
the major issue which South Africa itself would shortly have to face. Ten
years later Botha speaks of the "decisive effect" which the Namibian
Peace Process and Namibia’s Independence had had on the abolition of
Apartheid in South Africa. |
| 03.12. |
The new Kai5khaun
leader from Hoachanas, Petrus Simon Moses Kooper, is sworn in.
The Kai5khaun
(Red Nation) Chief of Hoachanas, Petrus Simon Moses Kooper, Son of Reverend
Markus Kooper: Hardap Region: April 2003
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks |
| 04.12. |
The "Mukorob" (a.k.a.
" Finger of God") near Tses collapses during a heavy storm.
The Mukurob (Finger of God), near Asab,
collapsed on 04.12.1988. Nama oral tradition relates that the power of the
"White Man" would end when this Rock fell
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks (Photo was taken
a few days before the collapse) |
| 13.12. |
SA, Angola and Cuba
sign the "Brazzaville Protocol", which recommends that the UN
Secretary-General sets 01.04.1989 as the deadline for the implementation of
SC Resolution 435. The protocol also establishes a " Joint Monitoring
Commission (JMC)". |
| 14.12. |
In S/20325 the
Charge d’affaires of the US Permanent Mission transmits the text of the
"Brazzaville Protocol" to the UN Secretary-General. |
| 20.12. |
The UN Security
Council sets up the United Nations Angolan Verification Mission (UNAVEM) in
SC Resolution 626. |
| 21.12. |
The UN Commissioner
for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson, is killed in the Pan Am air disaster at
Lockerbie in Scotland, while on his way to the signing ceremony at New York. |
| 22.12. |
SA, Angola and Cuba
sign the "New York Treaty" (or "Tripartite Agreement") at UN Headquarters,
which finalises the agreements reached earlier in Geneva. Angola and Cuba
also sign a bilateral agreement on the Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola,
which paves the way for SC Resolution 435 to be implemented on 01.04.1989.
The parties also confirm that the Joint Monitoring Commission (JMC) will
monitor the implementation of the agreements. The US and Soviet Union both
participate as observers and facilitators. |
