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In-Depth Information
tion of South West Africa officially illegal and called for a withdrawal, proclaiming
Swapo the legitimate representative of the Namibian people.
In 1975 Angola gained independence under the Cuban-backed Popular Movement for
the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). Sympathetic to Swapo's struggle for independence in
neighbouring Namibia, the fledgling government allowed it a safe base in the south of the
country from where it could step up its guerrilla campaign against South Africa.
South Africa responded by invading Angola in support of the opposition party National
Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita), an act that prompted the Cuban gov-
ernment to send hundreds of troops to the country to bolster up the MPLA. Although the
South African invasion failed, and troops had to be withdrawn in March 1976, furious and
bloody incursions into Angola continued well into the 1980s.
In the end, it was neither solely the activities of Swapo nor international sanctions that
forced the South Africans to the negotiating table. On the contrary, all players were grow-
ing tired of the war, and the South African economy was suffering badly. By 1985, the
war was costing some R480 million (around US$250 million) per year, and conscription
was widespread. Mineral exports, which once provided around 88% of the country's gross
domestic product (GDP), had plummeted to just 27% by 1984.
Independence
In December 1988, a deal was finally struck between Cuba, Angola, South Africa and
Swapo that provided for the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola and South African
troops from Namibia. It also stipulated that the transition to Namibian independence
would formally begin on 1 April 1989, and would be followed by UN-monitored elections
held in November 1989 on the basis of universal suffrage. Although minor score settling
and unrest among some Swapo troops threatened to derail the whole process, the plan
went ahead, and in September, Sam Nujoma returned from his 30-year exile. In the elec-
tions, Swapo garnered two-thirds of the votes, but the numbers were insufficient to give
the party the sole mandate to write the new constitution, an outcome that went some way
to allaying fears that Namibia's minority groups would be excluded from the democratic
process.
Following negotiations between the Constituent Assembly (soon to become the Nation-
al Assembly) and international advisers, including the USA, France, Germany and the
former USSR, a constitution was drafted. The new constitution established a multiparty
system alongside an impressive bill of rights. It also limited the presidential executive to
two five-year terms. The new constitution was adopted in February 1990, and independ-
ence was granted a month later, with Sam Nujoma being sworn in as Namibia's first pres-
ident.