AFTER the victory ZANU in Zimbabwe, which established black majority rule after 80 years of white oppression, attention increasingly turning to the liberation struggle Namibia.
Namibia, or 'South
Africa', was a German colony, given to the South Africans as a League of Nations Protectorate in 1919. Despite the country's present legal status as a protectorate of the United Nations, the South Africans have kept a firm grip Namibia's diamond and uranium wealth.
Since the early '60s, South West Africa Organisation SWAPO has been waging an increasingly successful armed struggle defeat the South African occupation. This year marks the 20th founding of the movement. Minerals The turn of the nationalist movement in Namibia to armed struggle and the impetus for the formation of SWAPO closely followed the Windhoek 'shootings in 1959.
exploitation Namibia's mineral wealth depended on a system of forced contract labour imposed black Throughout Socialist Challenge 8 May 1980 Page 12 1959 a campaign took place, of organsce Iorces, against the removal thousands workers to the new township of Katatura.
West rigid control in tance campaign culminated in December 1959 with a boycott of municipal beer cinemas, and transport. On 10 December police opened fire on the demonstrators, Namibian workers and wounding 52.
In the aftermath shootings nationalist were imprisonea. ordered out of regroupment of forces led to the founding of SWAPO.
The beginning struggle proved a long and difficult operation.
clashes SWAPO guerillas South African forces did take place until above all it was the events of 1971-2 which transformed the Namibian struggle.
The general strike of 1971-2 began the Katutura compound and lasted over two nationalist 20,000 workers.
forcible sector of immediate cause of the strike were the low wages and appalling living conditions which the contract workers endured.
Most of returned to once there the workers organised themselves meetings, the mobilised support among the people.
Ine South ponded with massive repression and the strike halls, broken. But 1971-2 had carried the libera tion struggle on to a new stage, killing SWAPO. consondaling liberation of Angola, it made possible a considerable extension of the armed struggle.
leaders banned, or Windhoek. nationalist of armed and international imperialism both realise that the time has The first come to make some kina ol between "settlement'. and the Britain and the United Nations are working towards 1966. But ment which would include the holding of elections, and the establishment militarised Namibia and bases in Angola. month, months, involving more than government is every of the economy. The UN will accept. Intact the workers their homelands;
local committees and border between disarming Africans reswas eventually the cycles of huge support for This with the would tutelage.
Large South The South African regime in Namibia.
La sellieand be of zone between the SWAPO However the South African ment.
proposing series of amendments, which it appears that Britain and the These include: 20 of the 40 South African bases along the Namibia and Angola being left intact; the of SWAPO; SWAPO forces being excluded from Namibia; and the integration into South Atrica of tne Walvis. Bay base area, which is the main port and has easy access to Windhoek.
kind of settlement amount to keeping Namibia under South African rule bers of South African troops would be left in Namibia; the Rooikop base in Walvis Bay would provide the Africans with an airstrike capacity inside Namibia; and the SWAPO forces would be effectively demobilised.
"Free' elections in these circumstances would be a fraud The south Africans would continue to have effective control, able to sabotage the electoral process. In this situation, the struggle of SWAPO, both political and military will continue. So must the solidarity of the British labour moveCUBA has not been exempt from the new waves of cold war propaganda SAM NJOMO, political leader of SWAPO
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Beer halls Workers were placed under
township and the move was to entail massive increases in rent and transport costs. The resis-