SUMMARY
SWAPO (South West African People’s Organisation) was an armed liberation group that sought independence for the territory of South West Africa, now known as Namibia from the Government of South Africa. It originated as the Ovamboland People’s Congress (OPC) before it was renamed Ovamboland People’s Organisation (OPO) and then, SWAPO in 1960. The OPC and following OPO emerged in the late 1950s in response to the exploitative conditions for non-white migrant workers installed under the racially discriminating political system of apartheid imposed by the Government of South Africa. OPC and OPO represented popular resentment from amongst the ethnic Ovambo population but reformed as SWAPO in April 1960, when its exiled leaders undertook the strategy to broaden its support base amongst other Namibian ethnic communities as well as petitioning external actors for their international support. It took up an armed struggle in 1966, after political measures failed to convince the South African government to cede independence to the territory (see Government of South Africa – SWAPO for more information). The conflict parties signed a peace agreement in 1978 but fighting continued until a full independence process was concluded with elections in 1989. Thus, SWAPO transitioned into a political party and won the elections to become the first independent Government of Namibia.
SWAPO headquarters was first established in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where its exiled leadership were based. However, much of its guerilla activity was launched from bases in Zambia and later Angola; therefore, SWAPO headquarters were moved to the Zambian capital, Lusaka in the late 1960s. The majority of SWAPO members were from the Ovambo ethnic group, despite attempts to broaden its base of support. The Ovambo inhabited the northern part of modern-day Namibia and represented the largest ethnic group in the country.
The People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the armed wing of SWAPO and it operated using small guerilla fighting units. It was first based in Namibia but a harsh government crackdown forced PLAN to move its base of operations to Zambia, from where it launched its attacks into northern Namibia. In the early 1980s, the Zambian government banned SWAPO due to political pressure from the Government of South Africa. Nonetheless, PLAN had bases established in Angola from the mid-1970s, after Angola gained its independence. Angolan independence allowed more people to escape from Namibia to join the SWAPO camps in Angola, which resulted in SWAPO membership swelling. During the 1980s, SWAPO claimed to have 70,000 to 100,000 people living within its camps in exile from Namibia. Therefore, SWAPO was able to launch operations from Angola, which resulted in some fighting against the South African government forces also taking place on Angolan territory as well.
Sam Nujoma was the leader of SWAPO. He was an ethnic Ovambo and from exile, he led SWAPO from its inception in 1960 until 1989, when he returned to Namibia and led SWAPO to electoral victory. Accordingly, Nujoma was sworn in as the first President of Namibia in 1990. Herman Toivo Ya Toivo was one of the original founders of SWAPO’s predecessor, OPC. He was prosecuted and imprisoned by the Government of South Africa between 1968 and 1984 for his activities in relation to SWAPO. After his release, Toivo Ya Toivo served as Secretary-General for SWAPO from 1984 to 1991.
Party divisions within SWAPO resulted in a faction called the SWAPO Democrats splintering from the group in 1978. SWAPO received support from several states. It was permitted access and use of territory in Zambia and an agreement with UNITA signed in 1963, enabled it to use southern Angolan territory controlled by UNITA for bases. After Angola gained independence and the left-wing armed group, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), took control of Angola as the Government in 1975, it also supported SWAPO by allowing it to have bases on Angolan territory and providing weapons, logistics and material support. In fact, several other communist regimes also supported SWAPO directly: Cuba provided training and expertise, as did the governments of China, North Korea and the Soviet Union. These latter three countries also provided SWAPO with weapons, logistics and material support and the Soviet Union provided financial support as well. The United Kingdom allegedly gave weapons to SWAPO and Zimbabwe was known to have supported the group as well, although it is not known what type of specific support this involved. (For more additional information on secondary support to SWAPO, click Read More on the left-hand side.)
