Background
After Imperial Germany lost its colonies as a result of World War I, South Africa took over the administration of the territory of South-West Africa as their de facto fifth province, since 1920. This mandate over South-West Africa was granted by the League of Nations, the predecessor of the UN. A request to annex the territory right away was, however, not granted. When South Africa introduced apartheid legislation in 1948 after an election victory of the right-wing National Party, these laws also extended to South-West Africa.
In 1960, the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) was founded. SWAPO soon began an armed guerrilla war against South African forces, and for this purpose formed its military wing, the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) in 1962. The Namibian War of Independence, which soon escalated into the South African Border War, started in August 1966. Later that year, the UN General Assembly revoked South Africa's mandate to govern South-West Africa, and created the position of a United Nations Commissioner for Namibia. In 1972 it recognised SWAPO as the 'sole legitimate representative' of Namibia's people.
In the mean time, the white inhabitants of South-West Africa and conservative black members of the population tried to contain the violence and preserve the status quo. The South African government hoped that by means of small reforms and compromises a broad spectrum of the indigenous population would cease their support for armed resistance. The aim of the Turnhalle Conference was the initiation of such dialogue and "pseudo-reforms".
Read more about this topic: Turnhalle Constitutional Conference
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