Conference Setup
The Turnhalle Conference was attended by 134 members of 11 ethnic groups: Ovaherero, Coloureds, Baster, Tswana, Damara, Ovambo, Caprivians, Nama, Kavango, San, and Whites. The chairman was Dirk Mudge. Political parties were not considered when the South African administration picked the delegates. It was widely regarded as a South-African sponsored and initiated event, although conference chair Mudge later claimed that it was his idea alone.
The conference was officially opened on 1 September 1975 and met on several occasions in Windhoek's historic Turnhalle (German: gymnasium) building, after which it got its name. There were four plenary sessions between September 1975 and June 1976, and several committee meetings thereafter, comprising one delegate from each ethnic group. The members agreed on a preliminary constitution and suggested that South-West Africa become independent from South Africa by the end of 1978. On 6 October 1977 the conference was officially dissolved.
Read more about this topic: Turnhalle Constitutional Conference
Famous quotes containing the word conference:
“Politics is still the man’s game. The women are allowed to do the chores, the dirty work, and now and then—but only occasionally—one is present at some secret conference or other. But it’s not the rule. They can go out and get the vote, if they can and will; they can collect money, they can be grateful for being permitted to work. But that is all.”
—Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876–1958)