People's Liberation Army of Namibia
|
People's Liberation Army of Namibia |
|
|---|---|
 PLAN armed combat unit |
|
| active | 1962 to 1990 |
| Country |
South West Africa (now Namibia ) |
| Type | Paramilitary organization |
| Strength | 32,000 (1989) |
| Location |
 Dar es Salaam (1962–1972) Lusaka (1972–1976) Lubango (1976–1990) 
|
| Origin of the soldiers | Namibia |
| Nickname | PLAN |
| Butcher | Namibian liberation struggle in South West Africa, Angola , Zambia and Tanzania |
| commander | |
| commander |
Tobias Hainyeko (1962–1967) Dimo Hamaambo (1967–1990) |
| SWAPO Defense Secretary |
Peter Nanyemba (1970–1983) Peter Mweshihange (1983–1990) |
| Chairman of the SWAPO Military Council | Peter Nanyemba (1961–1982) Sam Nujoma (1982–1990) |
The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN, to German about People's Liberation Army of Namibia ) was a paramilitary unit in South West Africa , now Namibia . She was the military arm of the SWAPO (then South-West Africa People's Organization ) in the Namibian liberation struggle , which has been the government in the country since Namibia's independence in 1990.
history
The intention to provide military training for combatants was in exile. A group of South West African resistance actors gathered in Dar es Salaam in 1962, with the participation of Sam Nujoma, agreed on a training plan for members of SWAPO and SWANU .
The first guerrilla activities began in 1965 with small acts of sabotage. SWAPO founded a military sub-organization in 1966 under the name South-West African Liberation Army (SWALA). Its first commander was Tobias Hanyeko . He died in 1967 on Kwando in the Caprivi Strip during enemy contact with the South African Defense Force . He was followed in the same position by Dimo Hamaambo , whose deputy was Salomon Hawala . The main areas of operation in the territory of South West Africa were the Northern zone ( Kavango and Ovamboland ), the Central zone ( Grootfontein district), the Northeastern zone (Caprivi Strip) and the Northwestern zone ( Kaokoveld ).
The South African occupation authorities reacted sensitively and immediately to the first acts of sabotage. The security legislation of South Africa was extended to South West Africa with the General Law Amendment Act ( Act No. 62/1966 ). In practice, any person believed to be a “terrorist” could be arrested by the police without a warrant . The then Vice Minister for Justice, Police and Prisons declared in September 1966 that, according to his sources of information, these “terrorists” came to Ovamboland on a route from Tanzania via Zambia and southern Angola . They are said to have been equipped with automatic weapons, presumably of Russian and Chinese origin. In addition, these paramilitaries are said to have considerable knowledge of dealing with explosives, guerrilla warfare and cartography. In his opinion, the Vice Minister could not rule out the possibility that more militant groups could cross “our border” in the way they have done up to now. “African terrorists” would be trained in the VAR , in “Russia”, Algeria, North Korea, Congo-Brazzaville, Ghana, Ethiopia, Cuba, “Red China” and Tanzania.
Regarding the increasing onset of guerrilla activities in South West Africa, on April 13, 1967 in the South African National Assembly a government declaration was made by the then Vice Minister for Police Lourens Muller , where he went into the history of this armed resistance. According to this, SWAPO leaders met in Dar es Salaam in 1962 for a conference, during which they decided to send members of the Ovambo tribes to Tanzania and other countries in the future . The selected persons were to undergo training in guerrilla tactics, attacks and sabotage. According to the Vice Minister, the purpose of these instructions should be to undermine and ultimately to take over the government of South West Africa with the support of “communist states”. In fact, SWAPO staff, along with other participants from the PAC and ANC , were later trained at Kongwa Camp near Dar es Salaam. The resolution of 1962 is seen in some publications as the year the PLAN was founded.
When the MPLA came to power in Angola in 1975 , the SWAPO had expanded opportunities in political, humanitarian and military fields of action, which also enabled the network of training camps and bases it operated to expand. In addition, SWAPO received extensive support from the new Angolan government. This constellation was favored by the fact that Angola hardly had to take into account any possible damage in economic cooperation with South Africa, as there was only such a thing in a few points (for example the Cunene project ). This change had enormous consequences for the South African occupation practice and strategic Africa policy. The potential front for military conflicts with the PLAN and other opponents now ran along the Angolan-South West African border from the Atlantic to the border with Zambia in the Caprivi Strip over a length of 1,600 kilometers. The South African armed forces took over control of the entire border zone from the previously responsible SAP units .
The SWAPO received military support not only from the Angolan side, but also from the African Liberation Committee of the OAU . This enabled thousands of fighters to be trained and equipped in other African countries. In the course of its history, PLAN has had bilateral contacts with China , Yugoslavia , Cuba , North Korea , Romania and the Soviet Union .
The SWAPO politically and militarily led the country to independence as part of the Namibian liberation struggle. With effect from March 21, 1990 PLAN members were integrated into the Namibian Defense Force .
Known members
Commander
- Commanders
- Tobias Hainyeko (1962–1967)
- Dimo Hamaambo (1967–1990)
- SWAPO Defense Secretary
- Peter Nanyemba (1970-1983)
- Peter Mweshihange (1983–1990)
- Chairman of the SWAPO Military Council
- Peter Nanyemba (1961-1982)
- Sam Nujoma (1982–1990) , Founding President of Namibia
Others
literature
- Agamemnon Maverick: People's Liberation Army of Namibia. Ord Publishing, 2012, ISBN 978-613-8-63835-3 .
- Livhuwani Johannes Nengovhela: The role-played by the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) during the Namibian struggle, 1978 to 1989 . Johannesburg 1999, Master's thesis (MA of Arts) from the University of Johannesburg . ( available online )
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jaremey McMullin: Ex-Combatants and the Post-Conflict State: Challenges of Reintegration. Basingstoke 2013, Palgrave-Macmillan, ISBN 978-1-349-33179-6 , pp. 81-88.
- ↑ Muriel Horrell: action, reaction and counter-action . Johannesburg 1971, p. 94
- ^ A b c South African History Online: The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) . at www.sahistory.org.za, accessed on August 29, 2017.
- ^ SAIRR : A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1966 . Johannesburg 1967, pp. 53-55
- ↑ Muriel Horrell (ed.): Laws affecting race relations in South Africa. (1948-1976) . South African Institute of Race Relations , Johannesburg 1978, p. 500 ISBN 0-86982-168-7
- ^ Reinhard Rode: Change in South Africa . Work from the Institut für Afrikakunde 10, Hamburg [1976], pp. 65–66
- ↑ SAIRR: Survey 1966 . Johannesburg 1967, pp. 408, 414