Appendix: A Chronology of Political Events in Southern Africa, 1975-89 January 1975 MPLA, FNLA and UNITA form a common front to negotiate independence from Portugal. April 1975 Fighting between the three Nationalist movements in Angola resumes. June 1975 Mozambique becomes independent. August 1975 First reports of a SADF presence in Southern Angola are made. Zairean and Cuban troops, Chinese, Soviet and US technical and material support are also deployed. September 1975 South Mrica convenes the Turnhalle Constitutional Conference on Namibia. SWAPO is excluded. November 1975 Angola becomes independent; the country is divided into an MPLA zone and a FNLNUNITA zone. FNLAIUNITA forces with support from South Africa and Zaire advance on Luanda which is in MPLA hands. They are beaten off with assistance from Cuban forces. March 1975 Following an MPLA-Cuban counter-attack, SADF withdraws from Angola. P.W. Botha, South Mrica's Defence Minister, announces that South Mrica is not prepared to fight alone on behalf of the free world. June 1976 Soweto uprising. Black school children protest against the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction. July 1976 SADF attacks SWAPO targets in Zambia, 22 people are killed. South Mrica denies making the attack. The UN Security Council condemns South Africa. May 1977 MPLA dissidents, supporting the dismissed Interior Minister Nito Alves, attempt to overthrow the government. 179 180 Appendix June 1977 Commonwealth agree the Gleneagles Agreement against sporting links with South Africa. The UN adopts the International Declaration against apartheid in sport. May 1978 SADF launches Operation Reindeer against alleged SWAPO targets in Angola. The Cassinga refugee camp, 250 km inside Angola, is attacked; more than 600 people are killed. September 1978 The National Party elects P.W. Botha Prime Minister. UN Security Council adopts Resolution 435, setting out a timetable for Namibian independence. SW APO accepts the plan but South Africa initially rejects it. Later, in October, it says it will accept it subject to certain condi­ tions. October-November 1978 South African and Angolan forces clash on the Namibian border. November 1978 Two bombs in Huambo (Angola) explode, killing 24 people. Angola blames South Africa and closes air space to South Africa's civilian flights to Europe, claiming that reconnaissance missions are being flown over its territory. December 1979 South Africa accepts the idea of a demilitarized zone along the Namibian border but SW APO refuses the terms South Africa imposes. February 1980 Following renewed fighting, Lesotho claims that 300 LLA guerrillas have entered the country armed with SADF weapons. In the same month, Lesotho establishes diplomatic relations with Cuba. April 1980 Zimbabwe becomes independent and SADCC is launched in Lusaka with an economic and political agenda. May 198ft Mozambique claims publicly that South Africa had inherited the MNR from Rhodesia. June 1980 Major SADF offensive in Southern Angola with SAAF and artillery support. 400 Angolans and Namibians are reported killed. The invasion lasts three weeks. July 1980 Mozambican forces attack MNR bases in Manica province and uncover SADF arms and evidence of presence of South African instructors. August 1980 South Africa scraps plans for a black council as part of proposed constitu­ tional reform. Appendix 181 October 1980 Attempted coup in Zambia. President Kaunda claims South Africa's involve­ ment and that SADF were massing troops across the border in Namibia. South Africa denies involvement. November 1980 SADCC meeting in Maputo; membership increases to nine states. January 1981 Reagan is sworn in as President of the US. Dr Chester Crocker, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, embarks upon the 'constructive engage­ ment' with South Africa and begins developing the linkage between Namibian independence and the Cuban withdrawal from Angola. SADF launch a commando raid on ANC houses in Matola outside Maputo. Twelve people are killed (one commando is killed as well). SADF forces attack an alleged ANC Headquarters in a Maputo suburb. Mozambique describes the target as a refugees' house. Twelve ANC members are reported killed. February 1981 The South African President's Council is set up, replacing the Senate. July 1981 The ANC representative in Zimbabwe is killed in Harare. South Africa denies responsibility, claiming that ANC infighting was to blame. August 1981 SADF launch Operation Protean into Angola, its largest offensive since 1975. This marks the launching of the intensive phase of the Total Strategy. The operation clears a buffer zone of 100-150 km in Angola's Cunene province in which UNITA could operate freely. The UN is prevented by US veto to depart from its customary practice of condemning South Africa over such actions. September-November 1981 LLA steps up its campaigns in Lesotho with bomb attacks in Maseru. South Africa and LLA deny cooperation between them. But since 1979, LLA activities tended to increase each time Maseru angered Pretoria by not hand­ ing over ANC members escaping into Lesotho. November 1981 South Africa launches Operation Daisy against alleged SWAPO targets in Southern Angola. December 1981 South Africa denies that its forces are still occupying the buffer zone in Cunene taken during Operation Protean in August. Swazi police reported that South Africa has threatened to tum Swaziland into an operational zone if it does not take action against the ANC there. Swaziland complies. South Africa offers Swaziland a land deal which would give it access to the coast; the land offer is linked to the ANC issue. 182 Appendix February 1982 The Zimbabwe government uncovers huge arms caches on ZAPU-owned farms. Later, reports emerge of plans by ZAPU and Smith's Rhodesian Front to overthrow the ZANU government. The idea was apparently approved by the South Africa. Swaziland signs a secret non-aggression pact with Pretoria. Its existence is revealed only after the Nkomati Accord in 1984. March 1982 South Africa launches Operation Super in Southern Angola against alleged SWAPO targets. Kaunda accuses South African air and land forces of having made incursions into Zambia in February and in March. Mozambique releases papers seized in December during the capture of the MNR base. These give further evidence of South Africa's involvement with the MNR. July 1982 Nine Zimbabwe Air Force planes are blown up at Gweru. Several senior white air force officers are arrested and charged with aiding and abetting South Africa in the mission. June 1983 The Namibian Council of Ministers resigns and South Africa takes over direct administration of the country. August 1983 Following a call by Dr Allan Boesak, a prominent Coloured leader and president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the United Demo­ cratic Front (UDF) is formed. It is a multi-racial movement with membership comprising civic and sporting bodies, religious organizations, trade unions and student associations. September 1983 Under pressure from the LLA and South Africa's border checks, Lesotho agrees to expel an undisclosed number of South African refugees from a list of 68 drawn up by South Africa. November 1983 A whites-only referendum in South Africa approves the proposed tricameral constitution. December 1983 South African forces, still in Angola since 1981, launch Operation Askari against alleged SW APO targets 250 km north of the border. January 1984 Angolan, South African and American delegations meet in Cape Verde. Subsequently, South Africa announces a unilateral ceasefire and its intention to withdraw its troops from Angola, on condition that the areas vacated are not used to mount attacks into Namibia. The following month, the arrange­ ment is formalized into the Lusaka Agreement and troop withdrawals begin. They take over a year. Appendix 183 March 1984 Samora Machel of Mozambique and P.W. Botha sign the Nkomati Accord. Over the following month the MNR steps up its campaigns, hitting the Nampula-Nacala road and rail link for the first time. October 1984 Despite Mozambican expulsion of 800 ANC members under the terms of the Nkomati Accord, MNR continued its sabotage activities. South Mrica hosts talks with the MNR and the Mozambican authorities and announces a planned ceasefire. Negotiations break down in November and the ceasefire does not materialize. December 1984 Swaziland and South Africa agree to exchange trade missions. May 1985 SADF members caught attempting to sabotage Angolan oil installations at Cabinda. June 1985 SADF commandos raid an alleged ANC target in Gaborone. Four houses are demolished, there is no loss of life. Subsequently, 24 ANC members are reportedly obliged to leave Botswana. July 1985 US Congress repeals the Clark amendment prohibiting US military and fmancial support to UNITA. The South Mrican government declares a state of emergency in 35 districts. This follows unrest caused by police opening fire on a procession marking the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre. August 1985 A combined Zimbabwean and Mozambican force takes the MNR headquar­ ters at Casa Banana in the Gorongoza National Park and brings back diaries showing continued SA support and even ministerial visits after the Nkomati Accord. The base falls back into MNR hands after Zimbabwean troops are withdrawn. September 1985 SA's Defence Minister, General Magnus Malan, publicly admits that SA supported UNITA over a number of years. October 1985 Reagan pre-empts Congressional moves towards the imposition of sanctions by issuing an Executive Order banning most loans and nuclear technology and computer exports. The Congress of South Africa Trade Union (COSATU) is formed. December 1985 A South Mrican commando force kills nine people, six of whom are ANC members, in Maseru. LLA claims responsibility while SA denies involvement. Jauuary 1986 MNR blows up power lines from SA to Mozambique; it takes three days to restore them. In Lesotho the new year starts with SA's virtual border block- 184 Appendix ade which precipitates the overthrow of Leabua Jonathan on January 20.