United Nations Commissioner for Namibia

[5] The same year, the Security Council decided to request an Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as to the legal consequences for Member States of South Africa's continued presence in Namibia notwithstanding UNSCR 276 of 1970.

Martti Ahtisaari returned to Namibia in April 1989 as the UN's Special Representative to head up the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG), which supervised the South African appointed Administrator-General, Louis Pienaar, and to oversee the decolonisation of one of Africa's last colonies.

[6] On 1 April 1989 — "D-Day" for the peace plan — UNTAG units had not been fully deployed and those that were (mostly civilians and monitors) lacked equipment for both transportation and communication.

[8] Hurried negotiations took place and a new agreement was reached on 20 April 1989 when SADF forces withdrew to base for 60 hours, allowing SWAPO militants to withdraw peacefully.

In June 1989, the Special Representative told the Administrator-General that this behaviour was totally inconsistent with the Settlement Proposal, which required the police to be lightly armed.

(According to The Guardian of 26 July 1991, Pik Botha told a press conference that the South African government had paid more than £20 million to at least seven political parties in Namibia to oppose SWAPO in the run-up to the 1989 elections.

Sam Nujoma was sworn in as the first President of Namibia watched by Nelson Mandela (just released from prison) and representatives from 147 countries, including 20 heads of state.

This followed 3 years of bilateral negotiations between the two governments and the establishment of a transitional Joint Administrative Authority (JAA) in November 1992 to administer the 780 km2 (300 square mile) territory.

The peaceful resolution of this territorial dispute was praised by the international community, as it fulfilled the provisions of UNSCR 432 (1978), which declared Walvis Bay to be an integral part of Namibia.