S. Africa Approves Plan for Namibia, Cuban Pullout in Angola

The government announced Tuesday that South Africa has joined Cuba and Angola in approving a U.S.-mediated plan to remove 50,000 Cuban troops from Angola and set the stage for the independence of Namibia.

“The hard nut that had to be cracked has been cracked,” said Foreign Minister Roelof F. (Pik) Botha, whose government for years has linked the independence of Namibia, also known as South-West Africa, to a Cuban withdrawal from Angola, which borders Namibia on the north.

Botha said negotiations are taking place in New York to establish a system for verifying the withdrawal, which is expected to be conducted over a 27-month period.

If this matter is resolved, Botha said, the three countries will sign a formal agreement and the United Nations will set a timetable for implementing its plan to hold independence elections in Namibia.

In Washington, the State Department said it was pleased by the South African announcement.

“With this step, all three governments have signaled their acceptance of the Geneva understandings,” spokesman Charles Redman said.

The troop withdrawal plan was drafted by negotiators in Geneva last week. Cuba and Angola announced their acceptance Friday.

Redman said that implementation of a U.N. Security Council resolution governing the independence process in Namibia is expected to begin six to eight weeks after signature of the agreements. The parties also must work out final details of the U.N. role in the region and of verification of Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola, he said.

At U.N. headquarters in New York, Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar also expressed pleasure at South Africa’s announcement and urged all the parties to “redouble their efforts” to arrange a final settlement.

1-Year Transition

The U.N. Security Council’s Resolution 435, adopted 10 years ago, outlines a one-year transition period in Namibia during which elections would be held for an assembly to draft a constitution for an independent Namibian government. The United Nations would send about 7,500 peacekeeping troops to Namibia, backed by about 2,000 civilian personnel.

Botha said he mistrusts the United Nations but has faith in Perez de Cuellar, who assured South African officials during a recent visit here that the elections would be overseen impartially.

Cuban troops have been supporting Angola’s Marxist government since 1975 in a civil war against South African- and U.S.-supported rebels of UNITA--the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola.

South Africa, with backing from the United States, has demanded the removal of Cuban troops as a precondition for ending its rule over Namibia, which lies between Angola and South Africa.

Botha said his government has told the United States that peace in the region will be impossible unless the Angolan war is resolved through negotiations. The Angolan government has refused to negotiate with UNITA on its demands for a share of power.

Foreign Minister Botha and President Pieter W. Botha met Tuesday in Pretoria with UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi, presumably to discuss whether South African aid to the rebels could continue under terms of the peace plan.