Louis Pienaar

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Louis Pienaar
Administrator-General of South West Africa
In office
1 July 1985 – 21 March 1990
Preceded byWillie van Niekerk
Succeeded byOffice dissolved (Namibian independence)
Sam Nujoma (as president of Namibia)
Personal details
Born
Louis Alexander Pienaar

(1926-06-23)23 June 1926
Died5 November 2012(2012-11-05) (aged 86)
Cape Town, South Africa
NationalitySouth African
Political partyNational Party

Louis Alexander Pienaar (23 June 1926 – 5 November 2012)

F W de Klerk
's government until 1993. He married Isabel Maud van Niekerk on 11 December 1954.

Diplomat

In the early 1980s, Louis Pienaar was assigned to Paris as South Africa's ambassador to France.

Namibia

On 1 July 1985, Pienaar was appointed by the National Party government to be Administrator-General (AG) of

UN Commissioner for Namibia (UNCN) Bernt Carlsson
, was appointed. Upon South Africa's relinquishing control of Namibia, Commissioner Carlsson's role would be to take over the administration of the country on behalf of the UN, formulate its framework constitution, and organise free and fair elections based upon a non-racial universal franchise.

Serious negotiations

In May 1988, a

tripartite agreement between Angola, Cuba and South Africa was signed, whereby South Africa agreed to hand control of Namibia to the United Nations
.

(Tragically, UNCN Bernt Carlsson was not present at the signing ceremony. He was killed on

New York. South African foreign minister Pik Botha
and an official delegation of 22 had a lucky escape. Their booking on Pan Am 103 was changed at the last minute, and Botha, together with a smaller delegation, caught the earlier Pan Am 101 flight to New York.)

Transition to independence

UN Security Council adopted resolution 632 on 16 February 1989 requiring that implementation of UNSCR 435 should officially start on 1 April 1989.

SWAPOL) in restoring order. A period of intense fighting followed, during which 237 PLAN fighters and 27 South Africans were reported to have been killed.[4]

Actions by AG Pienaar

On 7 April, AG Pienaar announced that he was unilaterally suspending the independence process, but his decision was quickly repudiated by Pik Botha.[5]

On 11 April, he stated that, contrary to previous undertakings, UNTAG and the South African security forces had "agreed that PLAN soldiers would be interrogated in order to verify the suspected number of infiltrators". Botha overruled AG Pienaar's statement saying "there is no question of interrogation".

On 22 May, AG Pienaar proclaimed AG 11 of 1989: "Establishment and Powers of the Commission for the Prevention and Combatting of Intimidation and Electoral Malpractices".[6] On 8 June, AG 14 of 1989 was proclaimed: "First Law amendment (Abolition of Discriminatory or Restrictive Laws for purposes of Free and Fair Elections)".

On 12 June, AG Pienaar declared a general amnesty against prosecution for all Namibians living abroad and repealed or amended 46 discriminatory laws. (He extended the amnesty eight months later to South African officials and security personnel including the South African Defence Force.)

Following complex negotiations with UNTAG concerning electoral voting procedures, AG Pienaar proclaimed AG 19 of 1989: "Registration of Voters (Constituency Assembly Proclamation)" on 30 June. Registration of voters began on 4 July, and AG Pienaar published a draft proclamation on the election process on 21 July. UNTAG was concerned by this draft, insisting that political party agents should be present at the polling stations and at the counting of the votes. In this way, the Namibian people could be reassured that the voting would be free and fair. The South African side opposed the idea, indicating their determination to dominate the constitution-making process and retain control for as long as possible.

On 13 October, AG Pienaar proclaimed AG 49 of 1989: "The Holding of an Election for a Constituent Assembly".

Demobilization

At the end of August, the UN Security Council called for the immediate demobilization of all paramilitary groups in Namibia (UNSCR 640 of 1989)

SWAPOL
). Pik Botha announced on 28 September 1989 that 1,200 ex-Koevoet members would be demobilized with effect from the following day. A further 400 such personnel were demobilized on 30 October. These demobilizations were supervised by UNTAG military monitors.

Democratic elections

The 11-month transition period ended relatively smoothly. Political prisoners were granted amnesty, discriminatory legislation was repealed, South Africa withdrew all its forces from Namibia, and some 42,000 refugees returned safely and voluntarily under the auspices of the Office of the

Democratic Turnhalle Alliance
received 29% of the vote. The Constituent Assembly held its first meeting on 21 November 1989 and resolved unanimously to use the 1982 Constitutional Principles in Namibia's new constitution.

(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. He justified the expenditure on the grounds that South Africa was at war with SWAPO at the time.)

Independence celebrations

Namibia's

F W de Klerk, jointly conferred independence on Namibia. AG Pienaar formally handed over power to the president of SWAPO, Sam Nujoma, who was then sworn in as the first President of Namibia.[9]

Government minister

In 1990, on his return to South Africa, Louis Pienaar was nominated to be Minister of Education in President F W de Klerk's government where he was responsible for the dismantling of the structures of apartheid. From May 1992 until April 1993, Pienaar was Minister for Internal Affairs.

Death

Pienaar died at his residence in Cape Town on 5 November 2012.[10]

See also

  • Alternative theories of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103#South-West Africa (Namibia)
  • History of Namibia

References

Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Education
1990–1992
Succeeded by