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After Namibia's independence in March 1990, South Africa and Namibia
established diplomatic ties, but relations between the two countries were
uneasy, in part because many of Namibia's senior government officials had been
leaders in the guerrilla war to oust South Africa from their country. Namibia
nonetheless joined the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and continued to be
almost totally dependent on South Africa in trade and investment. In 1992, for
example, 90 percent of Namibia's imports came from South Africa, and South
Africa purchased 30 percent of Namibia's exports. Relations improved as
apartheid was dismantled.
The two countries established a Joint Administrative Authority to manage the
port facilities at Walvis Bay, Namibia's only deep-water port, which had
remained under South African control after Namibian independence. Under pressure
from the ANC, South Africa then agreed to transfer control over the port enclave
to Windhoek before the 1994 elections. Namibia finally assumed control over
Walvis Bay on March 1, 1994.
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SWAPO gained a major electoral victory in 1994, and Nujoma remained president.
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