The Recognition of the Independence of Namibia Act, 1990 is an act of the

Parliament of South Africa The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seve ...

by which the South African government recognised the independence of Namibia, which had been under disputed South African administration as South West Africa. The act received the assent of

State President The State President of the Republic of South Africa ( af, Staatspresident) was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, albeit, outside the Commonweal ...

F. W. de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk (, , 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996 in the democratic government. As South A ...

on 20 March 1990 and came into force on the following day, the date of Namibian independence. The act relinquishes South African authority over Namibia, and provides that, as far as South Africa is concerned, South African laws no longer have effect in Namibia. (The Constitution of Namibia, however, provides for the laws in force in Namibia prior to independence to continue in force subject to amendment.) The act also contains a savings clause providing that it does not recognise "the validity of any provision of the Constitution of Namibia which purports to derogate from the sovereignty of the Republic over its territory." This may be seen as a reference to the territorial dispute over Walvis Bay, as the Constitution of Namibia claimed Namibian sovereignty over Walvis Bay, which remained part of South Africa until it was transferred to Namibia in 1994. The act was subsequently followed by the ''South African Citizenship at Attainment of Independence by Namibia Regulation Act, 1990'', which provided for the loss or retention of

South African citizenship South African nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of South Africa. The primary law governing nationality requirements is the South African Citizenship Act, 1995, which came into force on 6 October 1995. An ...

by residents of Namibia, and by two ''

Application of Certain Laws to Namibia Abolition Act Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a ...

s'' and several '' General Law Amendment Acts'' which repealed laws specific to South West Africa and amended laws to remove references to the former territory. In a 2014 review of legislation administered by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the South African Law Reform Commission recommended that the act should be retained on the statute book to ensure legal certainty on the status of Namibia.

References

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External links

Text of the act
Namibia and the Commonwealth of Nations South Africa and the Commonwealth of Nations South African legislation Namibia–South Africa relations 1990 in South African law 1990 in international relations