Cape Town Agreement (1996)

The Cape Town Agreement was an agreement signed by Capetian Prime Minister Nelson Mandela and Namibian President Sam Nujoma on May 23, 1996. The agreement formalized the transfer of Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands. The agreement was held in it's namesake city of Cape Town, Cape. Namibia formerly was a mandate and later trust territory of the Cape, which was given its independence in 1990, after a 1990 referendum. However, since both the territory around Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands were adminstered by the Cape before the South West Africa mandate, the Cape retained them as part of the independence agreement. However, in 1994, Nelson Mandela's Cape African Congress-Labour Party Coalition was elected into power in the Cape. Mandela was re-elected as Prime Minister, and he subsquently began organizing the agreement with Namibia. The agreement was touted as a major achievement in the reconciliation between Namibia and the Cape. It also dignified the final stage of the Cape's transition from a state with colonial policies to a diverse nation.