The crisis in South Africa was compounded by a growing Soviet threat on the Angolan/Namibian border.

• There were increasing demands for Namibian independence under UN supervision.
• There was a large build up of Soviet supported forces in Angola, which led to a major Angolan offensive in October 1987 to capture Jamba – the capital of the UNITA insurgent movement.
• The offensive resulted in large-scale battles of the Lomba River and Cuito Cuanavale between Soviet and Cuban supported Angolan forces on the one side, and the SADF and UNITA on the other.
• The failure of the offensive may have been a major factor in the Soviet decision to withdraw from the Angolan war – and in preparing the way to the Tripartite Accord between South Africa, Cuba, and Angola which was facilitated by the United States in 1988.