The Mukurob near Asab

Asab

Asab is a settlement in the Karas Region of southern Namibia. It is situated on the B1 national road about halfway between Mariental and Keetmanshoop. east of Asab is the Mukurob rock pinnacle, a tourist attraction that collapsed in 1988....

 in Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

, was a sandstone rock formation in the Namib desert which collapsed on 4 December 1988.

Nama

Namaqua

Nama are an African ethnic group of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. They traditionally speak the Nama language of the Khoe-Kwadi language family, although many Nama now speak Afrikaans. The Nama are the largest group of the Khoikhoi people, most of whom have largely disappeared as a group,...

 oral tradition related that the power of the "white man" would end when this geological structure collapsed. South Africa finally relinquished control of (then) South West Africa

South West Africa

South-West Africa was the name that was used for the modern day Republic of Namibia during the earlier eras when the territory was controlled by the German Empire and later by South Africa....

a few weeks later when South Africa, Angola and Cuba signed the "New York Treaty" (or "Tripartite Agreement") at UN Headquarters, which finalised the agreements reached earlier in Geneva. Angola and Cuba also signed a bilateral agreement on the Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola, which paved the way for Security Council Resolution 435 to be implemented on 1 April 1989. On 21 March 1990 Namibia gained independence from South Africa.