As these reports came in, UNTAG began negotiations with AG Pienaar and the South African Government, demanding that all South African forces in Namibia be lightly armed and that the former Koevoet forces and command structures be done away with, since most of the Koevoet personnel were not trained as police. South Africa claimed, however, that the massing of SWAPO forces at the border demanded the former Koevoet forces. These forces were finally disbanded 1 September 1989, several weeks before the election.