Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Undeterred, the South African government tightened its grip on the territory, and in
1949 granted the white population parliamentary representation in Pretoria. The bulk of
Namibia's viable farmland was parcelled into some 6000 farms for white settlers, while
other ethnic groups were relegated to newly demarcated 'tribal homelands'. The official
intent was ostensibly to 'channel economic development into predominantly poor rural
areas', but it was all too obvious that it was simply a convenient way of retaining the ma-
jority of the country for white settlement and ranching.
As a result, a prominent line of demarcation appeared between the predominantly white
ranching lands in the central and southern parts of the country, and the poorer but better-
watered tribal areas to the north. This arrangement was retained until Namibian independ-
ence in 1990, and to some extent continues to the present day.
Swapo
Throughout the 1950s, despite mounting pressure from the UN, South Africa refused to
release its grip on Namibia. This intransigence was based on its fears of having yet anoth-
er antagonistic government on its doorstep, and of losing the income that it derived from
the mining operations there.
Forced labour had been the lot of most Namibians since the German annexation, and
was one of the main factors that led to mass demonstrations and the increasingly national-
ist sentiments in the late 1950s. Among the parties was the Owamboland People's Con-
gress, founded in Cape Town under the leadership of Samuel Daniel Shafiishuna Nujoma
and Herman Andimba Toivo ya Toivo.
In 1959 the party's name was changed to the Owamboland People's Organisation, and
Nujoma took the issue of South African occupation to the UN in New York. By 1960 his
party had gathered increased support, and they eventually coalesced into the South-West
African People's Organisation (Swapo), with its headquarters in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
In 1966 Swapo took the issue of South African occupation to the International Court of
Justice. The court upheld South Africa's right to govern South West Africa, but the UN
General Assembly voted to terminate South Africa's mandate and replace it with a Coun-
cil for South West Africa (renamed the Commission for Namibia in 1973) to administer
the territory.
In response, on 26 August 1966 (now called Heroes' Day), Swapo launched its cam-
paign of guerrilla warfare at Ongulumbashe in northern Namibia. The next year, one of
Swapo's founders, Toivo ya Toivo, was convicted of terrorism and imprisoned in South
Africa, where he would remain until 1984. Nujoma, however, stayed in Tanzania, and
avoided criminal prosecution. In 1972 the UN finally declared the South African occupa-
