The Kunene River’s State-Centric Hydropolitical History

Abstract

The hydropolitical history of the Kunene River is usually recounted from a state-centric perspective. I start the Kunene River’s hydropolitical history in the days when colonists colonised South West Africa. It is therefore a very Eurocentric rendition of the river basin’s hydropolitical history. Even so, since the days of the early German colonists, water and the implementation of water infrastructure, played a significant role in building a Westernised state entity. The centrality of water infrastructure for irrigation and hydro-electric production also played a role after South Africa’s mandate over South West Africa. This culminated in a number of initiatives and studies to tap the potential of the Kunene River, which also led to a number of bilateral agreements between Portugal and South Africa over the sharing and utilisation of the Kunene River’s water resources. It was in the 1960s that the exploitation of the Kunene River took off, with the construction of Ruacana for hydro-electric generation to be used in the then South West Africa. In the 1970s, war between the newly independent Angola and South Africa had severe ramifications for further developments along the Kunene’s course. The civil war in Angola and the border war between Angola and South Africa defined the way forward regarding the Kunene’s development. It was only after Namibia’s independence and the short-lived end of the Angolan civil war that the Namibian government initiated plans for Epupa’s construction.