Namibian War Research Articles

Faith in Conflict: Examining the Varied Available Chronicles of Churches' Responses to the South African Border War and Their Enduring Legacies

On 26 August 1966, the first skirmish between the South African Defence Force (SADF) and the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO), known as Operation Blue Wildebeest, took place and the hostilities, which had been increasing for some time, were ignited. Thus, the South African Border War, otherwise known as the Namibian War of Independence, which would span the next two decades, began in earnest. This paper examines the conflict from the discipline of Church History in order to illuminate the nuanced development of the relationship between the church in South Africa and the concept of war, as well as the varied responses from different denominations to the conflict as it progressed. As the last conflict, which necessitated an active draft of South African men, the war's immediate effects were felt throughout society and persisted into the future. The churches' responses ranged from staunch support for the government's decision and involvement in the war to vocal opposition, thus reflecting diverse theological perspectives and ethical positions. The article sheds light on how different denominations responded publicly to the war, with the aim to highlight how these discussions were influenced by the circumstances of the time and how they changed in the following years leading up to the close of the war.

Remembering the Herero-Nama Genocide in Namibia

Remembering the Herero-Nama Genocide in Namibia

Radiocarbon Investigation of the Historic African Baobabs of Omusati, Namibia

The Omusati region belongs to historic Ovamboland, an area of northern Namibia populated by tribes of the Ovambo group. Four very large African baobabs of Omusati played an important role in historic events of the area, such as the tribal wars and the Namibian War of Independence. The four historic baobabs are the Ombalantu baobab (8 stems; circumference 24.50 m), Okahao baobab (4+ stems; around 25 m), Amadhila baobab (12 stems; 25.35 m) and Sir Howard baobab (9 stems; 31.60 m). Two historic baobabs collapsed totally or partially. The stems of the Amadhila baobab toppled and died in 2021, while 3 stems of the Okahao baobab collapsed a long time ago, but are still alive. Our research aimed to determine the architecture and age of these baobabs. Three baobabs (Ombalantu, Amadhila, Sir Howard) exhibit a closed ring-shaped structure, with a false cavity inside. One baobab (Okahao) had an open ring-shaped structure, before its collapse. Several wood cores were extracted from the baobabs and investigated by radiocarbon dating. The dating results indicate ages of 770 ± 50 years for the Ombalantu baobab, 650 ± 50 years for the Okahao baobab, 1100 ± 50 years for the Amadhila baobab and 750 ± 50 years for the Sir Howard baobab.

Left Button Picture, Right Button Bomb: Nature, Warfare and Technology in a Southern African Border Region

In this paper, we argue that the relationship between nature conservation and warfare was and continues to be actualized through socio-technical relationships and shared infrastructures. We historicize “green militari zation”—defined as the use of military techniques, technologies and partnerships in the pursuit of conservation (Lunstrum 2014)—showing that the partnership between military and nature conservation in Southern Africa has a long and violent history. Our paper accounts for the entanglements of war and nature through a shared technological infrastructure used in north-eastern Namibia during the Namibian War of Liberation (1966–1989). In particular, we focus on the Mirage IIIR2Z, an aerial reconnaissance and ground-attack supersonic jet which provided both the South African Defence Force and the civil administration’s nature conservationists with aerial photography and remote sensing data. The spatial information produced jointly by the military and the civil nature conservation department was used to produce strategic maps, but also to fight invasive plants and protect wildlife. Our reading of green militarization against this background sheds light on the long-lasting connections between warfare, conservation and ecology along Southern African border regions and contributes to a novel understanding of the contemporary “war on poachers” through a study of the techno-scientific networks that made it possible. Since there is nothing inevitable about the way technologies emerge or change over time (Bijker and Law 1992), this paper develops an empirically grounded and sustained analysis of technological change in the domain of green militarization through three interlinked concepts: “multiple” (Law 2002), “shifting down” (Latour 1994; 1999), and “firming up” (Bijker and Law 1992).

The Namibian War: Challenges to the Anglo-German Relationship in Southern Africa

Events associated with the Namibian War (1904-1908) offer a glimpse into Anglo-German antagonism in Southern Africa. The Namibian War enveloped German South-West Africa (GSWA), but its effects radiated to the German colony’s southern neighbour, the Cape. This paper re-examines events that some historians have looked at but considers these events through the lens of Anglo-German antagonism. It examines how in the Cape, the war prompted outrage over blacks’ poor treatment, created a refugee crisis, and emboldened German soldiers to cross the frontier, violating the Cape’s sovereignty. The study surveys how intercolonial relationships, as they played out through the war, mirrored Britain and Germany’s relationship in Europe. It evaluates how the Namibian War’s residual effects created Anglo-German tensions in Southern Africa and how despite flashpoints, the Cape and GSWA governments were occasionally able to cooperate. By re-examining evidence already utilised by other scholars, the paper analyses how and why the war continued. It evoked the Cape and GSWA’s suspicion towards and frustration with one another. It evaluates how by 1906, the Cape’s experiences with GSWA – as it struggled to resolve problems diplomatically – served as another reason for the British Government to press for South Africa’s unification during the first decade of the twentieth century. The study posits that the story of the Namibian War and its effects on the Cape form part of a larger project on the German geopolitical threats that influenced the Union of South Africa’s constitutional development.

Fighting the Lion: Hegemonic Masculinities in Sam Nujoma's Autobiography

Dr. Samuel Nujoma's autobiography, Where Others Wavered: My Life in SWAPO and My Participation in the Liberation Struggle, documents his life as a pivotal figure in the Namibian war for independence leading to his tenure as the first president of Namibia (1990–2005). Nujoma, known as the "Founding Father" of Namibia, occupies a larger-than-life sphere within the public imagination through monuments, public photographs, placards, and street names. Nujoma's autobiography prescribes a certain type of national citizenship that entails a specific construction of masculinity for Namibian men. This paper analyzes his autobiography, arguing that Nujoma constructs a hegemonic masculinity based on four key features: 1) leadership, 2) initiation to manhood, 3) the use of physical strength, and 4) strictly defined gender roles. This literary analysis will enter a broader discussion as to how, in the face of global economic shifts and the introduction of neoliberal structural adjustment policies, Nujoma's masculinity remains unattainable for many male youths today who struggle with a lack of employment opportunities and rapid urbanization. The shifting of hegemonies from a white Afrikaner masculinity to a nationalistic black masculinity points to the changing nature of expectations for masculinity and further highlights intergenerational discontent that arises in light of changing global economic planes.

Tracking Skelm (Sly/Surreptitious/Covert) Signs in the ‘Bush’ War Landscape in Namibia

This paper attends to the phenomenology of particular military landscapes as experienced through the bodies of San spoorsnyers (trackers) as they trailed insurgents during a specific historical moment, the ‘Bush’ War (Namibian War of Independence or South African Border War) on the border between Namibia (formerly South West Africa) and Angola. As an ethically defined group, the San (Also referred to as Bushmen) were enlisted on the basis of stereotypical representations of them as hunters and trackers who could, when trained in the Army, trail insurgents through landscapes. The paper elaborates the ways in which these trackers experienced landscapes in and through bodies in motion and practice: as visual, olfactory, auditory, tactile and atmospheric. It emphasizes the particularity of the San trackers’ lived experiences of military landscapes, as the latter drew on a combination of historical, culturally informed and soldierly habitus, somatic modes of attention and bodily dispositions.

Book Review: The Namibian War of Independence, 1966–1989: Diplomatic, Economic and Military Campaigns. Richard Dale, ed.

Book Review: <i>The Namibian War of Independence, 1966–1989: Diplomatic, Economic and Military Campaigns</i>. Richard Dale, ed.

The Namibian war of independence, 1966-1989: diplomatic, economic and military campaigns

The Namibian war of independence, 1966-1989: diplomatic, economic and military campaigns

Literature and Social Justice: Poetic Voices and the Quest for a Just Society in Namibia

This article analyses six anthologies of Namibian poetry dating from 1982 until 2005. It first discusses the role of poetry as a means of raising the political consciousness of participants in the Namibian war of liberation, and the tension between party- political propaganda and aesthetic merit. Due cognizance is taken of SWAPo's resolution to declare English as the official language at Independence, and the article explores the use of the English language in early and contemporary black Namibian poetry. The central focus is on evaluating the representation of issues relating to the quest for social justice in South West Africa/Namibia. This focus highlights the presence of ‘the five faces of oppression’ identified by Iris Young (in Sharon Gewirtz. 1998. Conceptualising social justice in education: mapping the territory. Journal of Educational Policy 13 (4): 469-470) in both the colonial and neo-colonial eras. Selected poems from the chosen anthologies representing the SWAPo cadres are analysed in relation to the colonial era. These deal with the motivations of various recruits, who were propelled by the desire to fight colonial injustice, which was manifested in the exploitation and marginalization of the black people of Namibia. Their sense of powerlessness led to the adoption of military force in the battle against imperialism, as violence seemed the only means through which political freedom could be attained. However, the defeat of the South African forces did not lead to an end to the exploitation: the new ruling elite seemed determined to preserve political privileges, rather than to pursue the original goals of the revolution. Selected poems from the more recent anthologies express the ongoing need to fight for equality, freedom and an end to exploitation in the political, economic and domestic spheres.

Winning hearts and minds: legitimacy in the Namibian war for independence

Efforts at winning hearts and minds (WHAM) impact on and are affected by perceptions of legitimacy. In the Namibian war for independence (1966–1989) efforts of the South African counterinsurgent forces at winning hearts and minds focused mainly on persuading the population to cooperate in exchange for material benefits and services. The article demonstrates that this successfully contributed to a dimension of legitimacy that is conceptualized as pragmatic legitimacy. However, other dimensions of legitimacy are identified in which the South Africans were lacking, that is in moral, legal, and identity-based legitimacy. Furthermore, in areas where control was contested and where the population could not be shielded from insurgent intimidation, it is argued that the effects of coercion outweighed legitimacy altogether.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN NAVY AND ITS PREDECESSORS, 1910–2010: A CENTURY OF INTERACTION WITH COMMONWEALTH NAVIES

In this article, the history of the South African Navy (SAN) and itspredecessors is reviewed, as well as the interaction with other Commonwealthnavies during the years 1910 to 2010. Although the Union Defence Forces wereestablished in 1912, the Union only acquired its first naval force in 1922, when theSouth African Naval Service (SANS) was formed. In the meantime, the country’snaval defence was conducted by the Royal Navy (RN). During World War I, 164members of the South African Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserveserved in the RN. The SANS’s three small ships were withdrawn from service in1933 to 1934, and when World War II broke out, the country’s naval forces had tobe built up from scratch – but soon played an important role in patrolling the Capesea route (and also saw action in the Mediterranean). After the war, South Africa’snaval forces were rationalised, but – in the context of the Cold War and the Sovietthreat to the Cape sea route – the SAN then gradually grew in size and importance,albeit that it was (and today still is) small in comparison to major Commonwealthnavies. In 1957, the SAN acquired the RN’s Simon’s Town Naval Base. Manyexercises were held with the RN and other navies, but gradually South Africabecame more isolated internationally because of the National Party government’sracially-based policy of apartheid. In due course, this impacted negatively on the SAN and its interaction with other navies. In 1975, the Simon’s Town Agreementwas abrogated and in 1977, the United Nations imposed a mandatory arms embargoagainst South Africa. In the meantime, the Republic of South Africa (RSA) becameembroiled in the Namibian War of Independence (1966–1989) – a war that spilledover into Angola. The SAN played a small, albeit important, role in the war, but theconflict affected the navy negatively. The advent of the truly democratic RSA in1994 opened new opportunities for the SAN, and since then, the SAN hasundertaken many flag-showing cruises to several Commonwealth and othercountries, while many foreign warships, including from Commonwealth navies,have visited the RSA and exercised with the SAN.

Die Suid-Afrikaanse Kapelaansdiens (SAKD) en staatsbeleid tydens die Grensoorlog, 1966-1989

THE SOUTH AFRICAN CHAPLAINCY SERVICE (SACHS) AND STATE POLICY DURING THE BORDER WAR, 1966-1989 During the Border War (1966-1989), also known as the Bush War or the Namibian War of Independence, the accusation was made that chaplains serving in the South African Chaplaincy Service (SACHS) endorsed and propagated the policy of apartheid. This article gives an historical perspective on the question whether chaplains were able to function independently, in accordance with the doctrines of their respective denominations, or whether they became liveried servants to state politics during the Border War. Diverse cultures, underpinning different socio-political viewpoints, were involved, as is evident from the oral testimonies of chaplains serving during the time of the war. By reassessing historical identities and interpreting the nature of the controversial values and sentiments that prevailed during the specific timeframe, this article endeavours to create a better understanding of the past. Article text in Afrikaans

Cultural identity and military chaplaincy, with special reference to the Namibian War of Independence, 1966-1989

This article provides a historical perspective on the infl uence of the diverse cultural traditions of the Afrikaans and English language communities on military chaplaincy, especially during the time of the Namibian War of Independence (1966-1989), also known as the Border War or the Bush War. A brief historical background is provided, in terms of which the cultural divide between the two groups, and their different perspectives with regard to military chaplaincy during the two world wars, are explained. During the Namibian War of Independence these differences resulted, on the one hand, in a crusade mentality aimed at defending Christianity, and, on the other hand, in a denunciation of military chaplaincy. Oral-history testimonies obtained from chaplains who had ministered during the Namibian War of Independence revealed that the infl uence of the cultural discord lay far deeper than the socio-political sentiments of the day, and contributed to the development of a sense of alienation on the part of English chaplains with regard to the South African Chaplain Service (SACHS).Key words: Border War; Bush War; cultural diversity; First World War; military chaplains; Namibian War of Independence; oral testimonies; Second World War; South African Chaplain Service (SACHS)

A Comparative Reconsideration of the Namibian Bush War, 1966–891

Much of the literature on the decolonization of Namibia is set in a narrative mode and demonizes one or the other of the protagonists. This article, organized in a topical fashion, concerns the diplomatic, military, and economic facets of the Namibian war and draws upon the literature of comparable twentieth century colonial and anti-colonial wars in Algeria, Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, the Philippines, South Africa, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. It explores the changing discourse of legitimacy concerning independence for Namibia, the conduct of insurgency and counterinsurgency in the bush war, and economic aspects of that war.