Between 1907 and 1913, German authorities strengthened the colonial administration of South West Africa. The number of administrative districts rose to eleven, the central administration was reorganised into departments, and the police became a civilian body in 1907. The Schutztruppe was reduced to a permanent force of 1,967 Germans and 600 African auxiliaries, while the government standardised conditions for colonial civil servants and funded research into exploration, agriculture, health, and water provision.

Settler agriculture received substantial state support. In 1911 the Landestrat voted to restrict residents of the Police Zone from working on the mines, thereby increasing the supply of labour to farms; in 1913 the Land Bank began providing more generous financial assistance to white farmers. The governor also imported the first karakul sheep from Uzbekistan in 1907, seeking to make commercial farming in the arid south viable through the sale of valuable pelts on international markets.

Mining, particularly diamonds, became the most striking feature of the late German period. Diamond revenues represented two-thirds of state income between 1909 and 1913, while diamonds and copper together accounted for 66,830,000 Marks of exports in 1913. The exclusion of small operators from the diamond fields enabled the DKGSA and its subsidiary Deutsche Diamanten Gesellschaft, founded in 1909, to profit, while German banks benefited from the expanding industry.

German interest in northern Namibia was driven largely by the search for cheap labour. The continued military strength of the Ovambo kingdoms helped persuade German authorities not to occupy Owambo directly. In 1908 Franke toured the region and obtained declarations of obedience from the kings of Ondonga, Oukwanyama, Uukwambi, Uukwaluudhi, and Ongandjera. Although Berlin agreed in 1909 to establish a Resident Commissioner for Ovamboland, the Reichstag refused the necessary funds, and the administration instead relied on annual visits, labour recruitment, and mission stations as sources of information.

The northern kingdoms were affected by famine and disease, including severe episodes in 1907–08 and 1910–12. German authorities used famine relief distributed through missions as a form of soft power. At the same time, young rulers attempted to centralise their own authority: Mandume ya Ndemufayo became king of Oukwanyama in 1911, while Nambala succeeded to the throne of Ondonga in 1912. Their policies toward Christian missions, internal violence, and colonial authority differed substantially.

Labour migration connected Owambo to the mines and farms of the Police Zone. Between 1910 and 1914, more than 9,000 Ovambo migrants travelled south annually in most years, although the total fell to slightly over 6,000 in 1912 after poor rains. Most contracts lasted eight or nine months, allowing workers to return for the harvest. Conditions at the mines were harsh: in 1911, 181 of 2,300 migrant workers at the diamond mines died of ill-health, chiefly scurvy and lung infections.

In Caprivi, German authorities adopted a more direct form of occupation. Captain Streitwolf arrived in early 1909 with twenty-three men and established a mission and colonial post at Schuckmannsburg, opposite Mwandi in modern Zambia. The location reflected Caprivi’s strategic position beside three British colonies, as well as German concerns about arms and cattle moving through eastern Caprivi toward the Police Zone.

Streitwolf attempted to reorganise the political landscape of Caprivi by recognising Simaata Kabende Mamili for the Fwe and Chikamatondo for the Subiya. He also sought to create a separate Caprivi identity and restricted Lozi subjects living in Zambia from harvesting reeds and fishing on the South West African side of the river. After Streitwolf’s departure in 1910, his successors continued policies of limited intervention, although Viktor von Frankenberg, who arrived in 1911, became known for harsh punishments of African offenders.

Kavango experienced the consequences of Portuguese occupation more directly than those of German presence. In mid-1909 Portuguese forces arrived on the northern bank of the Kavango River and built five forts. Communities suffered the destruction of crops and livestock and sexual violence, prompting many Kwangali, Mbunza, Gciriku, and Mbukushu to cross into German territory. A German police post was established at Nkurenkuru in 1910 opposite the Portuguese fort at Cuangar, principally to observe Portuguese activity and retain population on the German side.

Catholic missions expanded European influence in Kavango, with foundations in Gciriku territory in 1910 and at Andara in 1913. The Mbukushu king Dyeve II hoped that missionaries and German authorities would protect him against Tawana domination. German control remained limited, however, and the highest number of migrants sent from Kavango to the Police Zone was only 122 in 1913.

The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 brought the South West African colony into direct conflict. German attempts to defend the territory against invading African forces were quickly defeated. The consequences for African communities were mixed: some suffered during the campaign, while others benefited from the early South African administration, which imposed martial law and initially pursued a comparatively mild policy in the Police Zone.

South African rule marked a fundamental change in the political order. The northern policy of limited German involvement was soon reversed, particularly in relation to Oukwanyama, where Mandume was overthrown. In 1921 South Africa began governing Namibia under a League of Nations mandate, inaugurating two decades in which racial segregation was systematically applied and the colonial administration sought to extract wealth from the territory.