XXᵉ siècle – XXᵉ siècle
South West Africa (Namibia)
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Odendaal Plan reorganised South West Africa through an apartheid framework of ethnically defined homelands, administrative integration with South Africa, territorial consolidation, and expanded state spending. It proposed separate territories for Ovambos, Herero, Nama, Damara, San and other groups while reserving the wider Police Zone for white settlement. Its implementation involved forced removals, land transfers, new administrative institutions, and uneven investment in infrastructure and social services.
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Le récit
The Odendaal Commission presented its recommendations as a programme for the political, economic and social reorganisation of South West Africa. It proposed theoretically independent black homelands alongside a white-controlled Police Zone, while also recommending new infrastructure and expanded welfare provision. The plan thus combined administrative reform with an attempt to entrench ethnic boundaries and South African authority over the territory.
The proposed homelands included Ovamboland for the Ovambos, Kaokoveld for Himba and Tjimba communities, Okavangoland for five groups, and an Eastern Caprivi homeland mainly for the Subia and Fwe. Other designated areas included Bushmanland, Damaraland, Hereroland, Namaland, Tswanaland and the Rehoboth Gebiet. The projected arrangement would have produced one relatively populous Ovamboland and numerous smaller territories, while no homeland was planned for the white population because the Police Zone was treated as the white area.
Implementation brought major territorial and social consequences. The plan envisaged consolidating scattered reserves, enlarging some territories, closing others, acquiring white farms, and moving people into designated areas. By 1971–72, the reserves had expanded substantially, but full implementation would have required the uprooting of as many as 130,000 Africans. Resistance, political compromise and contradictions within the policy limited its realization, even as the plan strengthened apartheid administration and dependence on South Africa.
XXᵉ siècle – XXᵉ siècle
South West Africa (Namibia)
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Odendaal Plan reorganised South West Africa through an apartheid framework of ethnically defined homelands, administrative integration with South Africa, territorial consolidation, and expanded state spending. It proposed separate territories for Ovambos, Herero, Nama, Damara, San and other groups while reserving the wider Police Zone for white settlement. Its implementation involved forced removals, land transfers, new administrative institutions, and uneven investment in infrastructure and social services.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
The Odendaal Commission presented its recommendations as a programme for the political, economic and social reorganisation of South West Africa. It proposed theoretically independent black homelands alongside a white-controlled Police Zone, while also recommending new infrastructure and expanded welfare provision. The plan thus combined administrative reform with an attempt to entrench ethnic boundaries and South African authority over the territory.
The proposed homelands included Ovamboland for the Ovambos, Kaokoveld for Himba and Tjimba communities, Okavangoland for five groups, and an Eastern Caprivi homeland mainly for the Subia and Fwe. Other designated areas included Bushmanland, Damaraland, Hereroland, Namaland, Tswanaland and the Rehoboth Gebiet. The projected arrangement would have produced one relatively populous Ovamboland and numerous smaller territories, while no homeland was planned for the white population because the Police Zone was treated as the white area.
Implementation brought major territorial and social consequences. The plan envisaged consolidating scattered reserves, enlarging some territories, closing others, acquiring white farms, and moving people into designated areas. By 1971–72, the reserves had expanded substantially, but full implementation would have required the uprooting of as many as 130,000 Africans. Resistance, political compromise and contradictions within the policy limited its realization, even as the plan strengthened apartheid administration and dependence on South Africa.