À partir de XXᵉ siècle
South West Africa / Namibia
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
South West Africa was governed by South Africa for almost two decades by the end of the 1930s under a League of Nations mandate, and South Africa continued to rule it after the mandate system was challenged. The territory had a highly unequal land system, a heterogeneous African population divided into reserves, and an economy centred increasingly on mining and migrant labour.
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Le récit
By the end of the 1930s, South West Africa had been governed for almost two decades by South Africa under a mandate from the League of Nations. In practice, the territory was ruled under laws applied in the Cape Province, while political decisions primarily reflected the interests of its white minority, which comprised less than 10 per cent of the population. Land allocation displayed this imbalance: white farms and game reserves together occupied nearly three-quarters of the land excluding the Namib Desert.
The African population included Ovambo, Damara, Herero, Kavango, and other groups. Government policy intensified linguistic and political divisions by creating more than twenty separate rural reserves, one stated purpose being to establish a potential labour-recruiting field. The economy expanded rapidly between 1946 and 1956, especially in mining, but the decline in national income as a proportion of GDP showed how much wealth left the territory through payments to foreign, particularly South African, investors and property owners.
By 1960, mining accounted for 34 per cent of GDP and agriculture for 15 per cent. Major exports included diamonds, copper, karakul pelts, and cattle, while manufacturing remained small and was based largely on pilchard canning at Walvis Bay. More than three-quarters of the population continued to live on the land, and migrant labour remained central to the economy, with workers recruited especially from northern Ovambo and Kavango areas.
South Africa sought formal incorporation after the creation of the United Nations in 1946, but Herero opposition led by Chief Hosea Kutako rejected the proposed referendum. South Africa continued to govern despite an International Court of Justice ruling that the mandate remained in force. Apartheid was extended through the forced removal of Black residents from Windhoek’s Old Location to Katutura, an ethnically divided township outside the city.
À partir de XXᵉ siècle
South West Africa / Namibia
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
South West Africa was governed by South Africa for almost two decades by the end of the 1930s under a League of Nations mandate, and South Africa continued to rule it after the mandate system was challenged. The territory had a highly unequal land system, a heterogeneous African population divided into reserves, and an economy centred increasingly on mining and migrant labour.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
By the end of the 1930s, South West Africa had been governed for almost two decades by South Africa under a mandate from the League of Nations. In practice, the territory was ruled under laws applied in the Cape Province, while political decisions primarily reflected the interests of its white minority, which comprised less than 10 per cent of the population. Land allocation displayed this imbalance: white farms and game reserves together occupied nearly three-quarters of the land excluding the Namib Desert.
The African population included Ovambo, Damara, Herero, Kavango, and other groups. Government policy intensified linguistic and political divisions by creating more than twenty separate rural reserves, one stated purpose being to establish a potential labour-recruiting field. The economy expanded rapidly between 1946 and 1956, especially in mining, but the decline in national income as a proportion of GDP showed how much wealth left the territory through payments to foreign, particularly South African, investors and property owners.
By 1960, mining accounted for 34 per cent of GDP and agriculture for 15 per cent. Major exports included diamonds, copper, karakul pelts, and cattle, while manufacturing remained small and was based largely on pilchard canning at Walvis Bay. More than three-quarters of the population continued to live on the land, and migrant labour remained central to the economy, with workers recruited especially from northern Ovambo and Kavango areas.
South Africa sought formal incorporation after the creation of the United Nations in 1946, but Herero opposition led by Chief Hosea Kutako rejected the proposed referendum. South Africa continued to govern despite an International Court of Justice ruling that the mandate remained in force. Apartheid was extended through the forced removal of Black residents from Windhoek’s Old Location to Katutura, an ethnically divided township outside the city.