Ovamboland

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Ovamboland
1968–1989
Flag of Ovamboland.svg
Flag
LocationBantoustanOvamboland.PNG
Location of Ovamboland within South West Africa.
MapBantoustanOvamboland.PNG
Map of the bantustan.
Status Bantustan (1968–1980)
Second-tier authority (1980–1989)
Capital Ondangua
History 
1968
 Re-integrated into Namibia
May 1989
Currency South African rand
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Flag of South Africa 1928-1994.svg South West Africa
Namibia Flag of Namibia.svg

Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan and later a non-geographic ethnic-based second-tier authority, the Representative Authority of the Ovambos, in South West Africa (present-day Namibia).

Contents

The apartheid government stated that the goal was for it to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. Practically, however, it was intended by the apartheid government as a reservation that forced them into cheap labour by limiting movement; Ovambo men were not allowed outside Ovamboland unless they signed as a contract labourer for 16 months, while women were not allowed out at all. [1]

The term originally referred to the parts of northern Namibia inhabited by the Ovambo ethnic group: namely, the area controlled by the traditional Ovambo kingdoms in pre-colonial and early colonial times, such as Ondonga, Ongandjera, and Oukwanyama. [2] Its endonym is Ovambo ~ Owambo. [3]

Background

In the 1960s, South Africa, which was administering South West Africa under a League of Nations mandate, came under increased international pressure regarding its minority White rule over the majority of Blacks. The solution envisaged by South Africa—the Odendaal Plan—was to separate the white and the non-white population, grant self-government to the isolated black territories, and thus make Whites the majority population in the vast remainder of the country. Moreover it was envisaged that by separating each ethnic group and confining people by law to their restricted areas, discrimination by race would automatically disappear. [4]

The demarcated territories were called the bantustans, and the remainder of the land was called the Police Zone. Forthwith, all non-white people employed in the Police Zone became migrant workers, and pass laws were established to police movement in and out of the bantustans. [4]

The combined territory of all bantustans was roughly equal in size to the Police Zone. However, all bantustans were predominantly rural and excluded major towns. All harbours, most of the railway network and the tarred road infrastructure, all larger airports, the profitable diamond areas and the national parks were situated in the Police Zone. [4] An exception to this was Rehoboth, the bantustan status of which was similar to the autonomy previous under German rule.[ citation needed ]

Finnish missionary work

Plan Odendaal.png
Allocation of Land to bantustans according to the Odendaal Plan. Ovamboland is central north

The main religion of Ovamboland is Lutheranism, which is why Finnish missionaries, such as Martti Rautanen (who also developed the local literary language), and later Heikki Saari, among others, have worked in the area since the 1870s. As a result of the work of the Finnish envoys, the Ovambo-Kawango Evangelical Lutheran Church was born in 1954 (since 1984 the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Namibia). [5] In their footsteps, there are many given names of Finnish origin in the local nomenclature, such as Martta, Toivo, Onni, Helmi and Martti. [6] [7] In the 1920s, there was even a project planned by Finnish university people to make Ovamboland the first colony of Finland, but this never happened. [8] [9]

Administrative history

Bantustan (1968–1980)

Ovamboland, set up in 1968, was the first fully functional Bantustan in South West Africa. As the Ovambo people already resided here, resettlement was not necessary. Furthermore, the area already had an existing structure of governance in the form of traditional authorities. The population was, however, split into those who farmed near their homes, and those who worked in mines, factories, on farms and in households outside the Bantustan. [10] Self-government was granted in 1973.

Ovamboland was the setting of a protracted insurgency waged by the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) during the South African Border War. [11]

Representative authority (1980–1989)

Following the Turnhalle Constitutional Conference the system of Bantustans was replaced in 1980 by Representative Authorities which functioned on the basis of ethnicity only and were no longer based on geographically defined areas.

The Representative Authority of the Ovambos had executive and legislative competencies, being made up of elected Legislative Assemblies which would appoint Executive Committees led by chairmen.

As second-tier authorities, forming an intermediate tier between central and local government, the representative authorities had responsibility for land tenure, agriculture, education up to primary level, teachers' training, health services, and social welfare and pensions and their Legislative Assemblies had the ability to pass legislation known as Ordinances. [12]

Since independence of Namibia

Ovamboland, like other homelands in South West Africa, was abolished in May 1989 at the start of the transition to independence. The region is now commonly referred to as The North but the term Ovamboland is still in use. More than half of the entire population lives here on just 6% of the Namibian territory. [13]

Leadership

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South West Africa</span> Mandate of South Africa from 1915 to 1990

South West Africa, renamed to Namibia from 12 June 1968, was an occupied part of the Union of South Africa and later the Republic of South Africa from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola, Botswana, South Africa, and Zambia. During its administration, South Africa applied its own apartheid system in the territory of South West Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bantustan</span> Territory created by the Apartheid regime of South Africa

A Bantustan was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa, as a part of its policy of apartheid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ovambo people</span> Bantu ethnic group in Namibia

The Ovambo people, also called Aawambo, Ambo, Aawambo, or Ovawambo (Kwanyama), are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily modern Namibia. They are the single largest ethnic group in Namibia, accounting for about half of the population. Despite concerted efforts from Christian missionaries to wipe out what were believed to be 'pagan practices', they have retained many aspects of their cultural practices. They are also found in the southern Angolan province of Cunene, where they are more commonly referred to as "Ambo". The Ovambo consist of a number of kindred Bantu ethnic tribes who inhabit what was formerly called Ovamboland. In Angola, they are a minority, accounting for about two percent of the total Angolan population.

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Ovamboland, or Ovambo, was a Bantustan or "homeland" and later a second-tier authority in South West Africa for the Ovambo people during the apartheid period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damaraland</span> Former bantustan in South West Africa

Damaraland was a name given to the north-central part of South West Africa, which later became Namibia, inhabited by the Damaras. It was bordered roughly by Ovamboland in the north, the Namib Desert in the west, the Kalahari Desert in the east, and the Windhoek region in the south.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kavangoland</span> Former bantustan in South-West Africa (now Namibia)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Namaland</span> Former bantustan in South-West Africa (now Namibia)

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Ondangwa is a town in the Oshana Region of northern Namibia, bordering the Oshikoto Region. Ondangwa was first established as a mission station of the Finnish Missionary Society in 1890. In 1914, it became a local seat of government.

<i>Koevoet</i> Former South West African/Namibian police counterinsurgency organisation

Koevoet was the counterinsurgency branch of the South West African Police (SWAPOL). Its formations included white South African police officers, usually seconded from the South African Security Branch or Special Task Force, and black volunteers from Ovamboland. Koevoet was patterned after the Selous Scouts, a multiracial Rhodesian military unit which specialised in counter-insurgency operations. Its title was an allusion to the metaphor of "prying" insurgents from the civilian population.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ovambo language</span> Bantu language

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Ondonga is a traditional kingdom of the Ovambo people in what is today northern Namibia. Its capital is Ondangwa, and the kingdom's palace is at Onambango. Its people call themselves Aandonga. They speak the Ndonga dialect. The Ondonga kingdom is ruled by an Omukwaniilwa (king), assisted by a council of elders, the Ondonga Traditional Authority. After the death of king Immanuel Kauluma Elifas in March 2019, Fillemon Shuumbwa Nangolo was appointed as successor and subsequently recognised by government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martti Rautanen</span>

Martti (Martin) Rautanen was the pioneer of the Finnish Mission in Ovamboland, South West Africa.

Karl Emil Liljeblad was a Finnish pastor, vicar, missionary and educator, and during his final years, a researcher in Folkloristics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission</span> Finnish Lutheran missionary society

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Ulla Pirkko Nenonen was a Finnish theologian, missionary with the Finnish Missionary Society and Bible translator, who served in missionary work in Namibia during a 54-year span. Of Finnish missionaries, only Martti Rautanen and his wife Frieda and daughter Johanna have served longer in the mission field.

Lahja Anna-Maija Lehtonen was a Finnish missionary who worked for a long time in Ovamboland, Namibia. She held a master's degree in the English language from the University of Helsinki, and she was known as the long time English teacher of the Oshigambo High School, which she co-founded together with Toivo Tirronen in 1960.

References

  1. Moorsom, Richard (April 1979). "Labour Consciousness and the 1971-72 Contract Workers Strike in Namibia". Development and Change. 10 (2): 205–231. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7660.1979.tb00041.x.
  2. Hayes, Patricia (2000). Hall, Catherine (ed.). Cultures of Empire: A Reader: Colonizers in Britain and the Empire in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. New York: Routledge Books. pp. 329–330. ISBN   978-0415929073.
  3. "Staatspresident van die Republiek van Suid-Afrika: Proklamasies No. R 138, 1976: Wysiging van die Owambo-Grondwet-Proklamasie, 1973 (Amendment of the Owambo Constitution Proclamation 1973)" (PDF).
  4. 1 2 3 D'Amato, Anthony A (October 1966). "The Bantustan Proposals for South-West Africa". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 4 (2). Cambridge University Press: 177–192. doi:10.1017/S0022278X00013239. JSTOR   158943. S2CID   154050355.
  5. "1952-1954". Chronology of Namibian History. Namibia Library of Dr. Klaus Dierks. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  6. Otavan Iso Tietosanakirja I (in Finnish). Helsinki: Otava. 1960.
  7. Saarelma-Maunumaa, Minna (2003). "Nimet yhdistävät suomalaisia ja namibialaisia" (PDF). Virittäjä (in Finnish): 258–262. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  8. Kimmo Kiljunen: Maailman maat: liput ja historia, p. 346. Into, 2013. ISBN 978-952-264-157-1. (in Finnish)
  9. Mäkinen, Lauri (2008). "Suomalaisten siirtomaahaaveet Ambomaalla". Yle (in Finnish). Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  10. Leser, Hartmut (October 1970). "Wandlungen der Bevölkerungs- und wirtschafts-geographischen Verhältnisse in Südwestafrika im Lichte der historischen und politischen Entwicklung im südlichen Afrika". Geographische Zeitschrift. 58 (3). Franz Steiner Verlag: 198–213. JSTOR   27817146.
  11. Stapleton, Timothy (2015). Warfare and Tracking in Africa, 1952–1990. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge Books. pp. 111–129. ISBN   978-1848935587.
  12. "Avision" (PDF). lac.org.na. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  13. "Ovamboland". 13 December 2011. Archived from the original on 13 December 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2022.

17°55′00″S15°57′00″E / 17.9167°S 15.9500°E / -17.9167; 15.9500