ECONOMY South West Africa's economy grew very slowly between 1920 and 1945. Since World War II it has expanded more than tenfold to an estimated gross domestic product (GDP) of U.S. $500 million by 1970 (about $647 per capita). During the 1960's GDP increased about 10 percent. Approximately 30 percent of the GDP is repatriated out of the territory as profits or wages by nonresident firms and workers. Customs Union & Trade The Republic of South Africa, South West Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland form a common customs union and consequently no tariffs exist on most goods moving among them. South Africa levies and collects the bulk of the customs and excise duties for the members, paying a share, determined by an established formula, of total customs collections to the other four. Imports from outside the customs union, regardless of ultimate destination, are subject to the same tariff rates. Customs union members also form a common currency and exchange control area known as the South African Monetary Area and use the rand as currency (1 rand U.S. $1.25). Because of its membership in this union trade figures for South West Africa have normally been included in the statistics for South Africa since 1966, and hence there are no current figures for the territory. In that year the territory's exports were estimated at $293 million and imports were $217 million. About 90 percent of the imports originate in South Africa, while about the same percentage of South West Africa's exports go overseas, either directly or through South Africa. As a result, the territory is believed to contribute about 10 percent of the customs union's exports and in 1966 earned about $250 million in foreign exchange for the union. Imports include construction materials, fertilizer, grain and other food products, and manufactured goods. Major exports are diamonds, copper, lead, zinc, pilchard fish, beef cattle, and karakul (sheep) pelts. Mining & Oil Mining is the most important economic activity in South West Africa. It normally contributes almost half of South West Africa's GDP. Output grew rapidly during the 1960's to more than $180 million in 1970. Government income is heavily dependent on the mining industry, particularly the diamond sector, which pays most of the income taxes and special levies. South West Africa's considerable mineral resources provided exports estimated at $200 million in 1967-about 61 percent of all exports, up from 53 percent of those in 1963. South West Africa is one of the world's leading diamond producers. Diamonds normally constitute more than 60 percent of the value of mineral exports and more than one-third of domestically generated revenue. The major diamond producer is Consolidated Diamond Mines, a subsidiary of South Africa's giant Anglo-American Corp. (not U.S.owned or controlled). Other important mineral resources are copper, lead, lead-zinc, and lead-vanadium concentrates. The territory is also a source of tin, iron ore, manganese, cadmium, germanium, silver, flourspar, tantalite, phosphate, sulphur, and salt. The U.S.-controlled Tsumeb Corp. accounts for the bulk of base metal production and is the only sizable U.S. investment in South West Africa. Although large areas of South West Africa, including the entire offshore area, were leased during 1968 for oil prospecting, leases on at least five of the nine concessions had been allowed to lapse by mid-1971. No oil deposits have been discovered thus far in any of the lease areas. Agriculture Stockraising and subsistence agriculture occupy the largest number of people. Stockraising generates two principal exports-beef cattle and karakul (sheep) pelts. Only 30 percent of the territory's land is considered arable (16 inches of rain or more annually). It is located mainly in the north. The remainder of the territory consists of coastal desert and interior highlands, which are devoted to cattle ranching in the central area and to sheep-raising in the south. The Bantuspeaking African tribes dependent on subsistence agriculture and cattle-raising are concentrated in the northern half of the territory. The commercial farming sector is controlled by whites. Commercial agriculture consists of some 5,000 farms or ranches, which in 1970 produced exports of cattle worth $45 million and karakul (sheep) wool worth $46 million, Nonwhites own about 25 percent of the territory's 9 million head of sheep, cattle, and goats. Endemic diseases, particularly hoof-and-mouth disease, handicap commercial exploitation of livestock owned by nonwhites, although government inoculation campaigns centered in the northern reserves have had some success. Agriculture contributed 17 percent to the 1970 GDP. Labor Africans of the territory provide the bulk of the labor force for the mining, agriculture, fishing, and manufacturing industries. They are under a migrant labor policy which restricts residential rights to the reserves or specified urban locations. This labor policy was generally disliked by the African workers, who staged a successful strike in early 1972 to have a more flexible system adopted. Development Plan In 1964 a major economic development plan was devised by the South African Government for the territory, with the principal goal of raising agricultural production. Among the projects proposed to accomplish this were road construction, irrigation expansion, and livestock improvement. The principal irrigation project is a canal network to carry water from the Kunene River some 100 miles into the heart of Ovamboland. The first of this water is expected to be delivered sometime after 1972. Budget Since World War II South West Africa often has recorded an annual budget surplus. Budget revenues normally cover operating expenses and most development expenditures. Revenue accruing to the South West African account of the South African budget from South West African sources in fiscal year 1971 totaled $113.6 million. Infrastructure The territory's economic infrastructure, at least in the white area, is relatively welldeveloped. The South African Railways and Harbors Administration maintains 1,453 miles of rail lines, connecting the mining and ranching areas with ports at Walvis Bay and Luderitz and with the Republic. Walvis Bay, the principal port, handles 1.5 million metric tons of imports and exports per year. There are approximately 2,000 miles of paved highways and 19,000 miles of other roads and tracks, an international airport at Windhoek, and several air strips. The South African Government has announced plans to construct hydroelectric irrigation and other facilities in the territory's northern reserves. U.S. POLICY The United States fully supports and seeks to give effect to the conclusions of the International Court of Justice in its advisory opinions concerning Namibia. It also supports the efforts of the United Nations in this direction, including such measures as the Secretary General is invited to pursue under Security Council Resolution 309, looking to the establishment of conditions necessary for the exercise by Namibians of their right to self-determination and independence in accordance with the U.N. Charter. The United States discourages American investment in Namibia and announced in May 1970 that it will not protect such investment-if made on the basis of rights acquired through the South African Government following termination of the mandate in 1966-against claims of a future lawful government in the territory. The U.S. Government also withholds Export-Import Bank guarantees and other facilities from trade with Namibia. The United States seeks to promote and protect the legal rights of the people of Namibia. It closely follows developments in the territory and has protested South African violations of the rights and well-being of the inhabitants, particularly the illegal application of the Terrorism Act and the Act for Self-Government for Native Nations of South West Africa. PRINCIPAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS Administrator-B. J. Van der Walt PRINCIPAL U. S. OFFICIALS The U.S. Government has no official representation in South West Africa. The nearest U.S. consular post is the Consulate General located in the Broadway Industries Center, Foreshore, Cape Town, Republic of South Africa. The consular officers at that post are: Consul General-W. Paul O'Neill, Jr. READING LIST These titles are provided as a general indication of the material currently being published on this country; the Department of State does not endorse the specific views in unofficial publications as representing the position of the U. S. Government. Ballinger, Robert B. South West Africa: The Case Against the Union. Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, 1961. Bruwer, J. P. Van S. South West Africa: The Disputed Land, Johannesburg: Nasionale Boekhandel Beperk, 1966. First, Ruth. South West Africa. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1963. Horrell, Muriel. South West Africa. Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, 1967. Lowenstein, Allard K. Brutal Mandate: A Journey to South West Africa. New York: Macmillan, 1962. Report of the Commission of Enquiry Into South West Africa Affairs, 1962-1963 (Odendaal Commission report). Pretoria: Government Press. South West Africa Survey 1967. Pretoria: Government Press. State of South Africa-Year Book 1963. Johannesburg: Da Gama. United Nations. Report of the Committee on South West Africa. Supp. 12 of the official records of the 15th Session of the U.N. General Assembly. Wellington, John H. South West Africa and Its Human Issues. London: Oxford University Press, 1967. DEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLICATION 8168, Revised September 1972 Office of Media Services, Bureau of Public Affairs APPENDIX 16 A MEMORANDUM ON THE POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN NAMIBIA FROM MAY TO OCTOBER 1973 (Prepared by the London Office of SWAPO) The years 1971 and 1972 have been called "The Years of the General Strike." Most likely the year 1973 will go down in history as "The Year of the Public Floggings." A Massive strike or horrifying, medieval practices like flogging catch the public eye quickly. However, the atrocious brutality which is part of everyday life in Namibia does not easily reach the world's headlines. Thus, although it does not appear so, the floggings now taking place in Northern Namibia are but incidents in a long sequence of happenings, a development whose beginning goes back to April this year shortly before the so-called "self-rule" of the Ovamboland bantustan came into force. On the 30th April three Namibian leaders, Mr. John Otto, Mr. Andreas Nuukwawo and Mr. Johannes Nangutuuala, addressed a so-called illegal meeting in Ovamboland, rejecting the bantustan type of "self-rule" which was approaching. They were arrested one of the first days in May. A few days later the names of six youths, all SWAPO members, were added to the list. They were: Patrick Hidipo, Frans Nangutuuala, Thomas Kamati, Patricio Shilenge, Hezekiel Mahuilili and Desilon Namalo. The name of another man, Mr. Jimmy Ampala, was to follow a couple of days later. It was later learnt that the youths had been arrested at a mission in the middle of April. On the 11th May, at 3.00 a.m. the printing press of the outspoken Evangelical Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church at Onipa was totally wrecked by an explosion. It was never discovered who was responsible for the explosion, and arrests were never made of suspects. The press produced the anti-South Africa newspaper Omuukwetu. Elections for the bantustan, to take place on the 1st and 2nd August, were announced in June. The resentment of the puppet chiefs grew rapidly, and a campaign against the so-called elections was put into force. Meetings were held in all parts of Namibia, especially where there were contract workers from the North. The meetings were convened and led by active SWAPO members. The elections were rightly regarded as a betrayal of the Namibian nation, being part of South Africa's detested bantustan policy. The motto "One Namibia, One Nation" was as forceful as ever. In the wake of the campaign came a wave of arrests and detentions, especially in the North. As one SWAPO spokesman said, commenting on the intense police activity: "We see them (the police) driving around everywhere, but we do not know who, or what, they are looking for." The arrests which led to trial were reported in the press, while the majority only later came to the knowledge of people outside the area. Among those detained without trial were women and young children. The result of the bogus elections was a clear victory for the Namibian people. Of those eligible to vote only 2.5% voted. These were the puppet chiefs, indigenous policemen and civil servants of the puppet regime. They were afraid that if they did not vote, they would lose their jobs, and thereby the short-term advantages they had obtained. After the elections were over SWAPO political activities continued in Namibia. There was a feeling of exuberance among people after the elections victory. Political meetings were held in many parts of Namibia. Like before, the SWAPO leaders were in the forefront. A special feature was the activist attitude expressed by the SWAPO Youth League. The young men were determined to speak out, to act, and to encourage the Namibian people to fight against the oppressors. On Sunday the 12th of August, the three leaders originally arrested in Ovamboland in May were taken to court in Ondangua. Around 3000 people, all SWAPO supporters, staged a demonstration. The crowd marched toward the Magis 37-052 0-74- -18 trate's Court, but long before they reached the Court para-military troopers charged into the crowd, beating men, women, and children with batons and riot-sticks. A large number were wounded. Some were taken to hospital while others were left behind on the ground, too ill to move. On the same Sunday the SWAPO Youth League convened a rally in Windhoek. It was attended by about 3000 people. Here the SWAPO speeches were militant and direct. "The freedom is in your hands" said Mr. David Shikomba, Secretary of the SWAPO Youth League-"don't wait until tomorrow, start today.”—“Let us stand together and let us fight for freedom in the country in which God created us," said Mr. Eliachim Andrias. Mr. Joseph Kasheha talked about the hated "Black Boers", the puppet chiefs and their henchmen. Several of them were mentioned by name and warned, among them the "Chief Minister" of Ovamboland, Filemon Elifas. The freedom fighters who had given their lives were remembered. "Hundreds have died and their blood is calling," said one of the speakers. All aspects of living conditions under South Africa's illegal occupation were remembered, and a change called for, a change which can only come after people have risen against their oppressors. Although this meeting ended peacefully, little peace was to follow. The speakers had to flee the police soon after the meeting. Some of them managed to escape Windhoek, some stayed behind in hiding. However, the main sequence to this meeting was general unrest, culminating in what was intended as a strike, but which ended as a riot in Katutura on the 20th August. Some of the speakers at the SWAPO rally were caught and charged under the Sabotage Act. Their trial has not finished. These were: Jeremia (Jerry) Ekandjo, Imanuel Napembe, Martin Shilongo, Nehemia Haufika, Eliakim Andrias (quoted earlier). One of the important ingredients in the situation was the untiring activity of SWAPO. Statements were issued to the press, repeating the claim for freedom and urging people to act. "This should be a year of sacrifice for freedom," went one of them, "and a year of the defeat of the imperialist. No weapons on earth can destroy the quest for freedom and no force has ever existed that could curb the rising tide of freedom." Several of the political activists who had escaped the police took part in illegal meetings and sustained the people with their very presence. One of these illegal meetings which took place on the 16th August was most brutally broken up by the police who fired shots into the meeting, killing one man, Benjamin Phineas Ekandjo. According to the Windhoek Advertiser of 19/10/73 this was what happened: An enquiry was held before Mr. H. J. Windhoek's Senior Prosecutor, Mr. S. A. Miller, leading the evidence into the death of Benjamin Phineas, a 19 year old Ovambo of the Katutura compound who died from a bullet wound which entered his chest at the right nipple, penetrated the right lung, cut through the left lung and then penetrated the fourth rib on the left side of the body. Five litres of blood were found in the pleural cavity, but despite this fatal wound he succeeded in walking a considerable distance and climbed over a fence before collapsing and dying. In sworn evidence before the inquiry it was said that despite an autopsy, the bullet which never left the body, could not be found. Mr. Hendrik Johannes Petrus Botha, a Constable of the Police's Security Branch said that he, accompanied by Captain Nel, Warrant Officer Oelofse, Sergeant Wagener and Constable Pearson as well as a Sergeant Louw, went to a certain house in the Ovambo section of the compound in Katutura. It was at night and they saw Black guards patrolling the area. They noticed a feeble light burning in the house and the curtains were drawn. He received instructions to enter the house together with two other officers. There were approximately 50 to 80 Blacks in the house. The kitchen door was not locked and they gained access to the house. The people became aware of their presence and started moving away. Mr. Botha said that he could see the people wanted by the Police sitting at a small table in the lounge and that the minutes of the meeting were lying on this table. David Shikomba, who is still a political fugitive was also at the meeting and he grabbed the minutes, trying to conceal them between his legs, but Mr. Botha said he succeeded in taking the documents. He turned towards Captain Nel to hand him the minutes and heard "grab the books" or "grab the Boers". Constable Botha said that he was then tackled. He was hit, pulled around and his automatic firearm with its holster, fell onto the floor. He saw a Black trying to remove the pistol from its holder attached to a special belt. He was held from the rear but succeeded in jerking forward and grabbing the man who was trying to remove his weapon from its special holder. After managing to get hold of the firearm, it was again jerked from his hands as he was tackled by more blacks. Captain Nel grabbed him on the arm and tried to pull him to safety. Once more he saw his firearm which now lay on the kitchen floor. He succeeded in grabbing the firearm but failed to grab an extra clip. Mr. Botha said he then fled from the house and he took up position at the window where, armed with an iron bar, he prevented people from escaping through the window. The house was now in total darkness. Mr. Botha said that he saw people approaching him from the eastern side of the house and he recognized one of them as the man who had tried to grab his firearm. I warned him to stop, but he did not heed me and came on towards me. Once more I cautioned him to stand and after the third warning I cocked my automatic firearm. I fired a shot in his direction. I did not aim at the man because it was dark, but only fired in his direction. The man ran past me,' Constable Botha said. He said immediately after he had fired he heard the reports of more shots in front of the house. He heard Captain Nel shouting to his men to move to the Police car and he realized that things were getting out of hand. They reached the car and after getting into it, the Blacks started stoning the vehicle. They left at great speed for the Katutura Police Station. Mr. Botha said that they did not succeed in making one arrest, nor did they succeed in getting hold of the minutes. The special container of his automatic firearm as well as the extra clip with ammunition were all gone. It was only the next day that he learned that the man was shot and killed and when taken to the body which was lying in a chicken run, he recognized the man as the person who had tried to take his firearm away from him the previous night. It was the same man at whom he had fired. There was a high fence between him and the chicken run and how the deceased managed to get to the chicken run was not known to him. Mr. Jacob Indinua, said that he was a member of the group of Blacks in the house that night. According to his evidence he heard six shots and the next day he picked up a few spent shells as well as a live cartridge. He was later arrested near Buitepos at the Botswana border. Miss Andelina Iyambo said that the meeting was held in her house that night. It was a SWAPO meeting and songs were sung. She said that the intention of the gathering was to hold a meeting and most of the Blacks present were members of SWAPO. It was also the purpose of the meeting to teach the people SWAPO songs. She could remember that when the Police entered one said 'Hello Sam', addressing Mr. Sam Shiwate. Sam Shiwate said in a sworn affidavit that he held the lamp. With the pushing of the people, the lamp fell from his hand, crashing to the floor and darkening the house. He heard the Police cautioning the people to be quiet. It was the unrest sparked off by this incident which culminated in the strike on the 20th August. Hundreds were eventually arrested and detained ‘for being illegally in Windhoek.' A letter by SWAPO leaders has reached us from Windhoek. It described better than any generalized account how it is to be a Namibian today: WINDHOEK, September 30, 1973. When the people from Ovamboland were to go to the polls to vote for the so-called self-determination for the Ovambo people, the SWAPO Youth League began to hold public meetings to urge Namibians in the Northern districts to boycott the elections. During and after every meeting Namibians were severely beaten by Boers and Ovambo authorities. Those who gave the speeches were arrested. Pregnant women as well as blind and handicapped people were severely beaten; the same applies to children. Now the hospitals in Northern Namibia are full of innocent people with open wounds and broken limbs. Although the Boers have kept it secret, many people have died or are missing. Several blind |