Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Independence of Namibia'

This thesis deals with the ten years preceding Namibia's independence in March 1990. It examines the various characters and groups in this process, and how their roles delayed or promoted it. The era of Pieter W. Botha is very significant in that his rule brought many changes to the decision-making process and content of South African foreign policy. This period, 1978 - 1989, marked the formulation of the Total National Strategy in response to the Total Onslaught being waged on South Africa by perceived hostile external forces. Namibia's transition to independence suffered under this military-oriented policy as did the rest of the region. Never before in South Africa's policy-making history had the security sector played such a major role. Regional relations changed subsequent to the policy changes because of the distorted vision the Botha regime had of black-ruled states. Namibia was seen as an important pawn in the Total National Strategy as the last buffer state in Southern Africa protecting South Africa's white minority regime

The Independence Memorial Museum is the latest addition to the post-independence memorial landscape by Namibia’s ruling party, South West African People’s Organisation (or the Swapo Party). Like many other southern African liberation movements turned ruling political parties, Swapo has looked towards history to find legitimation and support in the present. This is referred to in this research as the creation of a Swapo master narrative of liberation history. It is a selective and subjective re-telling of history which ultimately works to conflate Swapo with the Nation. As such, Swapo has been portrayed as the sole representative and liberator of the Namibian people, and anything which effectively contradicts this has been silenced or purposefully forgotten within official or public history. This study takes as its starting point the removal of the colonial era Rider Statue in 2009, to make way for the new museum. The site, a significant landmark with regards to the Herero and Nama genocide, had remained effectively untouched both pre and post-independence as the city built up around several German colonial monuments. In order to understand why such a change in the memorial landscape would occur, and in a turnaround from the National Policy of Reconciliation that opted to protect all historical monuments as heritage after independence, this study looks to the Swapo master narrative of liberation history to explain the motivations behind building an Independence Memorial Museum. As such, the museum was thematically analysed with reference to the master narrative, and it was found that the same inclusions and exclusions, emphases, and silences were continued and consolidated within the museum. This study considers what narrative is put forward by the museum and why, and contemplates what opportunities were lost. The continued silences within Namibian official history constitute a sustained injustice to the people of Namibia.

Includes bibliographical references.
This thesis examines poverty reduction and inequality changes in Namibia following the country's independence in 1990. Having emerged from decades of South African rule and Apartheid policies, Namibia presents an interesting case for this kind of applied research. The country is defined by widespread poverty and one of the highest degrees of income inequality in the world. While there is much speculation regarding the trends and underlying drivers of inequality and poverty after independence, little rigorous analysis has been done in this regard. This research aims to provide a better understanding of welfare changes following the liberalisation after independence. The research is based on the only two available Namibian household expenditure surveys from 1993/94 and 2003/04. To this point they have not been subjected to a detailed comparative analysis.

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin
The emergence of collective bargaining in the public sector is viewed as a product of economic, political, technological and social dynamics regulating the economic relationship between the government as employer and public sector employees. Although public sector employees have been denied the right to organize themselves and to bargain collectively with their respective governments, especially in many African countries, the profound changes during the recent years has dramatically changed labour relations in the public sector. In many African countries, particularly English speaking countries, the process of collective bargaining between the government and public sector employees has gained prominence as the struggle to reconcile the broad interest of the government and its employees has been waged in order to deal effectively with public employment issues. Namibia is one of the many English speaking African countries which is making tremendous efforts to harmonize the employment relationship between the government and the public servants. But these efforts are being hampered by the structural handicaps emanating from the historical legacy of apartheid and its adjunt- authoritarianism (which has found firm roots in the country even after five years of independence).

Once mediation has started, the issue of leverage (sticks and carrots) as a specific tool of mediation often comes into play. There appears to be two divergent views on the use of leverage in the mediation process. One school of thought, although not actually propagating leverage, does concede that it might be necessary and useful under certain circumstances. The other disagrees and expresses caution in using leverage in the mediation process. This study will focus on the issue of leverage in the Namibian mediation process, culminating in the independence of Namibia on 21 March 1990. It specifically deals with the following questions: To what extent was leverage used in the mediation process? How did the mediator(s)employ leverage, what leveraging resources were brought to bear on the conflicting parties, and at what point in the process did this leveraging happen? The purpose is to determine whether, in the light of theoretical arguments for and against the use of leverage, one could conclude that, under certain conditions, leverage is both necessary and effective in ensuring a successful outcome to the mediation process. The research study is structured as follows: Chapter 1 introduces the topic, the purpose and the nature of the study. An in-depth analysis of mediation theories, focusing specifically on the issue of leverage, is provided in Chapter 2, the purpose being to develop a framework for analysis in determining the extent to which leverage was utilised in the Namibian mediation process. An historical background to the conflict in Namibia is presented in Chapter 3 in order to contextualise the focus in the following chapters, dealing specifically with the Namibian mediation process. In Chapter 4, data analyses and findings are summarised, and aspects that might provide lessons for mediation, particularly as far as the use of leverage is concerned, are identified; and where applicable, further avenues for research are suggested. In conclusion, Chapter 5 presents a summary and critical look at all the mediation processes, both multilateral and bilateral, and the challenges that were encountered during these processes, leading up to the signing of Tripartite and Bilateral Agreements in New York on 22 December 1988.
Mini-dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
tm2015
Political Sciences
MA
Unrestricted

This Bachelor’s thesis explores the relationship between borders, boundaries and migration, and their effect on identity making from a diasporic perspective. The study focuses on notions of national, regional, cultural, tribal and ethnic identity, and set in relation to the influence borders and boundarieshave on these processes. It investigates this topical realm within the specific conditions of the Angolan-Namibian border, following the developments from the era of colonization, independence struggle and decolonization and the transformation of Angola and Namibia into self-asserting and sovereign states, in which it focuses on the identity making of the Angolan diaspora residing in the border town of Rundu, northern Namibia. In doing so, it sets out to investigate the connection between macro variables and processes such as colonialism, the Cold War in Africa, and independence movements, to micro processes focusing on the living conditions and experiences of border residents. The study aims at a holistic approach drawing from theoretical developments within border and boundary studies stemming from disciplines such as political geography and anthropology, along with migration studies and social psychology. The results suggest that differing dominant conditions of the Angolan and Namibian states in terms of historical and political development, living conditions and the manifestation of the border and political assertion of the nation-states, has indeed helped to inform and construct different social categories and identities. In terms of the Angolan diaspora, the results indicate that migrants acquiring Namibian citizenships and thereby rights, did redefine their national identity to a greater extent than those denied documentation as their agency has become curtailed, leaving this group in an identity-limbo. The main contribution of this study is an investigation of what the border-migration-identity nexus means in terms of the Angolan diaspora and the Kavango region.

This study, in contrast to contemporary held views relating to the US policy premises, aimed to look at the inherent disabilities and inconsistencies of the policies of succesive Washington administrations. More so, it investigated the US interventionist strategies to perceived threats from communist regimes and their allies, especially in Southern Africa. To be able to embark on such an investigation, Namibia and the Soviet-Cuban involvement in Southern Africa were selected as a special focus of this study

The history of African Independent Churches (AICs) in Southern Africa goes back for more than a hundred years. They have proliferated geographically and demographically in Africa more than the mainline churches could ever have imagined. They have grown to be as widespread and as influential as the African mainline churches. The reason for this growth is that the AICs are the churches of African indigenous people. They are launched by Africans from a background of an African traditional and cultural frame of reference. The most significant reason is that the founders of these churches are not Westerners, but Africans. Western missionaries find it difficult to understand the AICs from their perspective. Thus the Western churches describe the AICs as sectarian, separatist, syncretist, nativitist, and so on. Nevertheless, some scholars are attempting to view the AICs in positive ways. The fact that these two different churches have never acknowledged each other as true churches is a big challenge for Christian missions in Namibia. Each group has been viewing and judging the other party through suspicious eyes from their own perspective, each driving the other to block the channel of reconciliation before the presence of God. With the aim of solving this problem, this thesis attempts to answer the following questions about the AICs in Namibia: • What are the reasons that the AICs in Namibia have been seceded from mission churches? • What are the activities in civil society in which the AICs in Namibia are currently involved? • Do the AICs engage in any activities which go against the Word of God? • What causes other churches to be suspicious of the AICs? • What level of enculturation is inherent to the AICs in Namibia? In other words, what is the relationship between the liturgies of the AIC and African traditional religion and African culture? • What makes the AICs in Namibia regard themselves as a church? Would it be possible for the AICs and the mainline churches in Namibia to cooperate in Christian missionary work? • What is a possible Korean missionary perspective on this particular situation? This will be dealt throughout this thesis from a Korean missionary missional perspective.
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
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Science of Religion and Missiology
PhD
Unrestricted

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS)
This dissertation aims at understanding the legal implications of a grazing dispute that was reported in the western Kavango Region a few years after Namibia’s Independence in 1990. This dispute which was between Ovawambo cattle owners and herders from the Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions and the local Vakwangali community members (represented by the UKTA) was reported in 1992 (other reports suggest that it might even have originated as early as the 1960s and 1980s), when it was said that the Ovawambo cattle owners and herders with their hundreds of cattle had entered into western Kavango “illegally” in search of grazing. The Ovawambo cattle owners and herders were first charged in 2005 and were eventually evicted in 2009. This dissertation looks at how legislation was used to deal with the conflict and investigates the impacts of the court order on all parties involved. The methodology employed during this study was predominantly qualitative, mainly utilising individual interviews and focus group discussions with the participants. This study found that the Government of Namibia had delayed acting on the grazing dispute for mainly political reasons. The study also found that many herders had indeed entered western Kavango Region illegally because they could not provide any letters of consent from the Ukwangali Traditional Authority (UKTA); many herders also admitted that there were no written agreements between themselves and the UKTA. The research also found that although the eviction orders were issued to all the herders, some still remained in the area; this selective application of the law rendered the eviction order somewhat ineffective. The study found that some local or affected community members were satisfied with the consequences of the eviction order and reported positive results regarding their farming activities such as better grazing and improved yields in their crop fields. Other community members, however, were disappointed by the refusal of certain herders to vacate the area, as well as by the failure of the government to ensure that all the herders had left the area.

This thesis examines West Germany's relationship with Namibia between 1969 and 1990. It investigates West German foreign policy towards Namibia, at the height of the Namibian liberation struggle, against the backdrop of East and West German rivalry. It brings to light that the post-war division of Germany into two separate states significantly impacted both German states' policies towards Namibia. The Federal Republic of Germany's (FRG) changing approach towards the German Democratic Republic (GDR) is analysed in relation to the Federal Republic's shifting attitude towards the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO), Namibia's leading national liberation movement. It shows that the political dynamic that drove the normalisation of relations between East and West Germany played a key role in West Germany's move towards supporting SWAPO in the mid-to-late 1970. Furthermore, this thesis demonstrates that the Federal Republic's political landscape was dominated by political division over the issue of SWAPO's role in Namibia's future. This dissertation therefore examines the diverging views among political parties and its wider effects on shaping West Germany's policy towards Namibia. It calls to attention that political discord led to attempts by political factions to influence events in Namibia, independent of the Federal Government, through alternative instruments of foreign policy. Particular attention is also paid to the ideological underpinnings that promoted or hindered interactions and co-operation between East and West Germany in Namibia, on the one hand, and the two German states and SWAPO on the other. It reveals that West Germany's attitude towards SWAPO cannot be separated from the wider realities of the Cold War. In particular, it shows that the normalization of relations between West Germany and SWAPO can only be fully understood against the backdrop of intra-German rivalry.

I wish to present a study of the different literature regarding national culture, African cinema and postcolonial identity and explore how it relates to local cinema in Namibia. How have Namibian films contributed to this debate? The films 100 Bucks and Try contributed to the creation of postcolonial identity and national culture in independent Namibia. This dissertation will focus primarily on the aesthetics, themes and stories produced in Namibia since 2000 as well as how our storytelling and funding models can learn from other industries throughout the world. I will undertake an examination of past works and writings on the topic of national culture in post colonial African states, nationalism and African identity.

Namibian independence was the result of more than a decade of mediation. It began with a multiparty mediation effort in 1978 that resulted in a peace agreement between South Africa and SWAPO, yet there was no cessation of hostilities and no implementation of the signed agreement. This was followed by a series of mediation efforts that culminated in a major effort in 1988 which resulted in another agreement, signed by different parties (South Africa, Cuba and Angola). This Trilateral Agreement resulted in the cessation of the hostilities, the implementation of the first agreement (1978) and of the second agreement signed in 1988, which finally led to Namibia s independence. This study considered the theory on the factors contributing to mediation success and applied it to the 1988 mediation in order to identify the factors that positively contributed to the successful mediation outcome and sustainable peace in Namibia. This study found that not all the factors identified in the theory impacted on the mediation outcome, and that these factors are not a blueprint when engaging in mediation. The study found that the Namibian case study supports the theory in certain aspects. In instances when the mediator initiates the mediation process at the appropriate time, when the conflict is ripe for resolution, the chances of successful mediation are improved. Furthermore, the study found that mediator skill and strategy improve the chances of mediation success. Prospects for sustainable peace are further enhanced when the mediation outcome is supported by a comprehensive agreement and a detailed implementation plan. This study identified the need for further study on the role of sponsors during mediation and their continued support after the signing of the agreement.
Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015.
Political Sciences
MA
Unrestricted

The paper seeks to examine the changes and continuities in industrial relations in post-independence Namibia. In particular, it aims to explore some of the key elements in the process through which the distribution of the costs and rewards of economic and industrial restructuring is institutionalised. The paper concentrates, through in-depth interviews with key role players, on how the attempts at sustaining a durable and redistributive trade-off between economic efficiency and social equality led to a contradictory fusion of neo-liberal and neo-corporatist forms of labour market regulation. The research reveals that changes in the regulation of the labour market since independence have created opportunities for advancement and participation by groups of more skilled and organised employees, while weaker and less skilled groups have generally experienced a decline in employment conditions and the absence of collective representation. These developments reflect and reproduce patterns of racial and gender discrimination, industrial structure, trade union membership and collective bargaining across the various sectors and occupations. The paper shows that a system of low-skill, low-wage and low-trust relations - with an emphasis on cost reduction and employment "flexibility" - is fast becoming embedded in industrial relations in Namibia. Given the prevailing economic policies, industrial strategies and labour market structures, Namibia's integration into the global economy will most likely involve the increasing dislocation and exclusion of vulnerable and "peripheral" workers from the formal economy. The paper highlights the ways in which the transformation of industrial relations in Namibia is shaped by the legacy of apartheid-colonialism and the pressures of globalisation. Specifically, the conjunction of increasingly deregulated product markets and increasingly regulated labour markets has driven a wedge between the pursuit of short-term objectives and the attainment of long-term transformational goals.

This study is a contextual exegetical encounter with the text of the Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6:12-7:17 which is an ethical discourse embedded in the Jesus tradition where Jesus speaks and acts in solidarity with the poor and the marginalized. The study applies the ethical paradigms of the discourse for socio-economic and political justice to the context of the present Namibian public economic establishment which is unjustly increasing socio-economic disparities in society. The study has therefore adopted Burridge’s (2007) ethical model of an open and inclusive community of Jesus in Luke which Jesus forms and in which he encourages egalitarian socio-economic praxis. Burridge finds this model -the “all-embracing portrait of Jesus” - in Luke’s community. It opens up to all as “it seeks to imitate Jesus”. The Sermon on the Plain is in the current study seen as the epicenter of Luke’s presentations of Jesus’ socio-economic and political ethical teaching and praxis for an egalitarian community, the ethical model which Luke expands throughout his narrative account of the gospel. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN), the particular contextual focus of this study, is taken as an open and transformative community of Bible readers where this ethical model could be embraced and effect some changes in human behavior that may lead to a more fair, inclusive and equitable socio-economic community, both within the Church and in the predominantly Christian Namibian society. For necessary methodological and hermeneutical approaches to ways in which the New Testament ethics of Jesus - which are the ethical paradigms of ancient communities - can be relevant and applicable to our present day contexts, this study has made use of Burridge’s method that considers New Testament ethics as starting with the historical Jesus. The reconstruction of the historical Jesus and our access to the ethics of Jesus are, according to Burridge, possible through our reading of biblical texts and gospels which are like stained glass so that our picture of what lies behind the text is not unimpeded. This model has been employed by the current study to see beyond Luke’s text the historical Jesus who is part of the peripheral peasant communities. In his context, he encourages the families and villages to sustain their limited socio-economic power through sharing, a form of resistance that Moxnes (1988) terms the “moral economy of the limited good” within the exploitative ruling system. The study identifies the ancient levels of the early Jesus tradition through which the socio-economic and political ethics of Jesus underwent adaptations and continuation. Burridge’s method of the imitation of Jesus and its hermeneutic approach of the gospels as stained glass are in this study applied in Draper’s (1991) African contextual exegetical tripolar framework for our present appropriation. Burridge reads the gospels as narrative biographies of Jesus, presenting Jesus’ words and activities, the umbrella narrative genre in which the ethics of Jesus are not considered as isolated rules or moral prescription. Rather they are rather part of the whole life story of Jesus in which both his rigorous and unconditional acceptance ethics are checked against each other. This approach has led the present researcher to see the community of the followers of Jesus as the place where our ethics of love, mercy, and grace are lived out in tension with the justice of God, which is also at the centre of Jesus’ proclamation of the reign of God as the alternative to socio-economic and political exploitation. This study has therefore argued for the love of Jesus for the marginalized, a love which pushed Jesus to the margins, risking even his life for the sake of justice. ELCIN has been implicated by the dense empirical data of this study. Both the interviews and sermons collected in its Eastern Diocese substantially confirm ELCIN”s timidity, even silence, when it comes to addressing socio-economic and political injustice in Namibia. The study’s findings constitute a qualitative pattern that is transferable to the whole of ELCIN. Therefore the study concludes that ELCIN is collaborating with the proponents in our present government of an unjust system. The data indicates that this situation is accountable for socio-economic and political polarization. The study conscientizes ELCIN, in its prophetic task, to speak from the perspective of the poor and the marginalized, among whom the Church’s “social location” is situated as it continues “seeking to imitate Jesus”. The study suggests that the Church should shift from the traditional spiritualizing of human daily life experiences to critical contextual biblical hermeneutics and appropriation which motivates self-theologizing and local debates. It crucially suggests that ELCIN distances itself from the euphoric excitement of political independence to choose a position of critical solidarity with the state and to operate without its voice being marred by ambivalence. Transformative and liberating formal and informal education is suggested as essential for empowering the marginalized, whereby ELCIN can play a vital role. Reading the Bible together as an open community of the followers of Jesus is suggested so that ELCIN will become an interpretive community that dialogues and openly debates socio-economic and political issues in the light of its unbiased appropriation of the biblical message.
Thesis (Ph.D.)-Unviversity of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

This study explores the shifting roles of teacher unions in pre-and post-independence Namibia, against the backdrop of a changing political context. My aim was to understand the roles of teacher unions both before and after independence in Namibia, and to explain how they changed in the different political contexts. To do so, I examined the teacher union roles in three distinct phases, namely pre-independence, immediately post-independence, taking in the period from 1990 to 1999, and the last decade, from 2000 up until today. In approaching the research questions, I worked on the assumption that understanding and explaining the roles of teacher unions in pre- and post-independence Namibia could best be achieved by interacting with participants who were or had been involved in education and the teacher unions in Namibia. I argued that their experiences would be important in constructing knowledge on the unions, particularly regarding their roles before and after independence. I chose a narrative design for the study, because it allowed me to interact with the participants to gain deeper meanings from their individual perspectives. Narrative design was appropriate to this research, because it also allowed me to trace the way events in education mirrored those in the national political arena, and to explain why particular tendencies emerged. I used the information collected during the interviews and document analysis as the data for the study. Four themes emerged regarding the roles of teacher unions in the contexts of pre- and post-independence Namibia, around which I conceptualized the study. These were the shifting historic roles of these unions in Namibia, the institutional frameworks and modalities for union participation, the contextual factors relating to the roles of the unions, and the changed roles of the unions in contemporary Namibia. The findings of the study suggested, firstly, that teacher unions play different roles in different political contexts, and that these roles are shaped by contextual factors. Secondly, the research established that the unions in the post-independence contexts did not necessarily have a vision of a labour-driven process of radical strategic change, as postulated by the theory of strategic unionism. Instead, the findings suggest that teacher unions in contemporary Namibia are influenced and shaped by the broader political and social factors of a new hierarchical political culture, by political and economic middle-class aspirations, and by undefined party-government-teacher union relationships. I conclude the study by suggesting an expansion of the concept of strategic unionism to include the nuances of political and economic contexts and aspirations.
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011.
Education Management and Policy Studies
unrestricted

Text in English
Oruuano is an Independent Church in Namibia founded in 1955 because of members of the Herero community breaking away from the Rhenish Mission Church. Oruuano has the same doctrinal position as the Evangelical Lutheran Churches. In all church services it uses the standard Lutheran liturgical forms and the Otjiherero Lutheran hymnal. Belief in the ancestors is strong among the Herero. It is centred around the holy fire that is found between the main house of the head man and the cattle's kraal. The church does not acknowledge the ancestors, but it allows its members to venerate their ancestors outside the church. The church's approach is that of tacit consent. This dissertation discusses this approach and concludes that Oruuano cannot remain silent on the ancestors any longer. Time has come to deal with it theologically, showing the supremacy of Christ, while integrating Herero traditional practices and spirituality with the worship and practice of Oruuano.
Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology
M.Th. (Missiology)

Audit committees (ACs) can enhance corporate governance in the public sector, particularly in State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). This study adopted a qualitative research approach to identify factors contributing to the effectiveness of ACs in selected Namibian SOEs to provide sound corporate governance. The empirical data was collected primarily through semi-structured interviews with participants as well as from field notes and company documents. The study highlighted certain AC characteristics and practices contributing to the effectiveness of ACs in selected Namibian SOEs to provide sound corporate governance. The mandate, composition, managing the activities of the AC, performance assessment of the members of the AC and reporting of the AC if applied correctly can enhance effectiveness of ACs. The study also highlighted weaknesses, suggesting that some of the ACs needed improvement in order to enhance corporate governance at SOEs.
College of Accounting Sciences
M. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)

The aim of the research was to consider the relationship of political ends and the use of military force and, using empirical data gathered from South Africa's experience from 1987 to 1988, to consider whether there might be any implications for existing theory. The question that was formulated for research was: What relationship could be distinguished between the South African government's use of military force in Angola and the government's political ends? The conclusion was reached that the relationship of the application of military force by the South African government to the attainment of political ends was one of inhibition. The concept of 'inhibitive war', refers to the severe .restraint on the use of military force, resulting from the influences of environmental conditions on political ends, so that the political ends themselves become a restriction on the achievement of military aims.
Political Sciences
M.A. (Strategic Studies)