Swapo's struggle for Namibia, 1960-1991

Abstract

Introduction provided by author:

What accounted for the remarkable ideological eclecticism of Swapo's statements and writings? How had it been able to transform itself, with apparent ease, in different settings and for different audiences to adopt an African voice, a Western voice, an East bloc voice, even a solidarity voice, depending on the circumstances? And how could one explain the facility with which Swapo abandoned, apparently without regret, the last vestiges of socialist rhetoric, to reinvent itself - seemingly overnight - as the moderate, social-democratic, pro-capitalist government of the Republic of Namibia?

Uncovering answers to these questions required, first, some conception of how a movement's ideological outlook is constructed and what confluence of factors determines its form and content. When does it emerge, how does it evolve through the various "stages" of anti-colonial resistance, under what circumstances does its content change - and with what implications, ultimately, for the transition from nationalist movement to national government?

It will be argued that the free-floating nature of Swapo's political programme can be attributed, in the first instance, to Namibia's unique status as a mandate territory. From the first stirrings of a nationalist political consciousness in the late 1940s, anti-colonial resistance in Namibia focussed on the United Nations to free the territory from South African rule. From its own inception in 1960, building on foundations already laid by the Ovamboland Peoples' Congress (OPC) and Ovamboland Peoples' Organisation (OPO), as well as by the rival South West Africa National Union (SWANU), Swapo's strategy centred on a continuation of this policy of reliance on the international community. This external focus had profound implications for the way in which Swapo's struggle -on diplomatic, political and military fronts -was waged, and hence for the development of its social, political and economic thinking