Beyond the transgariep: South Africa in Namibia 1915–1989

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory paper is to isolate, identify and describe the salient features of South Africa's Namibian policies, particularly from 1971 onwards. These are variously termed‐ ‘the compulsion to incorporate’, ‘the politics of controlled change’, and ‘neo‐realism’. The paper argues the absolute primacy of interests and contextual features of the region in attaining such an understanding, and concludes that an independent Namibia will have to come to terms with the political and economic legacies of seventy‐four years of South African involvement and control.