Ovamboland
Ovamboland | |||||||||
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| 1968–1989 | |||||||||
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Odendaal Plan | 1968 | ||||||||
• Re-integrated into Namibia | May 1989 | ||||||||
| Currency | South African rand | ||||||||
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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).
The
The term originally referred to the parts of northern Namibia inhabited by the
Background
In the 1960s,
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
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
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.
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 (1980-1999)
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
- Leaders of Ovamboland
- 1971–72 Ovambo & Kavango contract workers strike
- Democratic Co-operative Party
References
- .
- ISBN 978-0415929073.
- ^ "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).
- ^ S2CID 154050355.
- ^ "1952-1954". Chronology of Namibian History. Namibia Library of Dr. Klaus Dierks. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
- ^ Otavan Iso Tietosanakirja I (in Finnish). Helsinki: Otava. 1960.
- ^ Saarelma-Maunumaa, Minna (2003). "Nimet yhdistävät suomalaisia ja namibialaisia" (PDF). Virittäjä (in Finnish): 258–262. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
- ^ Kimmo Kiljunen: Maailman maat: liput ja historia, p. 346. Into, 2013. ISBN 978-952-264-157-1. (in Finnish)
- ^ Mäkinen, Lauri (2008). "Suomalaisten siirtomaahaaveet Ambomaalla". Yle (in Finnish). Retrieved 10 November 2022.
- JSTOR 27817146.
- ISBN 978-1848935587.
- ^ "Avision" (PDF). lac.org.na. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ "Ovamboland". 13 December 2011. Archived from the original on 13 December 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
External links
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