Voice of Namibia
Voice of Namibia (VoN) was a pirate radio station propagating
Background and establishment
After World War I the League of Nations gave South West Africa, formerly a German colony, to the United Kingdom as a mandate under the title of South Africa.[1] When the National Party won the 1948 election in South Africa and subsequently introduced apartheid legislation,[2] these laws also extended into South West Africa which was the de facto fifth province of South Africa.[3]
On 19 April 1960 SWAPO was founded as the successor of the
Voice of Namibia was part of the propaganda wing of SWAPO. It started with a one-hour program called Namibian Hour that was broadcast from
Operation and reception
VoN was the counter-propaganda station to the
Throughout the 1980s VoN established a network of freelance journalists within South West Africa. Unlike other pirate stations that promoted independence in Sub-Saharan Africa it was thus able to keep contact with the local population, a property that positively influenced its reception in the target territory. Further sources of information for the Voice of Namibia were faxes and telephone calls to its London office, and clandestine courier services to Angola via Ovamboland. When the Namibia Press Agency (NAMPA) was established in 1987 as a press agency of SWAPO, news updates were telexed to all VoN dependencies after being cleared by SWAPO.[7]
Voice of Namibia had a large local audience among the black population, particularly due to technical reasons: Weak local radio offerings before the 1970s had caused the spread of
Namibian independence
Upon
Notable staff
A number of journalists and administrators at VoN became high-ranking politicians after Namibian independence, among them:
- Eddie Amkongo, former ambassador to Ethiopia, as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo[8]
- Moses ǁGaroëb (1942–1997), Minister of Labour and Human Resources[9]
- Joseph Obgeb Jimmy (1951–2004), Namibia's first High Commissioner to Zambia[10]
- Kazenambo Kazenambo, former Namibian Minister of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture[11]
- Doreen Sioka, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare[12]
- Ponhele ya France, former president of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) and former Member of Parliament[13]
See also
- Voice of Zimbabwe
- Voice of the Revolution (Zimbabwe)
- Radio Freedom (South Africa)
References
- ^ Eerikäinen, Marjo (14 July 2008). "The South Africa Mandate 1915-1989". Vantaa. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
- ^ "Formation of the South African Republic". South Africa History Online. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
- ^ "Namibia: Apartheid, resistance and repression (1945-1966)". Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa. August 2009. Archived from the original on 20 April 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
- ^ Matundu-Tjiparuro, Kae (19 April 2010). "The founder of Swapo". New Era.
- ISBN 0-86543-144-2
- ^ "Namibia profile - Timeline". BBC News. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
- ^ a b c d e Mosia, Lebona; Riddle, Charles; Zaffiro, Jim (1994). "From Revolutionary to Regime Radio: Three Decades of Nationalist Broadcasting in Southern Africa" (PDF). Africa Media Review. 8 (1). African Council for Communication Education.
- ^ Graham Hopwood: Who's Who: Amkongo, Eddie Shimwethelini - Civil servant Archived 2011-06-11 at the Wayback Machine at Namibia Institute for Democracy, 2007
- ^ Sasman, Catherine (25 September 2009). "The Extraordinary Moses Mague //Garoëb (1942 to 1997)". New Era.
- ^ Dierks, Klaus. "Biographies of Namibian Personalities, J". klausdierks.com. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
- ^ Graham Hopwood: Who's Who: Kazenambo Kazenambo - Swapo Archived 2012-02-17 at the Wayback Machine at Namibia Institute for Democracy, 2007
- ^ Neumbo, Namene Kandi (5 April 2005). "Madam Deputy Speaker, Ma'am!". New Era.
- ^ Shiremo, Shampapi (25 February 2011). "Ponhele Andrew Mbidi ya France: A campaigner for fairness and justice for all. (1948-2010)". New Era. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012.