1924 - 1948: South African Foreign Relations
The UNO & control of SWA/Namibia

BACK TO LESSON MENU

Namibia
(Source: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/wa.html)

South West Africa after the First World War

During the First World War, the German colonies in Africa were occupied by the Allied powers. When the War was over and Germany had lost, these colonies came under the protection of the newly formed League of Nations. The occupying powers were given mandates over these former colonies, which means that the League gave them the responsibility to administer these territories, to safeguard the interests of their African inhabitants and to prepare them for eventual self-rule. The mandate powers would then have to submit annual reports to the League of Nations about their administration. This mandate system had been developed by General Jan Smuts. The former colonies were divided as follows: Togo and Cameroon were shared between Britain and France, Rwanda and Burundi went to Belgium, and Tanganyika (today Tanzania) to Britain. South West Africa became a mandate of South Africa, who had already defeated the German colonising power and occupied the territory in 1915.

According to the mandate system, South West Africa was a Class C-mandate, which meant that it would be ruled according to the laws of South Africa. When the League of Nations was replaced by the UN after the Second World War, the mandate system changed. The former German colonies would be brought under a UN Trusteeship Committee, and the countries responsible for them would have to submit frequent reports about their control. South Africa refused to do this. For 25 years, it argued, South West Africa had been administered as a fifth province and under the laws of South Africa. In 1945 Smuts requested the UN to allow for South West Africa to be incorporated into South Africa, but his application was rejected. Over the next three years the UN continued to put pressure on South Africa to place their mandate territory under the Trusteeship Committee, but still South Africa would not comply.

After 1948, South Africa began to introduce apartheid legislation in South West Africa. There was an outcry from many countries who called on the UN to declare South Africa’s rule in the territory illegal. The matter would eventually lead to a legal case before the International Court of Justice that would last for nearly six years, and a bitter war in which South African forces fought against guerrillas from the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO). It was only in 1990 that South Africa finally granted Namibia its independence.

For more on the South West African question, go to the Grade 12 lesson South Africa’s Foreign Policy, 1948-1976: The UNO and its actions against South Africa.

---

Learning Outcome: Gathering, analysing, interpreting and evaluating relevant evidence to answer questions.

Activity 7

1. According to the mandate system South West Africa would be ruled by the laws of its mandate power, South Africa. Which of the given reasons applied to South West Africa?
   -Sparseness of population;
   -Small size;
   -Remoteness from centres of civilisation; or
   - Geographical contiguity to the mandatory power.
2. According to this article, was South Africa justified in treating the Mandatory as part of South Africa – like a 5th province?
3. According to the same article, was South Africa justified in introducing segregationist policies and legislation in South West Africa?
4. How did the mandate system change after the Second World War?
5. How did South Africa react to this?
6. After the Second World War, many countries within the UN felt that South Africa was abusing its mandate over South West Africa and that the mandate was now illegal. Why?
7. Do you agree with these UN members or do you feel that South West Africa should have been integrated into South Africa as a 5th province?
8. Find out more about what Namibia looks like today – who the leading party/parties is/are, who the president is, and which cultural groups can be found there.
   
   For information about Namibia, go to:
   http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/na.htm
   http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/wa.html
   
   Also see what you can find in your school or town library. Look in encyclopaedias, atlases and even travel books.
   
9. Does Namibia have any minerals or other resources? If so, do you think this might have been the reason for South Africa wanting to keep South West Africa?

 

< PREVIOUS>