I’ll be honest in saying that in going abroad, I knew little about South Africa itself. I knew even less about other countries in Africa. The fact is, I learned most of what I know now through research directly before leaving, being an avid news-reader, and by being here and just listening to people talk. In light of this, by the end of my first couple months in South Africa I grew more and more aware of its neighboring countries- their quirks, stereotypes, politicians, former colonizers, and economic statuses. One of these countries is Namibia.
Namibia borders South Africa to the north-west and used to be named South-West Africa. It was originally colonized by the Germans who retained it until the end of WWI. After this, the League of Nations gave the territory of Namibia over to South Africa, who at the time were practicing apartheid policies. With the transition of land rights came sweeping reforms to life in Namibia.
Namibia is super small, population-wise, however large by land. It has a population of 2.1 million, yet is about the size of Venezuela. Though colonized by the Germans, the white population is only about 6.4% of the population. The black population is split by tribe between the Herero, Himba, Ovambo and Damara. The differences between the tribes was a unique part of apartheids influence specifically in Namibia. As opposed to in South Africa where black was just black, in Namibia ethnicity was split among the black population as well. When the Group Areas Act separated ethnic groups into designated locations, they split the blacks by their tribes as well. This was clever, for lack of a better word, of the leaders of apartheid, as they gave slightly different living standards to each tribe. This pitted tribes against one another, as some were given shacks with no water, while living across from another tribe given a stone one story building for a family home. In this way, tension was created between the black ethnic groups, which drew away attention from the whites living in standards incomparable to blacks and coloureds. White people lived in town, in houses resembling those once seen in West Germany.
Much like South Africa, the divisions of apartheid have remained mostly unchanged geographically and economically. Although laws do not prevent the movement of people “into town” as they say in Swakopmund, or rather just out of the township, it is silly to use that as proof that the system of apartheid is entirely over. The townships are literally entirely black/coloured, whereas in anything resembling a middle-class neighborhood it’s almost entirely white. There is little chance for mobility after generations of people growing up in extreme poverty as if even water and bread are hard to bring home, and if even building a shack on land costs you rent, you will never be able to move upwards. Namibia has a program going on that is similar to South Africa- building nicer and more stable homes in township areas- it does little to address the problem as rent is then that much more for that specific new home due to its higher quality. To avoid the rent, many move onto land and illegally live there in shacks until the government kicks them off.
This being stated, there are noticeably better race relations in Namibia vs. South Africa. Our first culture shock in traveling there was at a gas station- seeing a white man and black woman, middle aged, carrying their coloured child. I could not tell you the last time I saw a mixed race couple in South Africa, and it was rare enough that both my roommate and I stood in shock of what we were seeing after living in South Africa for 8 months. The shocks kept coming as in restaurants, coffee houses, clubs, and malls- we saw black and white hanging out like it aint’ no thang. Had I come straight to Namibia from the States I would have never given these scenarios a second glance, but I suppose after 8 months in a country still highly self-segregating, I forgot what it was like to live not side-by-side, but intermixed among races.
While in Namibia, I went to both Swakopmund and Windhoek. Swakopmund is a small coastal town that is “predominantly” German-speaking, at least in the town, but predominantly Bantu-speaking everywhere else. Though the town itself is chilly and cold, it is surrounded by hot desert. Windhoek, on the other hand, is the capital and more inland- meaning a good ten degrees hotter. The other major cities are Oshakati and Walvis Bay. Namibia is incredibly eco-friendly- as water is a precious commodity and much of their tourism comes from nature-related activities.
The most touchy issue in Namibia is the mines. Mining is Namibia’s largest business, whether it be uranium, diamonds, or copper- providing 25% of its GDP. But mining isn’t just a business in Africa. It’s politics, its health-care, it’s employment, its…everything. For example, all fresh water in the area of Swakopmund is first used by the mines- as they can only use fresh water, and then is recycled for drinking water for the population. This means a lot of chlorine in the water, which makes a noticeable difference. On the other hand, the mines also employ a lot of the population and pay for a lot of the infrastructure development going on in the country. Volumes could be written about the effects of mining in Africa but I’ll leave it at being a touchy issue.
Ultimately, Namibia has a lot in common with South Africa, and was an interesting place to visit and a nice break from my studies. Certainly worth the 54 hours in transit!