The South African government resumed direct control over Namibian affairs on 18 January 1983 through its appointed Administrator General, following the collapse of the 'internal government'.
The move was precipitated by the resignation of Dirk Mudge as chairman of the Council of Ministers, ostensibly because the Administrator General had referred a draft bill on the abolition of South African public holidays back to the National Assembly. Mudge also complained about the way in which the Council of Ministers and the National Assembly had lately been treated.
The move came less than a month before South Africa was expected to introduce changes in the territory, including a widely anticipated replacement of the DTA-controlled institutions either by another client grouping, or by reimposing direct control. Mudge's resignation can be seen as a pre-emptive move. As a result of Mudge's resignation, the Council of Ministers was automatically dissolved, and the Administrator General simultaneously brought to an end the term of the National Assembly and assumed all government functions. A chief executive officer, the Provincial Secretary of Natal, has been appointed to assist the Administrator General. According to statements issued by the Administrator General, he will be the only legislative authority at central government level. The various departments established under the Council of Ministers will remain unchanged but will now be answerable to the Administrator General. New committees will be established to assist him, and experts from the private sector will be invited to serve on these committees. He will govern according to existing legislation, and there will be no change in the relationship between the central government and the second-tier authorities.
The reintroduction of direct South African government control over Namibia marks the end of a period in which South Africa attempted to promote a client regime in the territory, in the hope of countering the massive support for SWAPO. The collapse of the DTA-dominated institutions clearly heralds the failure of this attempt. Since mid-1982, South Africa has been searching for an alternative client grouping to replace the discredited DTA, but apparently without much success. While the AG stressed that his assumption of government authority should be seen merely as an interim measure, and that South Africa still sees internationally acceptable independence for Namibia as vitally important, the regime's sabotage of international negotiations would seem to indicate that the prospects of independence for Namibia remain remote.
THE ENTRENCHMENT OF APARTHEID
South Africa has always exerted full and final legislative and administrative control over Namibia, and has extended many of its apartheid laws to the territory. From time to time, the South African government has delegated certain functions to local white bodies, and, as its homelands policies developed, has set up tribal 'governments' with nominal powers.
Both the South African president and parliament have, at various times, exercised complete legal powers, directly or through delegation to an appointed representative. Conversely, institutions and bodies created in Namibia have had limited powers and have always been ultimately accountable to the South African government. At times, the frequent transfers of authority from one body to another, and the setting up of 'homelands' with cosmetic powers given to tribal authorities, have obscured the true distribution of power.
- The Treaty of Peace and South West Africa Mandate of 1919 gave the South African Governor-General (later President) power to alter any law in force in Namibia, to make new laws, or to delegate his authority to an officer in the territory.
- By Proclamation No. 1 of 1921, the Governor General delegated his power to an Administrator appointed by him. The Administrator appointed a white Advisory Council of residents in the territory.
- The South West Africa Constitution Act of 1929 gave whites in Namibia some administrative authority. It provided for a white Legislative Assembly, with six appointed and 12 elected members. Only whites could vote.
The Legislative Assembly could make ordinances on certain matters, but these required the approval of the Administrator. Certain matters were reserved for the South African government, including defence, security, foreign affairs, native affairs etc. The Governor General was empowered to make laws by proclamation. Black people had no political rights.
- From 1949, following the victory of the National Party in South Africa in 1948, whites in Namibia could have six elected members in the South African Parliament, and four in the Senate. Native Affairs, which had been delegated to the SWA Administration, became the full responsibility of the South African Parliament. The SA Parliament became the sole power to legislate for the territory; any legislative functions held by the Governor General, and, on his behalf, by the SWA Administrator, were abrogated (SWA Affairs Amendment Act of 1949).
- In 1951, the South African Governor General (President in 1961) was again given powers to legislate by proclamation on matters withheld from the white Legislative Assembly in Namibia.
- In 1954, by the SWA Native Affairs Administration Act, the Minister for Bantu Administration and Development took control over Native Affairs from the Governor General.
- In 1962-63, a Commission of Inquiry into SWA Affairs, known as the Odendaal Commission, worked out a proposal which was to become the blueprint for South Africa's bantustan policy in Namibia, and was gradually implemented through the Turnhalle Conference, the creation of 'homeland governments' and the current 'second-tier authorities' based on ethnic and tribal divisions created under Odendaal. The bantustan policy was introduced with two major pieces of legislation.
- The SWA Constitution Act of 1968 continued the powers of the South African President to override any ordinance made by the Legislative Assembly of SWA.
- The SWA Affairs Amendment Act of 1969 drastically reduced the powers of the white SWA Legislative Assembly, transferring a number of matters to the South African government, including justice, labour, mining, agriculture, taxation, security, etc. This left the Legislative Assembly with minor powers such as roads, licensing and local authorities.
- The Development of Self-Government for Native Nations Act of 1968 laid the groundwork for the bantustan structures, by providing for the establishment of 'native nations', and the creation of Legislative and Executive Councils in each homeland. These would be given limited powers pertaining to their 'homeland', such as education, welfare, licenses, mining, roads, agriculture etc.
However, any enactment required the South African State President's approval, and he could in all cases amend or repeal new legislation. The homelands policy was implemented in the following years.
- The Bantu Law Amendment Act of 1972 extended the powers of the Legislative Councils further, and the Self-Government for Native Nations of SWA Amendment Act of 1973 provided for the proclamation of 'self-government' for any homeland.
Several 'homelands' went through the prescribed stages; Ovambo for instance became a 'self-governing area' in 1973, after tribal elections had been held under conditions of widespread repression and intimidation, and in the wake of a general strike by Namibian workers in 1971/2.
- The Turnhalle Conference, held in 1975/76 to deflect international protest over the bantustan policies imposed on Namibia, essentially retained all the divisive, ethnically based features of the homeland policies. Delegations attended as members of a 'population group', and those who opposed such division were excluded. The draft constitution eventually produced by the Turnhalle retained many of the features of the Odendaal Plan, many aspects of which were implemented in the late 1970s after South Africa had refused to accept UN-controlled elections in Namibia.
The appointment of an Administrator General to Namibia in 1977, ostensibly to prepare the territory for international elections but in practice to implement an 'internal settlement' was thus merely a continuation of South Africa's policies since the 1920s. Similarly, the creation of a National Assembly in 1978 and a Council of Ministers in 1980 merely carried on South Africa's practice of delegating some functions to a local group while retaining ultimate control. The only difference in that last experiment was the inclusion of black groups, willing to co-operate with Pretoria, in the first tier of government.
The shifting of functions from one body to another should not obscure the fact that, throughout its presence in Namibia, South Africa has retained full control over all political and legislative processes.
