Open the interactive dossier on Road to Uhuru →
Namibia
A German protectorate from 1884 and South African-ruled from 1915, first under a League of Nations mandate; SWAPO's armed struggle and international pressure led to the UN-supervised elections of Resolution 435, ending South Africa's illegal occupation.
- Independence
- March 21, 1990
- Before
- South West Africa
- Metropole
- Germany / South Africa
- Leader
- Sam Nujoma
- Transition
- UN Plebiscite
- Movement
- South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO)
“As of today, we are masters of this vast land of our ancestors. The destiny of this country is now fully in our own hands.”
— Sam Nujoma, March 21, 1990
German Rule and Genocide
Germany declared a protectorate over South West Africa in 1884. When the Herero rose in 1904 and the Nama followed, German forces under General Lothar von Trotha waged a campaign of extermination; by 1908 up to 80 percent of the Herero and around half of the Nama had died in the desert or in concentration camps. It is widely described as the first genocide of the twentieth century.
South African Mandate and Apartheid
South African forces occupied the territory in 1915, and in 1920 it became a League of Nations mandate administered by Pretoria, which later extended apartheid and homeland policies to it. SWAPO was founded in 1960. The UN General Assembly terminated the mandate in October 1966, and in 1971 the International Court of Justice advised that South Africa's continued presence was illegal.
From Omugulugwombashe to UN Elections
SWAPO's armed wing fought its first engagement at Omugulugwombashe on 26 August 1966, operating later from Zambia and Angola. UN Security Council Resolution 435 of 1978 set out a plan for elections but was stalled for a decade. After the 1987–88 fighting around Cuito Cuanavale, the New York Accords of December 1988 linked Cuban withdrawal from Angola to Namibian independence, and SWAPO won the UN-supervised election of November 1989.
Chronology
- August 1884 — Germany declares a protectorate over the Lüderitz territory, the start of German South West Africa
- 1904–1908 — Herero and Nama genocide
- July 9, 1915 — German forces surrender to South African troops; South African military rule begins
- April 19, 1960 — SWAPO founded
- August 26, 1966 — SWAPO armed struggle begins at Omugulugwombashe
- June 21, 1971 — ICJ advisory opinion declares South Africa's presence illegal
- September 29, 1978 — UN Security Council Resolution 435
- December 22, 1988 — New York Accords signed
- November 1989 — UN-supervised Constituent Assembly election
- March 21, 1990 — Independence
Aftermath
Sam Nujoma became the first president and served until 2005. South Africa transferred Walvis Bay to Namibia in 1994. In 2021 Germany acknowledged that the colonial-era killings were, in today's terms, genocide, and offered development funding, although Herero and Nama representatives criticised the agreement.
Legacy
Namibia's independence, won through armed struggle and international diplomacy, removed South Africa's last external territory and preceded the end of apartheid itself. Its constitution has underpinned a stable multi-party democracy, though inequality inherited from colonial land dispossession remains among the highest in the world.