This study is about foreign policy-making in Namibia from independence, 1990 to 2008, which is based on Liberalism as an approach to the study of International Relations. Namibia’s foreign policy has three main themes, namely the promotion of world peace, economic diplomacy and South-South cooperation. The domestic actors of Namibia’s foreign policy are the President, Minister of Foreign Affairs and other Government Ministries. Former President Nujoma is pragmatic and persuasive, while President Pohamba maintains a reserved approach. Other domestic actors such as the Parliament, opposition parties and civil society organisations have not been effective in influencing Namibia’s foreign policy-making. Although Namibia is a small state her foreign policy is successful contrary to the traditional perspectives of small states’ foreign policies. Namibia has played an active role in regional and international organisations and maintained a wider scope of foreign policy. Namibia has 24 diplomatic Missions in Africa, Asia, Europe and America. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International politics)

Mandume has fought two colonial powers, Portugal and British-South Africa from the time he became king in 1911 to 1917. This thesis looked at the different ways in which Manume is remembered in Namibia and Angola after these countries had gained their independence from colonialism. His bravery in fighting the colonizers has awarded him hero status and he is considered a nationalist hero in both Namibia and Angola. However, he is memorialized differently in Namibia and Angola. The process of remembering Mandume in different ways is related to where his body and head are buried respectively. This is because there is a belief that his body was beheaded, and his head was buried in Windhoek while the rest of his body is buried in Angola. The monument that is alleged to host his head is claimed to belong to him to this day. However, this monument was erected for the fallen South African troops who died fighting him. The author argued that this belief was in response to the need to reclaim a monumental space to commemorate Mandume in the capital city.

Mandume has fought two colonial powers, Portugal and British-South Africa from the time he became king in 1911 to 1917. This thesis looked at the different ways in which Manume is remembered in Namibia and Angola after these countries had gained their independence from colonialism. His bravery in fighting the colonizers has awarded him hero status and he is considered a nationalist hero in both Namibia and Angola. However, he is memorialized differently in Namibia and Angola. The process of remembering Mandume in different ways is related to where his body and head are buried respectively. This is because there is a belief that his body was beheaded, and his head was buried in Windhoek while the rest of his body is buried in Angola. The monument that is alleged to host his head is claimed to belong to him to this day. However, this monument was erected for the fallen South African troops who died fighting him. The author argued that this belief was in response to the need to reclaim a monumental space to commemorate Mandume in the capital city.

This study is about foreign policy-making in Namibia from independence, 1990 to 2008, which is based on Liberalism as an approach to the study of International Relations. Namibia’s foreign policy has three main themes, namely the promotion of world peace, economic diplomacy and South-South cooperation. The domestic actors of Namibia’s foreign policy are the President, Minister of Foreign Affairs and other Government Ministries. Former President Nujoma is pragmatic and persuasive, while President Pohamba maintains a reserved approach. Other domestic actors such as the Parliament, opposition parties and civil society organisations have not been effective in influencing Namibia’s foreign policy-making. Although Namibia is a small state her foreign policy is successful contrary to the traditional perspectives of small states’ foreign policies. Namibia has played an active role in regional and international organisations and maintained a wider scope of foreign policy. Namibia has 24 diplomatic Missions in Africa, Asia, Europe and America. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International politics)

M.A. (History) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The study can be typified as "a probing case study in comparing the policies of the most prominent political groupings (AKTUR, DTA, NNF and SWAPO-N) regarding a new society for South West Africa/Namibia". The paper consists of four chapters, namely a Theoretical Perspective, in order to orientate the readers regarding the specific problematics dealt with in the paper; a Relevant Historical Perspective, since the present political dispensation in South West Africa/Namibia is characterised by "dissension” that must be seen against the background of eight variables which worked in cumulatively on the territory over a period of a century; the Comparative Analysis of Specific Aspects of Policy, in which the degree of similarity and difference among specific policy trends of the four most prominent political groupings is examined; and an Evaluation, which is a synthetical summary of the preceding analysis especially in Chapter 111. / Political Sciences / M.A. (Internasionale Politiek)

This dissertation studies the First World War South African campaign in German South West Africa from 1914 until 1915. The campaign was characterised by the high mobility of the Union’s mounted soldiers which enabled swift advances and rapid envelopments. The German forces applied a defensive strategy relying on the lack of water and remoteness of the terrain to deter and prolong the Union’s invasion. The German force also relied on internal lines of communication to concentrate its forces on the Union’s advancing columns. The Union Defence Forces’s numbered approximately 50 000 compared to the German force of about 7 000. The campaign culminated on 9 July 1915 with the surrender of almost the entire German fighting force intact. This study analyses whether the victory can be attributed to the Union Defence Forces’s numerical superiority or the operational strategy and tactics which were applied during the campaign. It is argued that this operational strategy is congruent with the modern theory of manoeuvre warfare and that the campaign is therefore a textbook example of manoeuvre warfare theory / History / M.A. (History)

The study can be typified as "a probing case study in comparing the policies of the most prominent political groupings (AKTUR, DTA, NNF and SWAPO-N) regarding a new society for South West Africa/Namibia". The paper consists of four chapters, namely a Theoretical Perspective, in order to orientate the readers regarding the specific problematics dealt with in the paper; a Relevant Historical Perspective, since the present political dispensation in South West Africa/Namibia is characterised by "dissension” that must be seen against the background of eight variables which worked in cumulatively on the territory over a period of a century; the Comparative Analysis of Specific Aspects of Policy, in which the degree of similarity and difference among specific policy trends of the four most prominent political groupings is examined; and an Evaluation, which is a synthetical summary of the preceding analysis especially in Chapter 111. / Political Sciences / M.A. (Internasionale Politiek)

This dissertation studies the First World War South African campaign in German South West Africa from 1914 until 1915. The campaign was characterised by the high mobility of the Union’s mounted soldiers which enabled swift advances and rapid envelopments. The German forces applied a defensive strategy relying on the lack of water and remoteness of the terrain to deter and prolong the Union’s invasion. The German force also relied on internal lines of communication to concentrate its forces on the Union’s advancing columns. The Union Defence Forces’s numbered approximately 50 000 compared to the German force of about 7 000. The campaign culminated on 9 July 1915 with the surrender of almost the entire German fighting force intact. This study analyses whether the victory can be attributed to the Union Defence Forces’s numerical superiority or the operational strategy and tactics which were applied during the campaign. It is argued that this operational strategy is congruent with the modern theory of manoeuvre warfare and that the campaign is therefore a textbook example of manoeuvre warfare theory / History / M.A. (History)

The thesis deals with the theoretic concept of Contextual Pedagogy and its application in the context of a disempowered and marginalized society, the Ju/'hoansi ("Bushmen") of Nyae Nyae in North Eastern Namibia. Contextual Pedagogy derives from the notion of Contextual Theology and is thus initially based on a pedagogical analysis of the KAI ROS-Document, whereby its sociopolitical content and its inherent methodology are being transferred into a context of pedagogy. Referring to theoretical concepts of Critical Theory and Liberation Pedagogy, Conditional Fields are being identified in a first analysis which determine and explain the pedagogical situation in a colonial context of Apartheid South Africa. During a three-year qualitative field research, central aspects of Contextual Pedagogy are being applied within the framework of the development of a post-colonial and community-based school programme in Nyae Nyae, the Village Schools Project. This school programme comprises a curriculum for a teacher training course as well as a curriculum for Grade 1-3 learners in five selected villages of Nyae Nyae, and is based on the dynamic processes between the communities, the Student Teachers and the author as their Teacher Trainer and Village Schools Co-ordinator. A further theoretical evaluation and reflexion of the field research gives rise to a pedagogical superstructure of Contextual Pedagogy, which also investigates the notions of power, empowerment and over-empowerment within a context of development work. By doing so, the previous Conditional Fields of pedagogic work within a theoretical framework of Contextual Pedagogy become extended in relevance for a pedagogical context of a post-colonial society with special reference to marginalized subjects. In conclusion, the finalization of the research project and its subsequent handing-over process to the Namibian government analyzes the paralyzing effects of an excessive bureaucracy, and the resurgence of conservative and colonial thought in the young and fragile democracy of Namibia. / Educational Studies / D.Ed.(Didactics)