The problem of informing appropriate architectural practice in southern Africa is addressed by proposing to divert analytical attention away from the level of appearances when researching the form of indigenous settlement patterns and architecture. By way of example, an empirical study of the homestead as a unit of settlement pattern in Ovamboland is undertaken by exploring the ways in which the designer/builders themselves perceive and value space with a view to identifying and describing the organizational structure of the homestead. The initial assumption is that this form of settlement, examined as a set of spatial relations, encodes within its organizational structure the formula (or diagram) for its reproduction. The hypothesis is that a relevant understanding of indigenous settlement and architecture can only be grasped if inquiry extends beyond the formal aspects of style and technology to include an analysis of its spatial characteristic; this being the external projection of the socio-economic pattern (or ideology) of the people that produce it. And, such analysis being useful in identifying the formula which, when it interacts with its context, reproduces the observed settlement form. In view of this, a method of study is proposed which attempts to describe and examine settlement space from 'within' by exploring all the physical and non-physical determinants of form. This is done by isolating each determinant as a specification of settlement from and thereby arranging it into a scheme based on the scale of space with which it deals. The conclusions are, firstly, that because the homesteads display similar features of layout and accommodation there must exist a common, agreed-upon diagram which ensures its constant reproduction. Secondly, the evidence for the diagram must lie within the way the designer/builders perceive homestead space. Thirdly, this perception has its roots in historically inherited and functionally derived values and uses of space. Finally, a preliminary diagram is proposed which, it is argued, needs to be verified by undertaking further investigations of a similar nature in other areas of southern Africa where indigenous people occupy space.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis explores the ways in which migrant labour infrastructure and the related operating practices of the South African colonial administration impacted on workers in and from the colonial north-central part of Namibia, formerly known as Ovamboland. This study stretches from the Union of South Africa’s occupation of the region in 1915 up to 1954 when the last Native Commissioner for Ovamboland completed his term of office and a new administrative phase began. Infrastructure refers to the essential facilities that an institution or communities install to use in order to connect or communicate.4 Vigne defines infrastructure as the mode of connections between techniques, practices, social values, cultures, economies and politics.5 This dissertation deals with two types of infrastructures. The first is the colonial infrastructure, which was comprised of tangible facilities such as medical examination procedures, transport, housing, rations, sanitation and postal and remittance services. The second type of infrastructure was an intangible one, based on cultural resources that included domestic rituals performed around contract labour, human infrastructures and practices of hospitality (uukwawo wanankali), all were rooted in the pre-colonial Aawambo beliefs and practices, which passed on through generations even under colonial conditions. The thesis starts with the preparations and arrangements commonly done for a man leaving home for the recruitment centre, when he is away, and when he returns from contract. It also reveals how the ancient Oshiwambo custom siku lyoye siku lyamukweni (a similar proverb is ‘every dog has its day’) was employed by homestead owners as they welcomed strangers into their homes which later included the migrant labour community. The dissertation goes on to examine the entire recruitment process, explaining why and how the recruiting organizatclassified the workers, and explores the implications of the mandatory medical examination. It also articulates what okaholo (the contract) signified to all parties involved in the migrant labour system. The thesis then investigates how workers coped in the new milieu with compound accommodation and communal sanitation systems, unfamiliar climates, as well as different nutrition and diseases. It examines how workers adapted to a new social setting: without family structures and women; with new liabilities to care for their sick colleagues; dealing with death and the impact of workplace mortality on others and families back in the sending area. The thesis also explores the infrastructure in which migrant workers from colonial Ovamboland engaged before they were introduced to the infrastructure of contract labour. It analyses the approaches and arrangements regarding mortality within which institutions were operating and how those strategies were implemented. The final chapter considers why the colonial administration redirected some of its new technologies and facilities such as remittance and postal services to the migrant labour system in order to serve the contract workers and broader community of Ovamboland. It also deliberates on what the contract labour infrastructure meant to such a society, indicating how people made use of the infrastructures as well as the social impact of these new communication networks. I learned that the colonial infrastructure introduced from 1947 of postal and remittance services served people in ways that were not as oppressive as the other features of the existing migrant labour system infrastructure. The colonial administration ensured that these facilities reached and were accessed by beneficiaries in rural areas of Ovamboland, who greatly benefited from the new services. I argue that many Aawambo eventually adopted these colonial means of communicating (letter writing in particular), a mode they employed across many years, even when the contract labour system was over.

Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is a historical investigation of the role of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) regarding social development with special attention to education as an agency of social change. ELCIN is the largest Lutheran church in Namibia, which was born out of the Finnish missionary activities after their arrival in the former Ovamboland in 1870. The Finnish missionaries became the first missionaries to do mission work in Ovamboland. This qualifies them to be regarded as pioneers of social development and of the transformation of society through education among the Ovambo people. ELCIN’s humble beginnings started as a mission field and developed into mission congregations; thereafter as a mission church and finally as independent church in 1954. The study shows that since its inception ELCIN has been committed to serve her members holistically (spiritually and socially). The focus of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the role ELCIN played to bring about development through education. The study therefore attempts to answer questions regarding the role the Finnish missionaries played in education and should be understood within the broader context of the history of ELCIN, for example, what arrangements were made and what developments took place during the indigenization process. Further, the study points out the educational challenges ELCIN encountered during the time of social development through education. In answering these questions, the study demonstrates how ELCIN played a decisive role in social development in Ovamboland, especially by way of education and training. The study refers to both informal (Christian) and formal (general or inclusive secular) education and the role each of these forms of education played in social change. The study also reflects on the engagement between ELCIN and the context resulting from the South African mandate in Namibia (then South West Africa). Finally, it is recommended that, in light of the positive contribution made by ELCIN to the social development of its members and communities by way of education in the past, it should continue this role in an independent Namibia. This could be done by way of intensifying Christian education among its members in order to educate and inspire people to remain faithful to their Christian values. In this way, ELCIN will continue to play a meaningful role in the life of communities and their members. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsingstudie is ‘n historiese ondersoek na die rol van die Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) ten opsigte van sosiale ontwikkeling met spesiale verwysing na opvoeding as ‘n agent vir sosiale verandering. ELCIN is een van die grootste Lutherse kerke in Namibië, wat ontstaan het uit die aktiwiteite van die Finse sendelinge na hulle aankoms in die eertydse Ovamboland in 1870. Die Finse sendelinge was die eerste sendelinge wat sendingwerk in Ovamboland onderneem het. As gevolg hiervan word hulle beskou as pioniers van sosiale ontwikkeling en transformasie in die gemeenskap deur die opvoeding van die mense van Ovamboland. ELCIN het sy nederige ontstaan gehad as ‘n sendingveld en het ontwikkel tot sendinggemeentes; daarna tot ‘n sendingkerk en uiteindelik in 1954 tot ‘n onafhanklike kerk. Die studie dui aan dat ELCIN sedert sy ontstaan toegewyd was aan die taak om sy lede op ‘n holistiese vlak (geestelik en sosiaal) te ontwikkel. Die fokus van hierdie studie is om ‘n bydrae te lewer tot ‘n dieper begrip van die rol wat ELCIN gespeel het ten opsigte van hierdie ontwikkeling. Die studie het dus gepoog om vrae te beantwoord oor die rol wat die Finse sendelinge in opvoeding gespeel het en behoort verstaan te word binne die breër konteks van die geskiendenis van ELCIN. Watter reëlings is getref en watter ontwikkelings het plaasgevind gedurende die inheemswordingsproses? Die studie dui verder op die opvoedkundige uitdagings wat ELCIN gedurende die tyd van sosiale ontwikkeling deur opvoeding ondervind het. Ter beantwoording van hierdie vrae word deur die studie aangedui hoe ELCIN ‘n deurslaggewende rol in die sosiale ontwikkeling van Ovamboland gespeel het, veral deur middel van opvoeding en opleiding. Die studie verwys na beide informele (Christelike) en formele (algemene of inklusiewe) opvoeding en na die rol wat elk van hierdie vorms van opvoeding gespeel het ten opsigte van sosiale verandering. Die studie kyk ook eers na die verhouding tussen ELCIN en die Suid‐Afrikaanse regering gedurende Namibië (die destydse Suidwes‐Afrika) se jare as mandaatgebied en daarna word aanbevelings gemaak. In die lig van die positiewe bydrae wat ELCIN in die verlede gemaak het tot sosiale ontwikkeling, word aanbeveel dat hierdie bydrae in ‘n onafhanklike Namibië voortgesit word. Dit behoort te geskied deur ‘n intensifisering van Christelike onderwys onder lede ten einde die mense op te voed en te inspireer om getrou te bly aan hulle Christelike waardes. Op hierdie wyse sal ELCIN voortgaan om ‘n betekensivolle rol in die lewe van die gemeenskappe en hul lede te speel.

This study explores the relationship between Christianity and autochthonous (indigenous, pre-Christian) worldviews and practices amongst the Aandonga of Owamboland, Northern Namibia. Using participant contributions from a series of Contextual Bible Study (CBS) sessions (with groups of men, women, and children), and supplemented by ethnographic contextualisation, it challenges the oft-contended notion that Christian worldviews and practices have erased the significance of African Traditional Religion for Ndonga (or wider Owambo) communities. The enduring significance of autochthonous worldviews and practices is explored using responses to six biblical texts, each of which relates to at least one of three themes: bodies, spirits, and landscapes. The study examines feasting bodies (The Parable of the Wedding Banquet), bleeding bodies (The Haemorrhaging Woman), and possessed bodies (Legion). It considers possession spirits (Legion), natural spirits (the so-called ‘Nature Miracles’), and ancestor spirits (Resurrection appearances). Perspectives on landscapes are highlighted particularly in relation to aspects of the natural environment (the ‘Nature Miracles’) and the locations explored by an itinerant demoniac (Legion). Responses to the texts engender, inter alia, discussions of contemporary perspectives on diviner-healers (oonganga), witchcraft (uulodhi), the homestead (egumbo), burial grounds (omayendo, oompampa), spirits (iiluli, oompwidhuli), ancestors (aathithi), material agency (for example, apotropaic amulets), and the ‘traditional’ wedding (ohango). Having analysed the ways in which autochthonous worldviews informed participants’ interpretations of the particular texts considered (Matthew 22:1-14 & Luke 14:7-11; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:26-39; Mark 4:35-41 & 6:45-52; Luke 24), each set of interpretations is brought into conversation with professional biblical scholarship. The study therefore highlights the ways in which these grassroots, ‘contextual’ interpretations might nuance New Testament interpretations returned by the Academy, particularly by highlighting the highly contextual nature of the latter.