D.Litt. et Phil. / The international and national historical realities triggered the fragmented white South African business community to unite. These realities also influenced the National Party (NP) government to consider the views of business people with regards to the impact of apartheid politics on the South African economy. South African business people, and especially the Afrikaner business people, exploited the access that they had with Afrikaner political decision makers by influencing them through business organisations such as, the Urban Foundation. The united South African business people took on a leadership position as a result of their increased influence on the political decision-makers. As the leadership group with an inclination towards a non racial democracy, the business community soon found themselves at loggerheads with the NP government. The enlightened Afrikaner business persons refrained from criticising government openly, and supported government’s reform strategies in order to keep debate on reforms alive. The Afrikaner business community shed their ‘passive resistance’ and legitimisation role after the Rubicon speech in August 1985. From thereon, they openly played a role of bridge building by reaching out to anti-apartheid movements and to identify common areas of interest within the society. Towards 1987 enlightened Afrikaner business people were active in the broader South African business community and they were able to mobilize the Consultative Business Movement (CBM) to participate in the dismantling of apartheid. The vision of business was to establish a free market system through broad base consultation. The business community actively supported the democratisation of South African businesses, the redistribution of wealth, the active participation of blacks in a free market economy, as well as the advancement of growth in black communities. The Enlightened Afrikaner business people adopted a social involvement strategy that piloted Black Economic Empowerment transactions, such as Sanlam’s initiative to broaden black equity share ownership. Broad based consultation also cultivated a practical approach to the economy and established a framework for debate that incorporated socialist and capitalist ideas. This compromise strategy was aimed to counter non-viable socialist options regarding redistribution of wealth and the opening up of the economy to previously disadvantaged groups. After 1990, when the NP government accepted that the political landscape must change, the business community embraced a change role, a bridge building role, a facilitator role and a catalyst role to usher in a New South Africa with a bigger middle class and acceptable free market principles as government policy. Accordingly, the enlightened Afrikaner business people actively participated in the negotiation for a political future of South Africa. However, they always remained politically neutral during the actual political negotiation process.

The study compares the biological performance of progenies of the Afrikaner x Western Sanga crossbred (small frame) and the Bonsmara (medium frame) cattle on the following traits: calving and growth rates as well as mortalities. The study was conducted in the Sourish Mixed Bushveld of the North West province. The objective was to identify a lowcare cattle breed, which can withstand unfavourable conditions under which most farmers in the North West Province operate. The results of this study indicated that, under good management, the Bonsmara cattle have higher growth rates compared to the Sanga cattle. There were statistical differences with regards to birth, pre-wean and wean masses, (P< 0.0001). Sanga cattle however were able to maintain higher calving rates under all varying conditions (Bonsmara 77% average and Sanga 84% average). The Sanga, due to its lower nutritional requirements, on average requires 15% less of the surface area required by the Bonsmara. Sanga cattle also returned better yields in terms of kilogram weaned calf per LSU and per hectare. With regard to herd mortalities, there was no significant difference (P = 0.03329).

Magister Artium - MA / Die studie neem - in hoofstuk een - tot probleemstelling dat Karel Schoeman se outsider-karakters nie noodwendig draers van 'n eksistensieel-metafisiesie belewing is nie. Die karakters is nie, soos vry algeneem aanvaar word, te verklaar deur persoonlik-individualistiese karaktertrekke niw. Die outsider-karakter kan teruggevoer word tot die vertrouenskrisis tussen Afrikaner-skrywer en Afrikaner-hegemonie.

Thesis (PhD)-- Stellenbosch University, 1995. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The history of the Oorlam Afrikaners began in the seventeenth century during the disintegration of the Cape Khoikhoi. Through this process a number of independent family groups came into existence. One of these, the Oorlam Afrikaners, had the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. This allowed them, despite their relative small numbers, to develop into a driving force in the history of Namaqua- and Namaland. The first two phases in this development were led by Klaas Afrikaner and his son, Jager Afrikaner. At the time of Jager Afrikaner's death in 1822, his people were living at Blydeverwacht and Jerusalem in southern Namaland. On his deathbed he handed over the leadership of the Oorlam Afrikaners to his second son, Jonker Afrikaner. This gave rise to dissatisfaction which eventually led to a split in the ranks and the moving of Jonker and his followers northwards. Due to Jonker's military skills and the advantages he and his followers had because of their access to firearms and ammunition, they established a reputation for effective warfare. In the thirties this in turn encouraged a Nama tribe, the Red Nation, to ask their help in defeating the Herero when they (the Nama) were driven from their traditional pastures. After driving the Herero back to the area north of the Kuiseb River, Jonker and his followers themselves settled in Central-Namaland, residing at places like Niais, Tsebris and eventually Windhoek. The Oorlam Afrikaners' position of power was vulnerable in one aspect - it was depended on the preservation of their access to firearms and ammunition for its existence and survival. Because of this Jonker initiated contact with the missionaries and traders by means of the English traveller, James Edward Alexander, who visited him in 1837. This in tum set in motion a chain of events which would clearly illustrate the interdependence of the indigenous people, missionaries and traders. Edward Cook and Joseph Tindall of the Wesleyan Mission Society were the first missionaries to visit the northern Oorlam Afrikaners. Their claim on Jonker, however, was not acknowledged by the Rhenish missionaries, Heinrich Kleinschmidt and Carl Hugo Hahn, who settled in Windhoek with Jonker's permission. Here an exceptional relationship developed between Jonker and Kleinschmidt. Jonker's wish to reunite the Oorlam Afrikaners and the unwillingness of the Wesleyan missionaries of the southern Afrikaners to work together with the Rhenish missionaries, eventually forced Kleinschmidt and Hahn to leave Windhoek. Meanwhile traders had arrived in the country. They supplied firearms, ammunition, brandy and other commodities to Jonker and his people on credit. By 1846 the indigenous people were so deeply in debt that they saw no other option than to start raiding the Herero in order to pay what they owed. Thus a period of violence and clashes across cultural borders and even within tribes began. Tension between Jonker and one of his Herero allies, Kahitjene, for example led to an attack on Kahitjene and the destruction of the mission station at Okahandja by Jonker in August 1850. A further escalation in violence was temporarily prevented by the arrival of the English traveller, Francis Galton. He threatened Jonker with British reprisals. After his departure growing resistance of indigenous leaders against Jonker erupted in an attack on Windhoek in May 1854. Again tension in the country was suppressed by external factors, this time the arrival of the copper miners. They promoted peace because the continuation of their work was impossible without it. Through their mediation the Matchlessmine Peace was concluded in November 1855. At the same time the way in which they played off the indigenous groups against each other, forced these leaders to form a collective forum against the mining community. This was done in the Treaty of Hoachanas, concluded in 1858. In 1858, after moving around and residing at Grootwarmfontein and Okapuka, Jonker and his people moved to Okahandja. With Okahandja as base, he became involved in Ovambo politics. Two years later, when the outbreak of lungsickness made the obtaining of cattle in the interior impossible, his previous contact gave him the opportunity to raid the Ovambo. He returned an ill man and died on 16 August 1861 in Okahandja. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Christiaan Afrikaner. After his death it became clear that the Oorlam Afrikaners owed the attaining of their position of power to the leadership abilities of Jonker Afrikaner. Through a combination of diplomacy and a display of power, and the way in which he manipulated people and group relations, he succeeded in setting the pace for events in the whole region between the Orange and Kunene Rivers. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die geskiedenis van die Afrikaner-Oorlams begin tydens die disintegrasie van die Kaapse Khoikhoi in die sewentiende eeu. Deur die loop van hierdie proses het verskeie onafhanklike familiegroepe, soos die Afrikaner-Oorlams, tot stand gekom. Hoewel aanvanklik klein en onbeduidend, het hulle vermoe om hulle by veranderende omstandighede aan te pas, mettertyd gelei tot die ontwikkeling van die Afrikaner-Oorlam-familiegroep as 'n magsfaktor in die geskiedenis van Namakwa- en Namaland. Die eerste twee fases van hierdie ontwikkeling het plaasgevind o.l.v. Klaas Afrikaner, en toe sy seun Jager. Toe Jager Afrikaner in 1822 oorlede is, het hy die leisels aan sy tweede oudste seun, Jonker Afrikaner, oorhandig. Op hierdie stadium het die Afrikaner- Oorlams in suidelike Namaland, by Blydeverwacht en Jerusalem, gewoon. Jager se optrede het tot 'n skeuring in Afrikaner-geledere gelei. Jonker Afrikaner se volgelinge het, danksy sy krygsvernuf en die voorsprong wat hulle toegang tot wapens en ammunisie hulle gegee het, 'n reputasie vir effektiewe oorlogvoering opgebou. Dit het 'n Nama-groep, die Rooinasie, aangespoor om hulle om hulp te vra toe hulle in die dertiger jare deur die Herero uit hulle tradisionele weivelde verdring is. Jonker-hulIe het die Herero teruggedryf tot anderkant die Kuisebrivier en hulle toe self in sentraal-Namaland gevestig, onder meer by Niais, Tsebris en uiteindelik by Windhoek. Jonker-hulle se nuwe magsposisie was kwesbaar in die opsig dat die daarstelling en voortbestaan daarvan afhanklik was van die behoud van hulle toegang tot vuurwapens en ammunisie. Daarom het Jonker in 1837, d.m.v. die Engelse reisiger James Edward Alexander, kontak met sendelinge en handelaars geYnisieer. Dit het aanleiding gegee tot 'n reeks gebeure wat die ineengestrengeldheid van die lotgevalle van die inheemse inwoner, sendeling en handelaar sterk na yore gebring het. Die eerste sendelinge wat die noordelike Afrikaner-Oorlams besoek het, was eerwaardes Edward Cook en Joseph Tindall van die Wesleyaanse Sendinggenootskap. Die Rynse sendelinge, Heinrich Kleinschmidt en Carl Hugo Hahn, het die Wesleyane se aanspraak op Jonker egter nie erken nie en hulle, met Jonker se toestemming, op Windhoek gevestig. Hier het mettertyd 'n besondere vertrouensverhouding tussen Jonker en Kleinschmidt ontwikkel. Jonker se begeerte om die onderskeie Afrikaner-Oorlam-groepe te herenig en die suidelike Afrikaners se sendelinge, die Wesleyane. se onwilligheid om met die RSG saam te werk, het Kleinschmidt-hulle egter uiteindelik gedwing om Windhoek te verlaat. Ondertussen het handelaars in die land aangekom wat ammunisie, vuurwapens, brandewyn en ander handelsartikels op krediet aan Jonker en sy mense verskaf het. Teen 1846 was die inheemse bevolking so diep in die skuld dat hulle geen ander uitweg gesien het as om die Herero te begin beroof om hulle skuld te delg nie. Hierdie optrede het 'n tydperk van geweld en botsings oor kultuurgrense heen en selfs binne stamverband ingelei. Spanning tussen Jonker en een van sy Herero-bondgenote Kahitjene, het byvoorbeeld gelei tot 'n aanval op laasgenoemde en die vernietiging van die sendingstasie Okahandja, in Augustus 1850. 'n Verdere eskalasie in geweld is tydelik verhinder deur die aankoms van die Engelse reisiger Francis Galton, wat Jonker gedreig het met Britse militere optrede. Na sy vertrek het opbouende verset teen Jonker onder inheemse leiers in Mei 1854 tot uitbarsting gekom in 'n aanval op Windhoek. Weer eens is die spanning in die land onderdruk deur eksterne faktore, die keer die aankoms van koperdelwers. Hulle het vrede aangemoedig omdat die voortsetting van hulle werksaamhede daarsonder onmoontlik was. Deur hulle bemiddeling is die Matchless-myn Vrede in November 1855 gesluit. Terselfdertyd het die wyse waarop hulle die verskillende inheemse groepe teen mekaar afgespeel het, inheemse leiers genoodsaak om die Traktaat van Hoachanas in 1858 te sluit, 'n verdrag wat aan hulle 'n gemeenskaplike forum teen die mynmaatskappye sou verskaf. Nadat Jonker en sy volgelinge onder meer op Grootwarmfontein en Okapuka gewoon het, het hulle in 1858 na Okahandja verhuis. Hiervandaan het Jonker betrokke geraak in die Ovambo-politiek. Dit het hom twee jaar later, toe longsiekte die verkryging van vee in die binneland onmoontlik gemaak het, die geleentheid gebied om die Ovambo te gaan beroof. Jonker het siek van hierdie roof tog af teruggekeer en op 16 Augustus 1861 op Okahandja gesterf. Hy is opgevolg deur sy oudste seun, Christiaan Afrikaner. Na sy dood het dit duidelik geword dat die Afrikaner-Oorlams hulle magsposisie hoofsaaklik aan Jonker se leierskap te danke gehad het. Deur'n kombinasie van magsvertoon en diplomasie en die manier waarop hy mense- en groepsverhoudinge gemanipuleer het, het hy vir bykans veertig jaar die pas aangegee vir gebeure in feitlik die hele landstreek tussen die Oranje- en Kuneneriviere.

Zugl.: Hamburg, Universiẗat, Diss., 2008.

Afrikaans television has experienced numerous transitions since the introduction of television in South Africa in 1976. An interesting trend in Afrikaans television since 2007 involves the rebroadcast of programmes, by the SABC and kykNET, which were originally produced 10 or even 20 years ago. These broadcasters do not only rebroadcast their own Afrikaans material, they also rebroadcast each other’s material. Consequently, for the last several years, Afrikaans television programmes have been diverse in terms of source (SABC or kykNET) and original context (time of production and first broadcast). Against this background certain questions arose regarding the comparability of these different Afrikaans programmes and how each programme constructs Afrikaans identity in a certain way that is relative to its original context of production. This comparative study explored the construction of Afrikaans identity in three Afrikaans television dramas each originating from a different context of production. The sample consisted of Ballade vir ’n Enkeling (BE) (SABC: 1987; rebroadcast on SABC 2: 2007), Wenners (SABC: 1992/1993; rebroadcast on kykNET: 2009) and Song vir Katryn (Song) (kykNET: 2003; rebroadcast on SABC 2: 2008). This study is situated within the context of cultural studies and a qualitative visual textual analysis was conducted, using narrative and semiotic analysis methods to unpack the meanings communicated by the selected visual texts. Relevant themes, including language, gender, class and values, were identified and examined. It was found that language-wise, these programmes reveal a major shift from the 1980s and early 1990s (on the SABC) to the 2000s (on kykNET) regarding the use of the Afrikaans language. BE and Wenners show standardised Afrikaans as the norm, while in Song nonstandardised Afrikaans takes the dominant position. In terms of gender the texts from the 1980s and 1990s endorse traditional gender roles and heterosexual relationships as part of Afrikaans identity. The text from the 2000s, conversely, depicts both traditional and modern conceptualisations of gender and acknowledges both heterosexual and homosexual relationships. Class did not surface as a significant theme in BE or Wenners, but in Song this theme highlights the class awareness of a conservative Afrikaans community. Song constructs an Afrikaans identity that challenges Afrikaner conservatism. Each programme’s values themes highlighted a particular focus. BE explores the complex relationship between the individual and the group within the 1980s. Wenners emphasises a conservative approach to Afrikaans identity that favours order, authoritative structure and good behaviour. In contrast, Song tackles the controversial issues of substance and sexual abuse, and presents an Afrikaans identity that is willing to deal with these taboo topics in an openminded way. Finally, it was found that although all three texts are critical of the traditional nuclear family construct, they still maintain that even when contested, family remains a key part of Afrikaans identity. In comparing these texts, similarities and differences were identified, but the findings show a noticeable transmutation, from the 1980s to the 1990s and finally the 2000s, in the conceptualisation and representation of Afrikaans identity. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Afrikaans / MA / Unrestricted

Thesis (MMus (Music))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Current musicological discourses in South Africa seldom engage with Afrikaans content and contributions, even though there is an acknowledged large body of writing on music in Afrikaans. These writings could significantly inform music and general historiographies in South Africa. This study discusses music-related articles in the following Afrikaans magazines and newspapers of the early twentieth century: Die Brandwag (1910-1921), Die Burger (1915-1948), Die Huisgenoot (1916-1948), Die Nuwe Brandwag (1929-1933), Die Brandwag (1937-1948) and Die Transvaler (1937-1948). The subject matter of a large proportion of these music-related articles comprises the history of Western European music. This includes biographies of composers and histories of stylistic periods, genres and instruments. Despite the physical distance between Europe and Africa, Afrikaners‘ attraction to Europe borders at times on a feeling of belonging to this tradition. This cosmopolitan notion of belonging has received little attention compared to themes of race, language and nationalism in twentieth-century South African historiography. A neglected Afrikaans discourse on music, however, presents an opportunity to explore the possibilities of cosmopolitanism in a further interpretation of Afrikaner identity and understanding of South African history. It is for this reason that the current study is primarily concerned with tracing the role of musical discourse in Afrikaner society between 1910 and 1948 by investigating notions of cosmopolitanism. The two theoretical strands of cosmopolitanism that will guide this study concern the work of Friedrich Meinecke (an early twentieth-century German scholar), and Kwame Anthony Appiah (who is still active in the field of philosophy). Meinecke‘s work is mainly concerned with the role cosmopolitan values played in the development of the National State, with specific reference to Germany from the late eighteenth century to the late nineteenth century. What attracts Appiah to cosmopolitanism is the freedom it provides for the individual to create her own identity. To be a citizen of the world need not be a rootless existence, but allows anyone to be a patriot of the country of her own choice. Meinecke‘s and Appiah‘s theories of cosmopolitanism, and their different positioning of the intersecting points between the spheres of the individual, the nation and the globe, will provide two theoretical frameworks informing the present author‘s attempt to interpret some of the materials collated for this study. The present writer believes that cosmopolitanism will prove an appropriate theory to uncover some elements of Afrikaner identity that has hitherto been ignored. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ten spyte van die omvang van Afrikaanse tekste oor musiek is daar in die hedendaagse tyd min musiekwetenskaplike diskoerse in Suid-Afrika wat bemoeienis maak met inhoude en bydraes wat in Afrikaans gemaak is. Hierdie Afrikaanse tekste besit die potensiaal om nie net musiekhistoriografie nie, maar ook algemene historiografie in Suid-Afrika meer geskakeerd in te klee. Die studie handel oor die musiekartikels in die volgende Afrikaanse tydskrifte en dagblaaie van die vroeg twintigste eeu: Die Brandwag (1910-1921), Die Burger (1915-1948), Die Huisgenoot (1916-1948), Die Nuwe Brandwag (1929-1933), Die Brandwag (1937-1948) en Die Transvaler (1937-1948) 'n Groot gedeelte van hierdie musiekverwante artikels bespreek onderwerpe uit die geskiedenis van Wes-Europese kunsmusiek. Dit sluit onder meer in komponis-biografieë, sowel as geskiedenisse van stilistiese periodes, genres en instrumente. Die Afrikaner se belangstelling in Europa grens soms aan =n gevoel van Europese solidariteit, ten spyte van die fisieke afstand tussen Europa en Afrika. Hierdie kosmopolitiese denkwyse verdwyn dikwels op die agtergrond ten gunste van ander temas soos ras, taal en nasionalisme in twintigste eeuse Suid-Afrikaanse musiekhistoriografie. 'n Verwaarloosde Afrikaanse diskoers oor musiek bied 'n geleentheid om moontlikhede van kosmopolitisme te ondersoek in 'n verdere interpretasie van Afrikaner identiteit en Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis. Dit is om hierdie rede dat die huidige studie idees van kosmopolitisme wil ondersoek ten einde die rol van die musiekdiskoers in die Afrikaner gemeenskap tussen 1910 en 1948 te bepaal. Die huidige studie steun op twee teoretiese modelle van kosmopolitisme soos afgelei uit die werk van Friedriech Meinecke ('n Duitse geskiedkundige van die vroeg twintigste eeu) en Kwame Anthony Appiah (hedendaagse filosoof). Meinecke se werk fokus hoofsaaklik op die rol wat kosmopolitiese waardes gespeel het in die ontwikkeling van die nasie-staat, met spesifieke verwysing na Duitsland van die laat agtiende eeu tot die laat negentiende eeu. Wat Appiah aantrek tot die idee van kosmopolitisme is die vryheid wat dit aan die individu bied om haar eie identiteit te skep. Om 'n wêreldburger te wees dui nie noodwendig op 'n ongewortelde bestaan nie, maar laat enigeen toe om 'n patrioot te wees in die land van haar keuse. Meinecke en Appiah se teorieë van kosmopolitisme, hul onderskeie posisionerings van die individu, die nasie en die wêreld en die snypunte tussen hierdie sfere, bied twee teoretiese raamwerke vir die huidige skrywer se interpretasies van die materiaal wat vir hierdie studie versamel is. Die argument word gemaak dat kosmopolitisme 'n gepasde teorie bied om voorheen geïgnoreerde elemente van Afrikaner identiteit te ontbloot.

In 1991 a private town for Afrikaners was established on the bank of the Orange River, in the semi-desert of South Africa’s Northern Cape Province. As a deliberately Afrikaans, and thus white, community, the town’s aims and existence are controversial, but both its principles and practicalities are not unique. Endeavouring to build an Afrikaner homeland in multiracial South Africa seems incongruous, signalling a retreat from social heterogeneity as a fact of the contemporary world. It raises questions about what people do following a social, political and economic paradigm shift, and about what is occurring within a country with multiple and contradictory accounts of history and a traumatic recent past. It also means resisting the pressure to deal with the past, and therefore the present, in a certain way. Consequently, the frequent question of whether or not the town as an enterprise, or its residents, are racist, reveals instead a complex ordering of society. Life in Orania is filled with ordinary everyday activities of earning a living, raising and educating children, socialising, and practising religion in a town where Christian principles are explicit, each combining elements of intentionality and contingency. Once superficial similarity between residents can be taken for granted, the focus shifts to the differences between them, which rise and fall in importance, highlighting the circumstantial nature of group solidarity. This raises the question of what the differences within the community are, how deeply they reach, and where fundamental commonalities lie that prompt them to choose to build a future together. For the few hundred people involved in the enterprise, Orania is the only way they think they will have a recognisable future: they fear the demise of Afrikaners as an ethnic group through cultural assimilation or dispersal, emigration, and population decline. Their position of victimhood and vulnerability, shaped by the past, shapes their present actions in turn. Afrikaners’ interpretation of themselves as victims is easily supported by the popular historical narrative that Afrikaners have always struggled against outside authorities to be self-determining. This ethnographic study reveals that Orania is a concrete response to the fear that there may not be a place for Afrikaners in South Africa’s future, in the country to which they feel they belong and where their identity is rooted.

In the years approaching President F.W. De Klerk’s announcement in 1990 that South Africa’s policies would be reformed a number of the right wing groups realised that apartheid would come to an end. This dissertation deals with one response, by the Boere-Vryheidsbeweging (Boer Freedom Movement). By setting up a settlement styled as a ‘growth point for Afrikaner self-determination’ in Pretoria’s eastern hinterland, in 1992, the movement hoped to avert what its numbers saw as eventual black majority rule. The aim of this study is to probe what has become of this settlement roughly 20 years after the transition to full democracy in 1994. The following questions were used as a guideline to this end: (i) On what legal basis has the settlement’s property been occupied?; (ii) Who are the people who moved to the settlement over time?; (iii) How have they generated the capital with which to develop the settlement?; (iv) What is the character of their relationship with each other?; and (v) How have they dealt with external authorities such as the state, province and local municipality? The findings of this study show that the settlement of Kleinfontein has been kept as a set of undivided properties and that none of the residents have individual title. They occupy the settlement by internal agreement alone, and there is no acknowledgement by either the state or private institutions of the internal divisions that have been made. Over time, the founders of the settlement managed to attract two categories of people to live there. The first comprised relatively old lower middle-class people who moved in because of the settlement’s affordability and peacefulness. The second consisted of working age middle-class people with professional jobs who moved in for reasons to do with the ideology of Afrikaner self-determination. As the movement of the second category of people into the settlement accelerated, internal disagreements developed between them and the first category of people, and the settlement as a whole eventually became so paralysed by the conflict that few people have chosen to move there since. The disagreements mainly revolved around the fact that the professionals wanted to transform the settlement so that it meets the middle-class standards found in major South African cities. The lack of consensus eventually resulted in several conflicts with the state, placing a question mark over the settlement’s continued existence in post-apartheid South Africa. / Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Anthropology and Archaeology / MSocSci / Unrestricted

Genetic and phenotypic characterisation is essential for the conservation and utilisation of farm animal genetic resources, especially indigenous types that are often disregarded due to lower production potential compared to commercial breeds. In this study a genetic characterisation was performed on 144 Namaqua Afrikaner sheep kept at the Karakul Experimental Station (KES) and Carnarvon Experimental Station (CES) and a private farm Welgeluk (WGK) using 22 ISAG recommended microsatellite markers. Results of this study showed that the mean number of alleles were low (3.6 for KES to 4.2 for WGK) for the loci tested. Heterozygosity values across loci ranged between 46% for WGK, 48% for KES and 55% for CES, indicating low to moderate genetic variation within the different populations. The AMOVA analyses revealed that 89.5% of the genetic variation in the breed was due to the differences within populations and 10.5% due to differences between populations. The genetic distance estimates revealed a close relationship between the CES and WGK populations. The population structure confirmed the differentiation of three clusters with relationships between the CES and WGK populations. Phenotypic characterisation of the breed was limited to the Carnarvon flock, where production and morphological data were recorded. Morphological measurements indicated an average body length of 71.2 cm and 68.7 cm for rams and ewes respectively. Over 60% of the sheep had their tail twisted to the left. The molecular data provided by this study will serve as a reference for genetic management and breeding strategies of the indigenous Namaqua Afrikaner sheep. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc(Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Animal and Wildlife Sciences / unrestricted