Owambo (1971)

Description

Published when South Africa's attempt to promote "Owambo" as its showpiece Namibian "homeland" was in full swing, this glossy propaganda tract, more than half of which consists of a lavishly produced photographic appendix, had no sooner appeared than the illusion of the "bantustan without tears" was shattered by the 1971-2 contract workers' strike and the associated peasant rebellion in Ovamboland itself. The book is nonetheless a serious attempt to bolster the South African case. The photo collection is superbly executed and wide-ranging, containing, for example, informative views of the terrain of peasant farming, the physical infrastructure, and the few local factories. In the text, unpublished official data, much of it economic, is deployed in the effort to boost the image of South African "development". Subjected to proper critical review, such data may be used to complement the earlier SWA Survey 1967 and the later and in some respects less informative Stellenbosch study. (Eriksen/Moorsom 1989)

Year

1971

Publisher

Department of Foreign Affairs of The Republic of South Africa

Pages

37

Condition

Hardcover, water damage, age yellowing, good condition.