Paper short abstract:

By qualitatively perusing archival documents coupled with oral sources and literature review we ask: what entailed South-Africa’s counter insurgency campaigns and its impacts along the Kavango population in Namibia and what lessons does it hold on to future population mobilities along boundaries?

Paper long abstract:

We explore South Africa’s counter insurgency campaigns, its socio-economic and political impacts on the civilians along the Kavango River in Namibia. While there is vast knowledge on South-African counter insurgency campaigns generally, there is a paucity of in-depth study on South Africa’s counter insurgency campaigns along the Kavango River. This timely engagement will be a valuable contribution to existing knowledge on counter-insurgency histories, providing a civilian experience and perspective. The paper employs qualitative research methods by perusing various archival documents coupled with oral sources and a review of literature. Centrally, we ask: what entailed South-Africa’s counter insurgency campaigns and its impacts on the population and what lessons does it hold on understanding future population mobility along war frontiers? We discuss South Africa’s belief that the Portuguese could never win a war against the insurgency groups and eventually the fear that a Portuguese defeat could potentially enable one of the insurgents, SWAPO, to infiltrate the Kavango River population and influence them militarily, politically, economically and socially. South Africa also feared that SWAPO fighters would eventually establish their military bases inside Namibia. Against this background, South African colonial authorities supported the Portuguese by engaging in counter insurgency campaigns since 1968 when ‘Tjaisa’ controlled settlements were established until by 1976 when the civil war caused mass civilians to flee from ‘Tjaisa’ settlement into Namibia. South Africa, seemingly as a counter insurgency strategy, allowed ‘Tjaisa’ refugees to be resettled onto the Namibian side of the Kavango, an action they previously avoided.