MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES THE...

MOBILE NAMIBIA:
MIGRATION TRENDS


AND ATTITUDES


THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN MIGRATION PROJECT


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27




MOBILE NAMIBIA:
MIGRATION TRENDS


AND ATTITUDES


BRUCE FRAYNE AND WADE PENDLETON


SERIES EDITOR:
PROF. JONATHAN CRUSH


SOUTHERN AFRICAN MIGRATION PROJECT
2002




Published by Idasa, 6 Spin Street, Church Square, Cape Town, 8001, and Queens
University, Canada.


Copyright Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) 2002
ISBN 1-919798-44-7


First published 2002
Design by Bronwen Dachs Müller
Typeset in Goudy


All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, without prior permission from the publishers.
Bound and printed by Creda Communications, Cape Town




CONTENTS PAGE


CHAPTER ONE: MIGRATION IN NAMIBIA: AN OVERVIEW 1


1.1 INTRODUCTION 1


1.2 HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF MIGRATION 2


1.3 DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF NAMIBIA 6


1.4 INTERNAL MIGRATION AND URBANISATION 7


1.5 CROSS-BORDER MIGRATION 13


1.6 POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 18


CHAPTER TWO: NAMIBIAN MIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA 20


2.1 INTRODUCTION 20


2.2 NAMIBIAN MIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA 20


2.3 FUTURE MIGRATION TRENDS FROM NAMIBIA 27


2.4 CONCLUSIONS 29


CHAPTER THREE:
NAMIBIAN ATTITUDES TO IMMIGRATION, IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES 31


3.1 INTRODUCTION 31


3.2 METHODOLOGY 31


3.3 DEMOGRAPHIC AND ECONOMIC PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS 32


3.4 ATTITUDES TO CONDITIONS IN NAMIBIA 34


3.5 ATTITUDES TO MIGRANTS IN NAMIBIA 38


3.6 IMMIGRATION POLICY ATTITUDES 44


3.7 REFUGEE POLICY ATTITUDES 45


3.8 RIGHTS OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES 45


CONCLUSION 48


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 50


APPENDIX: SAMPLING METHODOLOGY 51




ENDNOTES 53


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES 56


LIST OF TABLES PAGE


TABLE 1.1: POPULATION OF NAMIBIA, 1991-1996 6


TABLE 1. 2: AGE AND SEX PROFILE OF NAMIBIAN POPULATION, 1996 6


TABLE 1.3: MAIN LIFETIME MIGRATION PATTERNS BETWEEN 11
CENSUS DISTRICTS, 1991


TABLE 1.4: MAIN LIFETIME MIGRATION PATTERNS BETWEEN URBAN 12
AND RURAL AREAS, 1998


TABLE 1.5: LEGAL CROSS-BORDER ARRIVALS, 1997 13


TABLE 1.6: TOURIST ARRIVAL INFORMATION, 1997 14


TABLE 1.7: REFUGEE ARRIVALS IN NAMIBIA, 1997-1998 16


TABLE 1.8: LEGAL CROSS-BORDER DEPARTURES, 1997 16


TABLE 1.9: LEGAL ENTRIES FROM NAMIBIA TO SOUTH AFRICA, 1991-1996 17


TABLE 2.1: PROFILE OF VISITORS TO SOUTH AFRICA 21


TABLE 2.2: LENGTH AND FREQUENCY OF VISITS TO SOUTH AFRICA 23


TABLE 2.3: PURPOSE OF LAST VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA 24


TABLE 2.4: METHOD OF TRAVEL TO SOUTH AFRICA 25


TABLE 2.5: FACTORS IN THE MIGRATION DECISION-MAKING PROCESS 26


TABLE 2.6: PERCEIVED IMPACTS OF MIGRATION ON 28
PERSON/FAMILY/COMMUNITY/COUNTRY


TABLE 2.7: DESIRE AND LIKELIHOOD OF MOVING TO SOUTH AFRICA 29


TABLE 2.8: DESIRE TO STAY IN SOUTH AFRICA PERMANENTLY 30


TABLE 3.1: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RESPONDENTS 33


TABLE 3.2: ATTITUDES TO ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 36


TABLE 3.3: ATTITUDES TOWARDS NAMIBIAN IDENTITY 37




TABLE 3.4: DEFINING NAMIBIAN IDENTITY 39


TABLE 3.5: PERCEIVED REASONS WHY PEOPLE COME TO NAMIBIA 41


TABLE 3.6: REQUIREMENTS FOR CITIZENSHIP 41


TABLE 3.7: REASONS WHY PEOPLE CANNOT BE ACCEPTED AS PART 42
OF THE NAMIBIAN NATION


TABLE 3.8: TYPE OF CONTACT WITH FOREIGNERS 42


TABLE 3.9: PERCEPTIONS OF SOUTHERN AFRICANS IN NAMIBIA 43


TABLE 3.10: NAMIBIAS POLICY REGARDING DEPORTATION 46


TABLE 3.11: WOULD YOU SUPPORT/OPPOSE THE GOVERNMENT POLICIES 47
ABOUT REFUGEES?


FIGURE: POPULATION DISTRIBUTION IN NAMIBIA 3




EDITORIAL NOTE:


The current policy paper contains three chapters, authored by Bruce
Frayne of Queens University and Wade Pendleton, formerly at the
University of Namibia. The first chapter provides an overview of
Namibian international and internal migration movements since inde-
pendence and also considers the likely future trends of migration in
Namibia. The chapter draws heavily on research conducted by the
authors for the Namibian National Migration Survey in 1998. The sec-
ond chapter, with its recommendations for migration management, is
drawn from the authors earlier SAMP contribution: Namibians on South
Africa: Attitudes Towards Cross-Border Migration and Immigration Policy
(Migration Policy Series No. 10, 1998). The final chapter, by Wade
Pendleton, is the product of a broader SADC survey conducted by
SAMP in 2001 designed to assess public attitudes towards migrants,
refugees and immigration policy. The findings for Namibia reported
here suggest that Namibia faces a similar challenge to South Africa in
terms of public education about the role and impact of migrants.




CHAPTER ONE
MIGRATION IN NAMIBIA: AN OVERVIEW


BRUCE FRAYNE AND WADE PENDLETON


1.1 INTRODUCTION


Namibia is a large, sparsely populated country, which sharescommon borders with Angola and Zambia to the north,Zimbabwe and Botswana to the east, and South Africa to theeast and south. As a largely semi-arid country, drought is
endemic to Namibia, yet at least 60% of the population live in the rural
areas. The more fertile and better watered northern and north-eastern
regions are home to more that half of the national population of 1.6 mil-
lion. Windhoek is the capital city, and with a population of around
220,000, is about seven times the size of the second largest urban cen-
tres of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, which are situated on the
Atlantic coast, deep within the forbidding Namib Desert. Oshakati in
the central north is growing rapidly, and is fast competing for second
place to Windhoek in terms of population size and annual growth rate
(Figure 1).


Namibia won its independence from South Africa in 1990, and this
political liberation heralded a new era of border control between
Namibia and South Africa, which had remained porous for both
Namibians and South Africans until that time. Tighter cross-border
controls were accompanied by the total removal of internal influx con-
trols. Independence therefore brought with it considerable changes in
the internal migration patterns and population concentrations in the
country. On the one hand, migratory labour to South Africa all but
ceased; yet, on the other hand, internal migration and urbanisation
grew rapidly.


Because Namibia only became independent in 1990, statistics were
not kept for the former South West Africa, as the territory was consid-
ered part of South Africa, and administered as a fifth province. Cross-
border movement between Namibia and South Africa was therefore
unrecorded until 1990, while formal cross-border movements between
Namibia and its other neighbours were virtually non-existent, due to
the war in the northern areas of the country, and the significant mili-
tary presence and control of the borders.


Moreover, any formal movement between the former South West
Africa and other countries would have been enumerated under the aus-
pices of South Africa, and so remain undifferentiated for the period up


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


1




to 1990. Compounding this situation, Namibia has taken some years
since independence to set up systems and controls relating to cross-bor-
der migration, thus contributing to the dearth of data in this regard.


There is no substantial research available which addresses the com-
plete range of internal and international migration dynamics, particular-
ly since 1980. The focus of migration research has been on internal
migration to Windhoek, and to a far lesser degree, to other towns in
Namibia.1 This gap in the knowledge base of Namibian domestic migra-
tion justified the first national migration survey in Namibia, which
focused on internal migration, and was carried out in 1998.2 This chap-
ter therefore draws significantly on these recent findings regarding
migration trends and patterns in post-independence Namibia.


With regard to cross-border migration, particularly, between Namibia
and South Africa, there is likewise little official documentation avail-
able. Nonetheless, where information has been made available by gov-
ernment sources, it is reported in this chapter. The South African gov-
ernment keeps contemporary statistics on Namibians in South Africa,
and this data has also been included. The Southern African Migration
Project (SAMP) commissioned a national opinion survey in Namibia
on cross-border migration issues in 1998, and where possible, relevant
data from that project have been used to substantiate cross-border
migration trends reported.3


This overview chapter examines in some detail the cross-border and
internal migration trends and patterns in Namibia after independence,
and considers the central policy implications of the findings for the
country. The chapter is divided into three major sections: (a) internal
migration and urbanization, (b) cross-border migration, and (c) policy
implications.


1.2 HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF MIGRATION IN NAMIBIA


The first major migrations of people both within Namibia and across its
borders in the last century commenced as a result of the German colo-
nial occupation of Namibia from 1890 onwards. Urban migration to
towns in central Namibia, especially Windhoek, was an early experi-
ence for the Herero and Damara, and early records of Windhoek show
growing numbers of both groups.4 Although limited conflicts took place
between the German and Owambo people, the northern part of
Namibia was not incorporated within the German colonial administra-
tion of the country.


Conflict over land between the Germans and the Herero and the
Nama resulted in anti-colonial revolts during the period 1903-1907.
These wars virtually destroyed the Herero population, leaving about
16,000 alive by the end of them (originally a population of 60,000-


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


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MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


3


Source: Frayne, B. 2001. Survival of the Poorest: Migration and Food Security in Namibia. Ph.D.


Thesis. Kingston: Queens University.


Population distribution in Namibia




80,000), with 14,000 of that number held in concentration camps. The
Nama population was also greatly reduced and, with about 40% killed,
there were only some 10,000 Namas left in 1907.5 Many of the Herero
who survived the war went into exile in Bechuanaland (Botswana)
where they and their descendants lived. Only after 1995 did some Herero
who wanted to be repatriated to Namibia have the opportunity to return.


South Africa, as an ally of Britain in the First World War, invaded
Namibia in 1915 and defeated the Germans. This marked the beginning
of a vigorous and systematic programme of racially discriminatory poli-
cies to the detriment of the Namibian people. Discrimination intensi-
fied after 1948 when the Nationalist Party won the election in South
Africa, and apartheid was introduced to both South Africa and
Namibia.


In 1962 the Odendaal Commission provided guidelines for dividing
Namibia into geographic and administrative regions. The recommenda-
tions were implemented in 1964. As a result, 11 regions were pro-
claimed, based on racial and ethnic criteria, akin to the homelands in
South Africa. The 10 black regions received 40% of the total land area
of the country, and the one white region received 43%. The remainder
of the land fell under government control and was either put over to
natural reserve or mining districts. The white homeland occupied
much of the inland plateau, the richest farmland in the country and the
capital city. In the black homelands, families could no longer subsist
entirely off the land. Reliance on wage income therefore ensured a sup-
ply of labour to the white-owned farms, the mines and the towns.6


In many ways, apartheid in Namibia was tougher than in South
Africa, largely because of the small size of the population and the
remoteness of the country. In addition to the German settlers already
present by 1915, many South African whites moved to Namibia and a
commercial farming sector was established covering about 40% of the
territory. As the capital city of Windhoek began to grow, and as other
smaller towns come into being, the South African administration desig-
nated these towns primarily for white occupation. Again, much like the
situation in South Africa, blacks were only allowed to reside in towns if
they were employed or if they could prove years of uninterrupted resi-
dence.7


Areas that fell outside the commercial farms were known as commu-
nal areas, and black Namibians were required to live in them. Only
farm labourers were allowed to live in the commercial farming areas,
often in conditions of deplorable poverty and servitude on the white
farms. With the communal areas receiving little commercial or social
investment, pressures to migrate to urban areas in search of employment
rose steadily during the colonial period. However, a host of influx con-


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


4




trol laws and regulations limited the opportunities for migration from
increasingly impoverished communal areas to towns in Namibia.


More than half of the countrys population lived (and continues to
live) in the communal area to the north of the commercial farming
area. A veterinary cordon fence was established along this boundary
which was designed to prevent cattle and people from crossing.8 The
South African police patrolled the country and enforced the myriad of
laws and regulations that restricted peoples freedom and human rights,
and military control of the northern communal areas by the South
Africans also made for easy implementation of restrictions on a range of
internal and cross border migration.


Migratory labour was always limited in Namibia, particularly with
regard to South Africa. Labour migration from the populous north of
Namibia was controlled until 1976 by the South West African Native
Labour Association (SWANLA) which provided contract employment
in the towns, mines, and farms primarily for Owambo people from
north-central Namibia.9 When the contract was finished they were
required to return to the north. Limited labour migration took place
from the Kavango to South Africa for work on the mines, but this
ended more than twenty years ago.


In response to South Africas refusal to relinquish its control of the
country and to hand it back to Namibians, the South West African
Peoples Organisation (SWAPO) waged a 23 year guerrilla war of libera-
tion. The prolonged conflict led to a UN-brokered resolution (No. 545)
in which Namibia gained its independence in 1990. The conflict was
concentrated along the Namibian border with Angola and Zambia, and
required the movement by the South African military forces of local
people, often with devastating effects on the rural population.10 In addi-
tion, military and security considerations led to considerable invest-
ments in roads, airports and urban infrastructure, partly as support for a
hearts and minds programme aimed at co-opting local people and
diluting resistance, and partly to facilitate the deployment of military
power against SWAPO and its Angolan allies. During the Namibian
War of Liberation, about 40,000 Namibians went into exile primarily in
Angola, Zambia, Europe, Cuba, and North America. Most who went
into exile returned to Namibia after Independence.11


Within the historical context described, the cessation of the war,
independence and a new sense of political, social and economic free-
dom, have all influenced the substantial changes in internal and cross
border migration trends and patterns observed over the past decade in
Namibia.


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


5




1.3 DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF NAMIBIA


The size of the Namibian population is based on estimates and projec-
tions from the 1991 Population Census that reported the population to
be 1,409,900 people.12 The most recent population projection by Market
Research Africa for the Namibian All Media and Broadcasting Survey
was a comprehensive, detailed assessment of population estimates, pro-
jections, and actual population data from some localities where the data
was available.13 Tables 1 and 2 below show the 1996 population estimate
to be 1,681,400 with about 49% male and 51% female. The Namibian
population is young with about 44% of the population under 16 years of
age.


Approximately 60% of the Namibian population are primarily rural
dwellers and the remaining 40% are urban.14 About 50% of the rural
population live in the six northern regions of the country: Ohangwena,
Oshikoto, Omusati, Oshana, Kavango and Caprivi. Most of the people
cultivate crops and keep livestock. They live in dispersed homesteads
and villages. About 5% of the national population live in the major
towns found in these northern regions: Oshakati, Ondangwa, Rundu,
and Katima Mulilo. The major ethnic groups found in the rural north
are the Owambo, Thimbukushu, Rugciriku, Rusambu, Rumbunza,
Rukwangali, Lozi, Sifwe and Subia.


The majority of the 5% of the population that lives in rural commu-
nal areas in the central part of Namibia keep livestock and only engage


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


6


Table 1.1: Population of Namibia, 1991 - 1996


Year Total Males Females


1991 1,409,900 686,300 723,500


1996 1,681,400 818,600 862,800


Source: Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (1996:2)


Table 1. 2: Age and Sex Profile of Namibian Population, 1996


Age Cohort Males Females Total


0-15 360,900 371,800 732,700


16-24 154,000 160,600 314,500


25-34 113,500 124,000 237,500


35-49 99,000 102,100 201,000


50+ 91,200 104,300 195,500


Total 818,600 862,800 1,681,400


Source: Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (1996)




in limited crop cultivation; no crop cultivation is possible in the south-
ern communal area. The major ethnic groups found in these areas are
the Herero, Nama, and Damara. Another 6% of the population live on
the commercial farms where livestock and farming activities take place.
Most of this land is privately owned by German and Afrikaner farmers.
About 35% of the population live in the urban central towns with over
15% of the urban population concentrated in Windhoek.


In the 1991 Population Census, 119,218 people (about 8% of the
population) were listed as foreign born out of a 1991 Census population
of 1,409,920.15 No figures exist on the place of origin of the foreign
born; however, the majority appear to come from Angola, South Africa,
Zambia, and Botswana in that order.16


1.4 INTERNAL MIGRATION AND URBANISATION


Since independence in 1990 there has been a substantial increase in
rural-urban migration, which has resulted in significant urban growth.
For example, the 1991 Population Census urban percentage of popula-
tion was about 32% and the estimated 1996 urban population was 40%.
Given the recent increases in the population of major towns, this per-
centage is now even higher.


Post-independence urban migration is related to various historical
factors that kept rural-urban migration limited in the past. In particular,
prior to 1990, those urban centres situated in the communal areas of the
country served primarily as administrative centres for the colonial
power. In addition, in most of the northern parts of Namibia, the pro-
tracted guerrilla war ensured that migration to towns in these areas was
tightly controlled by the South African security forces operating there.
Migration was certainly allowed, but it was largely to serve the military
machine of the South African government, and to provide domestic
labour within those centres.


This situation of control changed within all communal areas after
independence in 1990. The opportunities to move are significantly bet-
ter than during the South African period of rule. People are also
responding to the environmental stresses evident in rural areas, and the
socio-economic forces of urbanisation, with both these factors con-
tributing to rapid increases in population growth within the towns of
the communal areas. For example, the town of Oshakati in northern
Namibia was a central and large military base prior to 1990. However,
the withdrawal of South African military and administrative personnel
meant increased opportunities for people to move into the town from
the surrounding communal farming areas. By 1993, the larger propor-
tion of the towns population of 35,000 lived outside the formal urban
sector, mainly in shanties on state-owned land. The latest estimate


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


7




(1999) is 50,000 people living within the townland boundaries, of
which perhaps 80% live in nine informal settlements.17 While this
growth is perhaps the most dramatic example of post-independence
urbanisation in the communal areas of Namibia, similar trends are evi-
dent across the country.


Windhoek remains the largest and fastest growing urban centre in
Namibia, although the gap between it and the towns of Walvis Bay and
Swakopmund on the west coast has narrowed since independence. The
rapid urbanisation experienced by Walvis Bay and Swakopmund is part-
ly a response to a growing tourist industry, but more importantly, it
appears to be the result of the creation of an economic export-process-
ing zone (EPZ) in Walvis Bay. The EPZ is intended to stimulate eco-
nomic investment and growth within the region. In conjunction with
the development of the fishing industry, it has created significant urban
growth. Now that the government is building a seawater desalination
plant in Swakopmund, fresh domestic and industrial water will no
longer pose the limits to growth envisioned for the coast. In addition,
the deep-water harbour at Walvis Bay will continue to ensure its key
position within the Namibian economy.


Turning now to the capital city of Windhoek, this chapter examines
the urbanisation dynamic evident in this important urban centre.18 The
population of Windhoek grew at an annual rate of 5.4% in the 1990s,
the largest annual growth rate in its history. The 1997 population of
Windhoek was about 200,000 people.19 Most of the population growth is
taking place in Katutura, the large township located to the north-west
of the city, where about 60% of the urban areas population live on
about 20% of the urban areas land. Most of the growth in the Katutura
population is due to migration. Central Katutura is the older more
established part of the township; the North-West areas, where most of
the informal, shanty housing is located and much of the growth is tak-
ing place, surrounds central Katutura to the north and west. Virtually
all the people who live in Katutura are black Namibians.20


It is estimated that the population of Windhoek will double to more
than 400,000 by 2010.21 Most of this growth will come from migration
and the Katutura area will be unable to absorb it; considerable growth
in the form of shanty housing will take place to the west and south of
Windhoek. It is estimated that in the future 50% of the Windhoek
urban areas housing may be shanties.22


The attraction of Windhoek and Katutura is easy to understand.
Windhoek is a place of opportunity with better access to education,
health, water, electricity and especially work opportunities. Subsidies
also contribute to the attraction making the costs of food, housing and
medical care cheaper for urban residents. Private and public sector


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


8




activities are centralised in Windhoek and account for 40% of the total
labour force (including both informal and formal sectors) in urban areas
in the country.23 The primacy of Windhoek is due in part to the fact
that secondary towns received little economic stimulation during the
South African apartheid era; what government investment took place
was primarily to benefit white business activities and the commercial
farming sector.


Windhoek accounts for about 15% of Namibias urban population. It
is the predominant economic, service, manufacturing, and political cen-
tre of the country. In the early 1990s, Windhoek accounted for 51% of
national manufacturing activity, 94% of communications and transport,
96% of utilities, 82% of business and financial services, 68% of social
and community services, and 56% of construction and trade activities.24


The Namibian development budgets for recent years also reflect the
dominance of the central region and Windhoek. Per capita spending on
projects in the central region (which includes Windhoek as a major tar-
get) was N$659 in 1995-96, which is about double the expenditure in
the other regions.25 Similar levels of expenditure are reported for 1995-
96 and 1997-98.26 The allocation of funds to the Khomas Regional
Council (where Windhoek is located) is over ten times the amount
allocated per capita to councils in other regions, and the importance of
shifting development away from Windhoek to achieve more balanced
regional development is discussed in the most recent UNDP report.27


However, as illustrated below, Windhoek and Katutura are not equally
attractive to people from different parts of Namibia.


The 1996 Katutura population was about 54% male, reflecting the
fact that more male than female migrants come to the area. Oshiwambo
speaking people (Owambo) are the majority ethnic group in Katutura
making up about 40% of the 1996 population. There have been small
increases in the percentages of Lozi (Caprivi) and Kwangari
(Okavango) speaking peoples in Katutura that may reflect a pattern
that could increase in the future.


Almost three-quarters of the adult 1996 Katutura population were
migrants with about half having moved there within the last five years.28


About 40% of the migrants moved to the North-West areas. The
age/sex structure of adult migrant and non-migrant populations show
important differences: the migrants have larger percentages of people in
the 25 to 44 age categories and are more male (55%) than female
(45%). When migrants first arrive in Katutura they usually stay with
relatives (69%).


The report of the findings of the Namibian Migration Project
(NMP) highlights several important aspects of the rural-urban migra-
tion process in Namibia.29 While the data does not provide an in-depth


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


9




analysis of the situation, it does discuss relevant social and demographic
issues. The report suggests that visiting and exchanging commodities are
important ways of keeping social relationships active. Almost three-
quarters of the respondents in the NMP survey say they visit their rela-
tives and friends in the rural areas a few times a year or at least once a
year, with some small differences in visiting patterns by language group
and domicile. The most popular destinations for visits are the rural
north and the central towns. Visits to the rural areas are important to
maintain kinship ties, to avoid the label Ombwiti (one who has lost
roots) and to keep current rights to rural resources such as land and cat-
tle. However, family issues and social events are the predominant rea-
sons for all visiting. About a third of households are involved with
exchanges of items; particularly money, food, and clothing.30


Tables 1.3 and 1.4 present data indicating trends in lifetime migra-
tion patterns in Namibia. The first, Table 1.3, is an analysis of 1991
Census data, which compares the place of residence at the time of the
Census with the place of birth. The shortcomings of this data include
the fact that only one move is captured, and that only moves between
census districts are captured. Moves within districts are not revealed by
this analysis. Table 1.4 is therefore included which is based on the find-
ings of the NMP survey, and provides a more fine-grained indication of
migrations patterns.31


The lifetime migration data shows that there are four major migra-
tion patterns at work in Namibia. The first pattern is rural-rural migra-
tion within the communal areas. This pattern accounts for over half of
all lifetime migration reported, and only includes migration history data
for people who have moved from their place of birth. For example, this
migration pattern represents moves made by people who are born in the
4 Os and currently living in the 4 Os, born in Kavango and currently
living in the Kavango, born in the western communal and living in the
western communal, and so forth. It also includes moves to the rural
north by people born outside Namibia. Since this is lifetime migration,
some of these people may have made intermediate moves, although
38% of the migration histories reported only one move. This pattern
reveals that internal migration within individual communal areas is
very widespread. It also combines moves with high ranks with low ranks
and it should be noted that moves within the same communal area are
much more important to people in the rural north than in the rural
central.33


The second pattern, accounting for about 15% of lifetime migration,
is rural-urban migration. It includes two major types of moves. Type
One moves are from rural areas to the rural communal towns such as
Oshakati and Ondangwa in the 4 Os, Rundu in the Kavango, Katima


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


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MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


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Table 1.3: Main Lifetime Migration Patterns Between Census Districts. 1991


District Born District Resident Rank Number Primary Type of Migration


Ondangwa Oshakati 1 22,959 R-R and R-U


Oshakati Windhoek 2 18,884 R/U-U


Ondangwa Windhoek 3 15,747 R/U-U


Oshakati Ondangwa 4 12,966 R-R and R-U


Rehoboth Windhoek 5 7,159 U-U


Gobabis Windhoek 6 4,071 U-U


Outjo Damaraland 7 3,809 R-R


Okavango Grootfontein 8 3,746 R-U


Oshakati Grootfontein 9 3,673 R/U-U


Oshakati Luderitz 10 3,604 R/U-U


Windhoek Hereroland East 11 3,320 U-R


Ondangwa Swakopmund 12 3,179 R/U-U


Mariental Windhoek 13 3,044 U-U


Keetmanshoop Windhoek 14 3,021 U-U


Oshakati Swakopmund 15 3,018 R/U-U


Windhoek Rehoboth 16 3,006 U-U


Ondangwa Tsumeb 17 2,879 R/U-U


Gobabis Hereroland East 18 2,798 U-R


Ondangwa Grootfontein 19 2,763 R/U-U


Windhoek Damaraland 20 2,760 U-R


Oshakati Tsumeb 21 2,749 R/U-U


Windhoek Oshakati 22 2,742 U-U/U-R


Ondangwa Luderitz 23 2,694 R/U-U


Windhoek Okahandja 24 2,654 U-U


Keetmanshoop Namaland 25 2,436 U-R


Windhoek Hereroland West 26 2,366 U-R


Oshakati Okahandja 27 2,354 R/U-U


Omaruru Damaraland 28 2,229 R-R


Hereroland East Windhoek 29 2,080 R-U


Okavango Caprivi 30 2,076 U-U


Total 150,786


Source: Pendleton and Frayne, 1998: 12, based on the 1991 Population Census of Namibia
(Republic of Namibia 1993)




MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


12


Table 1.4: Main Lifetime Migration Patterns Between Urban and Rural Areas, 199832


Place Born Place Resident Rank Number Type of Migration


4 Os 4 Os 1 388 R-R


Caprivi Caprivi 2 133 R-R


Urban Central Major Towns Urban Central Major Towns 3 116 U-U


Kavango Kavango 4 92 R-R


Outside Namibia Urban Central Major Towns 5 44 U


Outside Namibia Kavango 6 44 R-U


4 O Urban Communal 7 33 R


Windhoek Urban Central Major Towns 8 28 U-U


Outside Namibia Urban Communal Towns 9 28 U


Urban Central Major Towns Urban Communal 10 28 U-U


4 Os Urban Central Major Towns 11 27 R-U


Urban Communal Kavango 12 26 U-R


Urban Central Major Towns Eastern Communal 13 22 U-R


Urban Central Minor Towns Urban Central Major Towns 14 21 U


Outside Namibia Windhoek 15 20 U


Urban Central Major Towns Windhoek 16 19 U-U


Southern Communal Urban Central Major Towns 17 19 U-U


4 Os Windhoek 18 18 R-U


Urban Communal Urban Central Major Towns 19 16 U-U


Urban Central Major Towns Western Communal 21 13 U-R


Windhoek Eastern Communal 22 13 U-R


Caprivi Urban Communal 23 13


Urban Central Minor Towns Southern Communal 23 13 U-R


Southern Communal Southern Communal 24 11 U-U


Urban Central Major Towns Southern Communal 25 11 R-R


Windhoek Windhoek 26 10 U-R


Urban Communal Eastern Communal 27 10 U-R


Eastern Communal Eastern Communal 28 9 R-R


Kavango Urban Communal 29 8 R-U


Urban Central Minor Towns Western Communal 30 7 U-R


Commercial Farms Windhoek 31 7 R-U


Western Communal Western Communal 32 6 R-R


Eastern Communal Windhoek 33 6 R-U


Outside Namibia Caprivi 34 6 R


Total 1,218




Mulilo in the Caprivi, Okakarara in the Eastern Communal, and
Xhorixas in the Western Communal. Type Two moves are from the
rural communal areas urban central major towns (especially
Windhoek). It also includes moves to these urban central major towns
from outside Namibia.34


Accounting for about 20% of lifetime migration, pattern three is
urban to urban migration. This pattern includes moves from urban com-
munal towns to major urban central towns, and moves between urban
central major towns. Moves from and to Windhoek are a major urban-
urban pattern. It also includes moves from minor towns to major
towns.35


The fourth pattern is urban-rural moves accounting for about 9% of
lifetime migration. It includes moves to rural communal areas in the
central and north by people born in the urban communal and urban
central towns. It is interesting to note that there are no Owambo who
are born in the urban areas who report moving back to the rural north;
people in all other areas report urban to rural moves of this type.36


1.5 CROSS-BORDER MIGRATION


The information on arrivals provided in Table 1.5 is a summation of
data from all Namibian border posts. Complete data was obtained for
1997 and for 1998 through September. Data for previous years was not
available. Table 1.6 details tourist arrival information for 1997. Non-
tourist foreign arrivals for 1997 were 102,163; however, there is no
detail available on the breakdown according to purpose of visit,
although most are probably business-related visits.


South African statistics on visitors to Namibia from South Africa are
available, and the most recent report states that during 1997 some
28,938 South African permanent residents (including citizens) visited
Namibia. The overwhelming majority visited for holiday purposes,
although business reasons were given by a small number of these visi-
tors.37


There is no data available from the Government for legal immi-
grants to Namibia. The South African Central Statistics Service reports


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


13


Table 1.5: Legal Cross-Border Arrivals, 1997


1997 1998 (January to September)


Total Namibian Arrivals 268,059 196,890


Total Foreign Arrivals 604,175 493,340


Total Arrivals 872,234 690,230


Source: Ministry of Home Affairs




that 545 South African permanent residents emigrated to Namibia in
the period 1997-1998. It is interesting to note that only 41 people offi-
cially emigrated from Namibia to South Africa during the same years.
The SAMP survey for Namibia tends to support these figures in that
Namibians reported very little interest in migrating to South Africa on
a permanent basis.38


There is no data available either for temporary or contract workers
in Namibia. It is difficult to surmise with any justification what the
trends might be in this regard, primarily due to the lack of official data
and research material. Having said that, the Government in on record
as opposing the issue of resident permits to foreigners, with the view
that by reducing the number of foreign workers and residents,
Namibians seeking employment will be assisted through reductions in
job market competition. Thus it might be expected that the number of
legal migrants is limited in Namibia.


There is even less data on unauthorised migration to Namibia.
Movement between Namibia and South Africa is relatively easy in that
the necessary visas are issued on a pro forma basis at the border to
Namibian and South African passport holders and permanent residents.
Almost all cross-border movement is also documented. In addition, the
harsh environment typical of the entire border between the two coun-
tries makes off-road crossing a hazardous and unlikely event. This asser-
tion is supported by the findings of the SAMP survey in Namibia,
where only one respondent claimed to have made the crossing by foot;
all others travelled by air or road.39 The number of undocumented
South Africans in Namibia is thus likely to be very small.


With regard to Namibias other neighbours, certainly the strong his-
torical and socio-economic ties between Namibians living in the cen-
tral north of the country and Angola suggest that undocumented migra-
tion is likely to be higher than between Namibia and South Africa. In
addition, the civil war in Angola increased the unauthorised migration


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


14


Table 1.6: Tourist Arrival Information, 1997


Number Percent


African (excluding South Africa and Angola) 37,640 7%


South African 187,687 37%


Angola 158,188 32%


European 101,162 20%


North American 9,181 2%


Other: including Australia, South East Asia, Japan 8,154 2%


Total Tourist Arrivals 502,012 100%


Source: Ministry of Environment and Tourism




from Angola into Namibia (see below). The SAMP survey found that
14% of the Namibian sample had visited Angola, and it might be
expected that a somewhat higher percentage of undocumented
Angolans are in northern Namibia (given the attractiveness of
Namibian peace and relative prosperity compared with Angola).
Similarly, Caprivians in the north-eastern arm of the country are histor-
ically and culturally tied to the Lozi speaking people in southern
Zamibia, and some 12% of the Namibian sample had visited Zambia.
The porous border, its lack of policing, and the common language and
familial ties between the two countries make it highly likely that at
least a similar proportion of Zambians are in Namibia and undocument-
ed. The situations are not as pronounced with Zimbabwe and Botswana,
although again a common language and heritage between some groups
living near the border in eastern Namibia and western Botswana suggest
that unauthorised movements do occur.40


The official figures prepared by the Government of Namibia on the
arrival of refugees for the period 1997-1998 appear in Table 1.7. While
the number of documented refugees over this period from Rwanda
exceeds all other countries, the number of Angolans reported appears to
under-represented. Not only is there a strong presence of Angolans in
Northern Namibia, but the Government deported some 3,500 Angolan
refugees during this same period. Moreover, a recent report describes the
situation of Angolan refugees in Namibia as a crisis, and estimates the
number to be approximately 25,000 in the whole of the country.41 The
Osire refugee camp in Northern Namibia is home to about 20,000
refugees from Angola (2002).42


In terms of outward migration from Namibia, there is only data
available from the Namibian Government for legal exits from 1997, and
the information is only available in an aggregated form (Table 1.8).
This makes it impossible to disaggregate the data into meaningful cate-
gories, by citizens, purpose of departure, and by country of destination.
Statistics South Africa (formerly the Central Statistical Service) keeps
its own records of arrivals, and these are shown in Table 1.9 for
Namibia.


There is no data available for emigration from Namibia. It is likely
that most emigration is undeclared and typically undertaken by people
with significant resources. This would include students who leave
Namibia for tertiary education, either in South Africa or abroad, as well
as skilled workers and business people who leave for better economic
opportunities. The only data that could be found was for Namibians
who have emigrated to South Africa, and again, these records are kept
by the Statistics South Africa (SSA). There were only 29 declared
immigrants from Namibia to South Africa in 1997, and 12 in 1998.43


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


15




No research has been done in Namibia on either the scale or the possi-
ble consequences of skills emigration.


There is no data available for legal out-migration from Namibia. The
SAA reported that in 1996 less than three percent of all visitors to
South Africa were contract workers, and that of all visitors to South
Africa in that year, five percent were from Namibia, and very few were
visiting for purposes of work.


This trend is supported by the SAMP survey in Namibia, where only
11% of the respondents who had visited South Africa actually went to
work. This percentage represents only about 25 people in the national
sample of 600. Moreover, as the sample was designed to over represent


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


16


Table 1.7: Refugee Arrivals in Namibia, 1997-1998


Country 1997-1998


Angola 380


Burundi 58


Rwanda 1,958


Liberia 21


Somalia 4


Zaire 29


Sudan 3


Uganda 2


Cameroon 4


Congo Brazzaville 0


Democratic Republic of the Congo 29


Kenya 1


Total Refugees in Namibia (*) 2,713


Source: Ministry of Home Affairs. 1997 (January to September) and 1998 (October 1997 to October
1998).
(*) Total includes refugee arrivals prior to October 1997.


Table 1.8: Legal Cross-Border Departures, 1997


1997 1998 (Jan. to Sept.)


Total Namibian Departures 294,297 199,420


Total Foreign Departures 535,607 419,898


Total Departures 829,904 619,318


Angolan refugees repatriated to Angola 135 (Jan-Sept 1997) 132 (Oct 1997-Oct 1998)


Angolan Deportations 1,970 1,416


Other Deportations (African and Asian) 255


Source: Ministry of Home Affairs




urban areas, the actual percentage of all Namibians going to South
Africa to work is very small indeed. Given that the SAMP survey
showed conclusively that Namibians have a low propensity to migrate
to South Africa, even though South Africa remains the most accessible
and likely destination for work, legal out-migration to countries other
than South Africa might be expected to be even lower.44 Just the legal
obstacles to obtaining the necessary permits to work in countries other
than South Africa suggests that there would be few Namibians working
outside the country. When this situation is considered within the con-
text of limited economic and/or social opportunities in countries other
than South Africa, the assertion of limited legal out-migration appears
realistic.


There is also no data available on unauthorised out-migration from
Namibia. Estimates have not been made, nor have studies been under-
taken which consider this aspect of the labour market. Most unautho-
rised out-migration is likely to consist of informal cross-border move-
ments between Namibia and Angola, Zambia, and to a lesser degree,
Botswana. Socio-economic heterogeneity of populations along these
common borders has been identified here as an important contributing
factor in such movements. However, these trends do not, for the most
part, appear to constitute an active pattern of cross-border migration
with the kinds of economic objectives usually associated with undocu-
mented migration. It is more likely that the cross-border migration wit-
nessed in these areas is the result of family and kin associations which
straddle these borders, and where economic concerns are motivating
factors, they will be primarily within the so-called traditional agricultur-
al productive spheres (cereal and livestock), rather than for purposes of
formal or informal employment.


Turning to South Africa, the SSA estimates that there are fewer


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


17


Table 1.9: Legal Entries from Namibia to South Africa, 1991-1999


Year Number of Arrivals


1991 140, 527


1992 180, 927


1993 163,772


1994 188,877


1995 213,063


1996 200,523


1997 n/a


1998 200,602


1999 201,685


Source: SSA




than 20,000 unauthorised Namibians in South Africa.45 The findings of
the SAMP survey (1998), together with the trends noted in the NMP
survey, support the notion that there are few undocumented border
crossings into South Africa, and by implication, even fewer into other
less accessible, less attractive countries within the region (with the
exception of Angola and Zambia, for reasons discussed above).


1.6 POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS


The findings presented in this chapter indicate that urbanisation is pro-
ceeding rapidly in Namibia. Both the capital city of Windhoek and the
secondary towns are experiencing unprecedented rates of urban growth.
Policy is therefore required to meet the challenges of urbanisation that
will likely be sustained well into the next century.


The expectation of sustained urbanisation provides an opportunity
for government to reach substantial numbers of people in a cost-effec-
tive manner in its socio-economic development goals. While develop-
ment efforts aimed at the urban centres may require creative private-
public partnerships in order to maximise resource use and distribution,
the absence of a coherent urbanisation policy for Namibia hampers this
opportunity. Indeed, reducing subsidisation from central government to
local authorities in keeping with the national decentralisation policy is
contributing to the creation of critical fiscal, social and environmental
problems in many secondary towns across the country. This situation
calls for the urgent establishment of a coordinated and visionary urbani-
sation policy, which might make a direct contribution to the positive
socio-economic development of Namibias population.


While Namibia appears to be resistant to the idea of open borders
within the SADC in the immediate future, resistance appears not to be
based on the desire to maintain national borders and strict control over
migration per se, but rather on pragmatic domestic concerns of limiting
and controlling criminal activity within Namibia. The government is
therefore interested in seeking out solutions for greater socio-economic
and political integration within the SADC region, while safeguarding
domestic security. It does not appear, however, that Namibia is as yet
able to clearly articulate its position regarding regional integration, and
the potential benefits that it might foresee for the country (and the
region).


However, a key question in relation to free cross-border movement
for Namibia relates to social and economic development: What is the
potential of increased regional integration to improve domestic social
welfare? If poverty continues unabated, even in the face of economic
growth, then Namibias crime situation is likely to worsen (a key argu-
ment made against integration by government officials in Namibia),


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


18




irrespective of the degree to which borders are porous. However, if
Namibia is indeed committed to increasing regional integration, it
would undoubtedly prefer a phased approach to the issue. Simply resist-
ing participation is insufficient to safeguard domestic security, and a
proactive approach is required, which includes the social and economic
development objectives of the country as a central pillar to the emerg-
ing policy.


Moreover, the very limited statistics on skilled migration to and from
Namibia raise concerns regarding the possible impact of the loss of skills
vital to the national economy. Namibia urgently requires survey data to
better articulate the nature and scale of any so-called brain drain that
may be underway. This information is critical to the question of
Namibias stance and role in the SADC-wide regional integration
debate, and may provide much needed data for the government to
develop its arguments in the debate surrounding migration policy.
Greater regional integration and fewer restrictions on the employment
of foreign nationals may improve domestic economic performance, and
be in the national interests of Namibia.


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


19




CHAPTER TWO
NAMIBIAN IMMIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA46


BRUCE FRAYNE AND WADE PENDLETON


2.1 INTRODUCTION


Until Independence, Namibia was administered largely as acolony of South Africa. Nearly a century of close ties creat-ed a somewhat unique history that affected cross-bordermigration between the two countries in ways that are differ-
ent from other countries in the Southern African region. This chapter
focuses on Namibian immigration between South Africa and Namibia.
It reports the findings of SAMP interviews conducted with 600
Namibians between May and June of 1998 about their experiences with,
and attitudes towards, cross-border migration to South Africa. The sam-
ple was selected from the major geopolitical regions of Namibia, and is
broadly representative of Namibias heterogeneous and widely dispersed
population. The questionnaire used for the interviews was the same
instrument used by SAMP to interview people in Lesotho, Zimbabwe
and Mozambique in mid-1997.


2.2 NAMIBIAN MIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA


Namibias unique relationship with South Africa has shaped patterns of
cross-border migration between the two countries. The first important
finding of the survey is that 38% of the sample had been to South
Africa (Table 2.1). When location and race are considered, a pre-
dictable picture begins to emerge. Ninety-seven percent of visitors to
South Africa are urban residents, which exceeds the sample proportion
of urban areas by 13%, suggesting that it is urban people who are largely
the visitors, rather than rural dwellers. While 42% of the visitors were
Africans, they are also primarily urban.


Of those Africans surveyed in the northern communal areas, only
8% had been to South Africa. In addition, the coloured and white pop-
ulations (who have the strongest historical, economic and cultural ties
with South Africa) comprise 58% of those who had visited South
Africa at least once in their lives (even though they make up only 27%
of the sample population). Again, these people are predominantly urban
residents.


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


20




MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


21


Table 2.1: Profile of Visitors to South Africa


Been to South Africa? %


Yes 38


No 62


Gender


Male 56


Female 44


Urban or Rural


Urban 97


Rural 3


Age


15 - 24 16


25 - 44 51


45 - 64 26


65+ 7


Marital Status


Married 68


Separated/Divorced/Abandoned 3


Widowed 4


Unmarried 25


Household Status


Household Head 46


Spouse 28


Child 16


Other Family 8


Other 2


Home Ownership


Live With Others/Illegally Occupy 2


Accommodation as Part of Job 3


Rent 18


Own 77


Income/Household Member/Per Year (in Rands)


160 or less 7


161 - 450 5


451 - 1200 9


1200+ 79




Namibian men only slightly out-number women as visitors. This is
in sharp contrast with Zimbabwe and especially Mozambique, where
men are far more likely to have been to South Africa.47 This may be
explained by the very limited labour migration from Namibia to serve
South African economic needs.


With regard to age, martial status, home ownership, and employ-
ment, the survey showed that about 50% of Namibian visitors to South
Africa are between 25 and 44 years of age, about half are married and
heads of households, about three-quarters own their home, and almost
60% are employed on a full or part-time basis. It is noteworthy that
Namibian visitors are generally better educated and have higher person-
al household income levels than visitors to South Africa from
Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.


Most Namibians who visit South Africa do so only once or twice a
year (see Table 2.2). Almost 90% of all visits are for less than a month,
with 14 being the average number of lifetime visits.


REASONS FOR MIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA


By far the most important reason cited for going to South Africa was to
visit friends and family, and to go on holiday. In fact 63% of visitors to
South Africa went for these reasons alone. In contrast, only 13% of the
sample visited South Africa for work-related purposes (see Table 2.3).


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


22


Table 2.1: Profile of Visitors to South Africa (cont.)


Level of Employment Activity %


Inactive 27


Looking for Work 15


Part-time 11


Full-time 48


Level of Education


No Schooling 4


Some Primary School 14


Primary School Completed 4


Some High School 34


High School Completed 23


Post-Grad and Further 21


Race


African 42


White 18


Coloured 40




Namibias remoteness from the big urban centres of South Africa
also ensures that very few people go to shop, which differs from the
other countries, particularly Lesotho and Zimbabwe. Namibia also has
the advantage of a having a well-supplied retail sector, thus reducing
the need for Namibians to travel to South Africa specifically to shop.


Of those respondents who travelled to South Africa for work purpos-
es, only four respondents actually went to look for work. Of the 11%
who went to work in South Africa, over half (51%) had arranged
employment before they left Namibia. Virtually all of the people who
went to work were urban males, married, owned homes and represent a
relatively stable sector of the population.


Approximately 85% of the Namibian sample reported that they
returned from South Africa on their last visit because their holidays
ended, or for family reasons, or that they simply wanted to come back.
It is noteworthy that losing work, completing a contract, and deporta-
tion are significant reasons for people leaving South Africa to return to
Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.48 These factors are of limited sig-
nificance for Namibia, with zero deportations being reported.


Perhaps the most significant finding is that those who go to South
Africa are neither the destitute of the country, nor are they looking for
work. Certainly the claim by the South African government that South
Africa is being swamped by the neighbouring poor does not apply to
Namibia.49


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


23


Table 2.2: Length and Frequency of Visits to South Africa


Number of visits %


Average Number of Visits in Lifetime 14


Average Number of Visits in the Last Five Years 4


Frequency of visits (during past 5 years)


More Than Once a Month 1


Once a Month -


Once Every Few Months 9


Once or Twice a Year 25


Less Than Once or Twice a year 38


I Have Been Just Once 27


Average length of stay


Less Than A Month 87


Between 1 and 3 Months 6


Between 3 and 6 Months 3


Between 6 Months and a Year 1


More Than 1 Year 3




Almost all of the respondents who visited South Africa went by road
or air. Only two people claimed to have crossed the border by foot (see
Table 2.4). Given the remote and hostile environment in proximity to
the Namibia/South Africa border, the opportunities for people to cross
undocumented from Namibia into South Africa are few. In any event,
there is little need to do this as temporary entry permits for travel to
South Africa are readily issued at the border with the possession of a
valid Namibian passport. In the past, when Namibia was administered
by South Africa, there was no border crossing control and no docu-
ments were necessary.


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


24


Table 2.3: Purpose of Last Visit to South Africa


Purpose of most recent visit %


To Look for Work 2


To Work 11


Buy and Sell Goods 2


School 1


Study at University/Technikon 3


Shopping 1


Business 7


Visit Family or Friends 44


Holiday/Tourism 19


Medical Treatment 4


Other 6


Reason for return


Returned After Holiday 24


Wanted to Come Back 44


Family Reasons 18


Sick/Injured -


Contract Ended 4


Retired From Job -


Lost Job or Retrenched 2


Found Job at Home 1


Travel Documents Expired 1


Expelled/Deported From South Africa -


Studies Ended 2


Goods Sold Out 1


Other 4




These findings are supported by the information available from
Statistics South Africa on Namibians in South Africa and cross-border
movements between the two countries. In 1996, 200,523 Namibians
entered South Africa legally. Of these, only 5,569 (3% of the total)
overstayed their visas, providing further evidence that traffic between
the two countries is highly legalized.50


In 1996 there were only 84 deportations of Namibians from South
Africa. Further evidence of the limited number of Namibians illegally in
South Africa at present is the fact that only 91 Namibians applied for
the amnesty (77 successful) offered by the South African government to
SADC citizens in 1996 who had lived in South Africa since at least
1991.51


Given the findings of the survey, and the corroborating statistics
from South Africa, it seems that there are indeed very few undocument-
ed border-crossings into South Africa by Namibians. Current estimates
by the South African government are that there are less than 20,000
undocumented Namibians in South Africa. The data presented here
would certainly not lead us to challenge these figures.


FACTORS IN MIGRATION DECISION-MAKING


When asked what would be the most important reason that might cause
them to go to South Africa in the future, only about one quarter of
Namibians (24%) cited jobs. However, it is noteworthy that education
was cited as an important reason by 21% of the sample. Healthcare and
trade were cited by only 9% of the sample (Table 2.5).


In sharp contrast to the reasons people would consider going to South
Africa, 23% of the respondents cited peace as the most compelling rea-
son for remaining in Namibia. The second most important reason was
safety for ones self and family (19%). The third most important response
was that the respondents grew up in the country (12%). Personal safety


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


25


Table 2.4: Method of Travel to South Africa


Method %


Foot 1


Bus 19


Plane 9


Car 59


Horse or Donkey -


Train 9


Combi or Taxi 3


Other -




MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


26


Table 2.5: Factors in the Migration Decision-making Process


Most Important Reason For Going To South Africa (ie. conditions seen to be better in SA) %


Land -


Water -


Food -


Houses 2


Jobs 24


Treatment by Employers 1


Trade 9


Overall Living Conditions 9


Safety of Self and Family 1


Crime 1


Peace 1


Education/Schools 21


Health Care 9


Place to Raise Your Family 1


Diseases -


HIV/AIDS -


Freedom 1


Democracy -


Travel Documents -


Shopping 7


Nothing 8


Other 7


Most Important Reason for Remaining in Namibia
(ie. conditions seen to be better at home)


Land 6


Water 1


Food -


Houses 2


Jobs 2


Treatment by Employers -


Trade -


Overall Living Conditions 5


Safety of Self and Family 19


Crime 7


Peace 23


Education/Schools 2


Health Care 1


Place to Raise Your Family 4


Diseases -


HIV/AIDS -


Freedom 8


Democracy 2


Travel Documents -


Shopping -


Grew Up Here 12


Other 6




and a peaceful environment are thus strong motivating factors for
Namibians to remain at home.


Thus, while jobs are certainly considered an important reason for
going to South Africa, they are by no means the key factor. There are a
variety of factors which both induce people to move and hold people
back and which demonstrate that the migration decision-making
process is both diverse and complex.


2.3 FUTURE MIGRATION TRENDS FROM NAMIBIA


PERCEIVED IMPACTS OF MIGRATION ON NAMIBIA


The survey showed that the majority of Namibians feel little personal
impact from the migration of people to South Africa (63%). Likewise,
Namibians feel that migration to South Africa has little or no impact
on their families. More people are of the opinion, however, that migra-
tion to South Africa has some negative impact on community and
country (19% and 24% respectively) (Table 2.6).


This is an important finding indicating that Namibians do not nec-
essarily feel that migration to South Africa is of direct benefit to either
themselves, their families or their communities, and that it may have
some negative consequences for the country as a whole. Indeed,
Namibians appear to be ambivalent about migration to South Africa.
These results would indicate a propensity not to choose to migrate, or
to encourage others not to do so, as the benefits are not apparent to the
respondents.


LIKELIHOOD OF MOVING TO SOUTH AFRICA


Nearly two thirds of Namibian respondents indicated that they would be
able to go to South Africa if they wanted to. However, only 17% of the
Namibians said that they had a strong or moderate desire to move to
South Africa permanently (Table 2.7). It is noteworthy that when asked
about the likelihood of actually doing so, the figure dropped to 12%.


When asked about living in South Africa for a short period of time
(up to two years), the responses were slightly more favourable. Even
when asked about living in South Africa for a short period of time, a
large proportion of the sample still said it was very unlikely (Table
2.7). These responses were polarized, however, with a significant num-
ber of respondents saying that it was likely that they might live in
South Africa for a short period. Some 43% of Namibians have a strong
or moderate desire to go to South Africa for a short period (with a like-
lihood of 35%).


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


27




Confirming the ephemeral interest of Namibians in South Africa,
some 81% of Namibians have no desire to become permanent residents
of South Africa, with 86% having no wish to become a citizen of the
country either. Even fewer people indicated a desire to retire in South
Africa or to be buried there (Table 2.8).


In sum, South Africa remains a place of interest for a significant
minority of Namibians, but not as a place to go and live permanently.
The findings of the survey confirm that for Namibians, like other


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


28


Table 2.6: Perceived Impacts of Migration on Person/Family/Community/Country


Personal Impact %


Very Positive 4


Positive 13


No Impact 63


Negative 15


Very Negative 2


Dont Know 3


Impact on Family


Very Positive 2


Positive 13


No Impact 63


Negative 15


Very Negative 3


Dont Know 5


Impact on Community


Very Positive 1


Positive 10


No Impact 48


Negative 19


Very Negative 4


Dont Know 18


Impact on Country


Very Positive 3


Positive 12


No Impact 30


Negative 24


Very Negative 10


Dont Know 22




SADC country citizens, home is best, and South Africa is not a pre-
ferred place to live.


2.4 CONCLUSIONS


Perhaps the most significant outcome of the Namibian survey is the low
propensity of the Namibian population to migrate to South Africa. It is
clear from the findings that it is the more stable and wealthier sectors of


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


29


Table 2.7: Desire and Likelihood of Moving to South Africa


Ability to Go to South Africa If Desired %


Yes 62


No 37


Dont Know 1


Desire to Go and Live Permanently in South Africa


A Great Extent 6


Some Extent 11


Not Much 15


Not at All 67


Dont Know 1


Desire to Go and Live Temporarily in South Africa (for up to two years)


A Great Extent 12


Some Extent 31


Not Much 15


Not at All 41


Dont Know 2


Likelihood of Going and Living Permanently in South Africa


Very Likely 4


Likely 8


Neither Likely nor Unlikely 6


Unlikely 19


Very Unlikely 61


Dont Know 3


Likelihood of Going and Living Temporarily in South Africa


Very Likely 7


Likely 28


Neither Likely nor Unlikely 6


Unlikely 18


Very Unlikely 40


Dont Know 2




Namibian society who are the cross-border visitors to South Africa, not
the poor and destitute. Also, it is urban residents who go to South
Africa, not rural dwellers.


An important adjunct to this picture is the fact that most cross-bor-
der migration with South Africa is short term, and for non-economic
purposes. In addition, the overwhelming majority of Namibians have no
desire to become permanent residents or citizens of South Africa, and
have no intention of retiring there either. These factors again reinforce
the emerging trend that South Africa is not threatened with a flood of
migration from other countries in the Southern African region, and this
finding should be taken into account in any debate on national immi-
gration policy reform, both within Namibia and South Africa.52


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


30


Table 2.8: Desire to Stay in South Africa Permanently


Interest in Permanent Resident in South Africa %


Yes 17


No 81


Dont Know 2


Interest in South African Citizenship


Yes 12


No 86


Dont Know 2


Interest in Retiring in South Africa


Yes 11


No 87


Dont Know 2


Interest in Being Buried in South Africa


Yes 7


No 91


Dont Know 3




CHAPTER THREE
NAMIBIAN ATTITUDES TO IMMIGRATION AND IMMIGRANTS53


WADE PENDLETON


3.1 INTRODUCTION


Under South African apartheid policies, immigration toNamibia by anyone other than South Africans was veryrestricted. After independence in 1990, a new influx of for-eigners arrived including diplomats and foreign aid workers,
foreign non-governmental organization personnel, temporary and per-
manent migrants from Africa, Europe and elsewhere, and refugees. Not
surprisingly, the question of who is a Namibian has become a difficult
question to answer under these changing political, economic and immi-
gration circumstances, and, perhaps even more difficult, is the question
of Namibian attitudes to non-Namibians, i.e. foreign citizens.


Within the context of the situation described above and the influx
of new foreign nationals, the SAMP National Immigration Policy
Survey (NIPS) was conducted in Namibia in early 2001. This is the first
Namibian project which attempts to assess Namibian citizens knowl-
edge, attitudes, and practice regarding non-citizens, national/ethnic
identity and immigration policy.


3.2 METHODOLOGY


The questionnaire used in the survey was collaboratively developed by
SAMP partners at a project workshop in Pretoria in November 2000.
The data collection was conducted in three major urban centres during
February 2001. A total of 750 questionnaires was administered. The
urban centres chosen are broadly representative of the Namibian urban
population. In the capital city of Windhoek, located in the centre of
the country, 450 interviews were conducted (449 in the dataset). The
decision to do 60% of the interviews in Windhoek - with an estimated
population of over 240,000 people - was based on budgetary considera-
tions, as well as the fact that over half of the urban residents of the
country live there.


Windhoek was divided into four areas based on data from the 1995
Residents Survey. These four areas represent the socio-economic, eth-
nic, and demographic diversity of the city.54 The number of interviews
conducted in each of the four areas of Windhoek was based on the size
of the areas population with almost half of the interviews being carried


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


31




out in Katutura, the large and almost exclusively black township where
most of the urban areas poor people live.


One hundred and fifty-one interviews took place in Oshakati, the
major urban centre in the north-central area of the country with an
estimated population of over 50,000 people. The four regions making up
north-central Namibia (Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, and Oshikoto)
are home to over 40% of the Namibian population and nearly all are
Owambo who speak various languages collectively called Oshiwambo.
Oshakati is also one of the fastest growing urban areas in the country
receiving most of its urban population from the surrounding rural popu-
lation. Keetmanshoop, the major urban centre in southern Namibia,
also has an estimated population of over 50,000 people (for more details
of the sampling methodology see Appendix).


3.3 DEMOGRAPHIC AND ECONOMIC PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS


The major demographic characteristics of the respondents in the survey
are reported in Tables 3.1 and 3.2. The sample selection includes people
from households that are poor and more affluent; people with diverse
education, age, ethnic, and racial group identities; and almost equal per-
centages of women and men. The sample is broadly representative of
the Namibian urban population.


Travel and living outside ones home country often provides expo-
sure to different cultures and ways of life, resulting in greater tolerance
and more liberal attitudes towards people who are different. It might be
expected that those who have traveled/lived abroad would, on their
return, be more tolerant of foreign nationals in Namibia. Respondents
were asked if they had traveled outside Namibia, where they had trav-
eled, and if they had lived outside Namibia for more than six months.


Only 25% of respondents said they had traveled outside Namibia.
Countries sharing a common border with Namibia were the most com-
mon destinations including South Africa (42%), Angola (11%), and
Botswana/Zimbabwe/Zambia each with between 6% and 8%. North
America/Europe was also high with 13% (percentages based on total
responses not cases). Those who have traveled are more likely to be white
or coloured, to be higher educated, and to live in households with higher
incomes. About 18% of respondents have lived outside Namibia for more
than six months and include many returnees; that is, Namibians who
lived in exile before independence and then returned. With the excep-
tion of Botswana, which was not a popular destination for those who
have lived outside the country, the socioeconomic and destination profile
is about the same as for those who have traveled. In the analysis of attitu-
dinal questions, it was often found that people who had traveled/lived
outside Namibia were more tolerant of outsiders (see below).


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


32




MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


33


Table 3.1: Characteristics of the Respondents


Age No. %


16-24 215 29.3


25-34 194 26.5


35-49 186 25.4


50-98 138 18.8


Total 733 100.0


Formal education


None 43 5.7


Grades 1-7 101 13.5


Grades 8-12 455 60.7


Post-graduate diplomas 150 20.0


Total 749 100.0


Race


White 90 12.0


Black 562 75.0


Coloured 97 13.0


Total 749 100.0


Sex


Male 367 51.0


Female 353 49.0


Total 720 100.0


Household income


0-900 $N 157 27.4


901-2000 $N 136 23.8


2001-5000 $N 150 26.2


> 5001 $N 129 22.6


Total 572 100.0


Work status


Formal employment 299 39.9


Informal employment 69 9.2


Unemployed looking for work 202 27.0


Unemployed not looking for work 179 23.9


Total 749 100.0


Class


Poor 280 37.8


Working class 269 36.3


Middle class 151 20.4


Upper middle class 41 5.5


Total 741 100.0


Travel history


Never left the country 436 58.1


Travelled outside 179 23.9


Lived outside 135 18.0


Total 750 100.0




3.4 ATTITUDES TO CONDITIONS IN NAMIBIA


Personal and national economic conditions were the topic of the first
set of questions on the survey. Respondents were asked how satisfied
they were with current economic conditions and their expectations
about the future, for both their personal economic conditions and for
the country as a whole.


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


34


Table 3.1: Characteristics of the Respondents (cont.)


What language do you speak most at home? No. %


English 42 5.6


Afrikaans 192 25.6


Nama/Damara 174 23.2


Oshiwambo 275 36.7


Otjiherero 41 5.5


Kwangari 9 1.2


Loszi 2 0.3


Other 15 2.0


Total 750 100.0


What is your primary religious affiliation?


Christian 651 87.0


Christian Independent 71 9.5


Traditional 12 1.6


Other 14 3.5


Total 748 100.0


Ethnic groups


Coloured 93 12.5


English 27 3.6


Afrikaner 56 7.5


Nama/Damara 171 23.0


Owambo 274 36.9


Herero 41 5.5


Other white 7 0.9


Other black 73 9.8


Total 747 100.0


Place of residence


Windhoek 449 59.9


Keetmanshoop 150 20.0


Oshakati 151 20.1


Total 750 100.0


Consider leaving Namibia


Strong consideration 97 13.4


Some consideration 183 25.2


No consideration at all 445 61.4


Total 725 100.0




The findings on this first set of economic questions are very impor-
tant for interpreting Namibian attitudes towards immigration. On many
subsequent questions, respondents answers varied according to their
economic circumstances. Those who are better off economically are
generally more tolerant and less xenophobic than those who are poor.
This finding about the importance of economics is valid by itself, and it
is also valid within individual racial and ethnic groups. For example,
blacks living in households with higher incomes are often more tolerant
than those in households with lower incomes. Since household income,
socio-economic class, and work status are inter-related, the findings on
these variables tend to be similar. Likewise, economic conditions are
also strongly related to educational achievement; those with higher edu-
cational achievements also tend to be in households with higher
incomes.


With regard to personal economic situation, about half were satis-
fied/very satisfied with about 33% dissatisfied. Those who were satis-
fied/very satisfied, were more likely to be better educated, white, have
the highest household incomes, be employed, and think of themselves
as middle and upper middle class. Blacks had the largest percentage who
were dissatisfied/strongly dissatisfied (38%). The personal economic
future generally looks better, in particular for those who are younger,
higher educated, and with higher incomes. A large percentage of
respondents were dissatisfied/very dissatisfied with current economic
conditions in Namibia (32%), but this percentage decreases to 20% for
the future reflecting some optimism. The perception of the present and
future economic situation in Namibia is not statistically related to any
demographic variables. That is, those in households with higher or
lower incomes are no more or less pessimistic about the present or opti-
mistic about the future, suggesting that these attitudes are widely shared
(see Table 3.2).


Other variables likely to influence attitudes to immigration include
race, class, language, religion and national identity. In terms of how
Namibian people see themselves, religion and language are more
important/very important (over 85%) than race (67%) and class
(58%). The importance of language and religious identity declines
somewhat for those who are better educated and in households with
higher incomes.


Although the Namibian nation is only a little more than a decade
old, most respondents have a very strong sense of national identity
(Table 3.3). Over 90% of respondents strongly agreed/agreed that
being a Namibian is a very important part of how they see themselves.
Similarly, most want their children to think of themselves as Namibian.
Given the decades of living under South African apartheid, with its


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


35




emphasis on ethnic identity, it is not surprising that many respondents
had strong attitudes about the importance of their ethnic identity.
When asked about their ethnic group, people agreed that ties to their
ethnic group are strong (74%). Over half think their ethnic group is
very different from other Namibian ethnic groups, but less than half


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


36


Table 3.2: Attitudes to Economic Conditions


Opinion about personal economic conditions No. %


Very satisfied 46 6.1


Satisfied 302 40.3


Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied 150 20.0


Dissatisfied 205 27.4


Very dissatisfied 40 5.3


Dont know 6 0.8


Total 749 100.0


Opinion about personal economic conditions in one years time


Much better 70 9.4


Better 324 43.3


Same 188 25.1


Worse 84 11.2


Much worse 19 2.5


Dont know 63 8.4


Total 748 100.0


Opinion about economic conditions in Namibia


Very satisfied 15 2.0


Satisfied 275 36.7


Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied 183 24.4


Dissatisfied 196 26.1


Very dissatisfied 44 5.9


Dont know 37 4.9


Total 750 100.0


Opinion about economic conditions in Namibia in one years time from now


Much better 78 10.4


Better 295 39.4


Same 142 19.0


Worse 98 13.1


Much worse 33 4.4


Dont know 103 13.8


Total 749 100.0




say their ethnic group is best. Those who have lived outside the coun-
try and those with higher incomes feel less strongly that their ethnic
group is best (Table 3.3).


A series of questions were asked about how people felt about inter-
acting with people from different cultures, about whether exposure to
different cultures enriches one life and the level of acceptance of people
from different cultures. In each case, the respondents agreed/strongly
agreed with these sentiments (96%, 73%, and 71% respectively). The
responses generally suggest a positive attitude and curiosity about people
from different cultures.


Who is a true Namibian? The importance of various characteristics
were ranked from essential to not at all important. The importance
of various characteristics falls into two categories. The first are those
characteristics which people have a choice about and where demo-
graphic variables make no difference. In order of importance they are:
working/contributing to the Namibian economy (78% important/essen-
tial), speaking a Namibian language (62%), supporting the Namibian


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


37


Table 3.3: Attitudes Towards Namibian Identity


Being a Namibian is very important to how you see yourself No. %


Strongly agree 426 57.1


Agree 282 37.8


Neither agree nor disagree 27 3.6


Disagree 10 1.3


Strongly disagree 1 0.1


Total 746 100.0


You want your children to think of themselves as Namibian


Strongly agree 419 56.7


Agree 276 37.3


Neither agree nor disagree 37 5.0


Disagree 7 0.9


Total 739 100.0


It makes you feel proud to be Namibian


Strongly agree 465 62.4


Agree 240 32.2


Neither agree nor disagree 32 4.3


Disagree 7 0.9


Strongly disagree 1 0.1


Total 745 100.0




constitution (75%), supporting non-racialism (61%), owing your ulti-
mate loyalty to Africa (50%), and being willing to give up citizenship in
any other country (30%).


For the second set of characteristics, many are ascribed (i.e. they are
determined by birth). They are less important to people who live in
households with higher incomes, those who are better educated, and
those who have traveled and lived outside the country. However, most
of these characteristics are more important to black Namibians than to
other racial groups. They are, in order of importance: being born in
Namibia (82%), having parents who were born in Namibia (79%), hav-
ing grandparents who were born in Namibia (72%), being willing to
fight in a war for Namibia (50%), speaking an African language (43%),
and being black (34%) (see Table 3.4).


3.5 ATTITUDES TO MIGRANTS IN NAMIBIA


Respondents were asked to choose as many reasons as they thought
applied to the question, Why do you think people from other countries
come to Namibia? From the answers presented in Table 3.5, it is clear
that Namibians believe that people come to Namibia for numerous rea-
sons. Choices include both push reasons in their home country and
pull reasons in Namibia. The most frequently given answers are: eco-
nomic reasons (27%) and political conditions (16%) and to visit for a
variety of reasons (to visit friends, as tourists, etc).


Words and phrases exist in Namibian languages for foreigners with
only a few having negative connotations. In Oshiwambo, enhauki refers
to those who have run away and is frequently used to refer to refugees,
and omunzainzai means foreigners those who come from another coun-
try. In Damara/Nama, !hao hu //in refers to people from other lands and
/husaben to unknown people (refugees). Foreigners are called buitelanders
(outsiders) in Afrikaans.


How much of a foreigners own language and culture must they give
up if they want to become Namibian? Almost 50% say they must aban-
don their own language and culture completely or only use it in their
home. Those with more education, and those in households with high-
er incomes, are more accommodating and have the strongest belief that
foreigners can use their language and culture regardless of where they
are. The same pattern about education and income is found for each
racial group, i.e. blacks who have more education or who live in house-
holds with higher incomes are more tolerant on this question.


Namibians were asked if the country or region of origin of a foreign-
er influenced their acceptance. The positive answers are fairly uniform
with yes for Europe/North America (46%), Southern Africa (44%),
Asia (42%), and the rest of Africa (41%). However, over half of the


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


38




MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


39


Table 3.4: Defining Namibian Identity
Being black No. %


Essential 87 11.8


Important 169 22.9


Not very important 225 30.5


Not at all important 256 34.7


Total 737 100.0


Speaking an African language


Essential 89 12.0


Important 223 30.1


Not very important 219 29.6


Not at all important 209 28.2


Total 740 100.0


Owing your ultimate loyalty to Africa


Essential 88 12.2


Important 282 39.2


Not very important 207 28.8


Not at all important 143 19.9


Total 720 100.0


Being born in Namibia


Essential 306 40.9


Important 308 41.2


Not very important 89 11.9


Not at all important 45 6.0


Total 748 100.0


Having parents who were born in Namibia


Essential 287 38.7


Important 301 40.6


Not very important 100 13.5


Not at all important 54 7.3


Total 742 100.0


Having grandparents who were born in Namibia


Essential 226 30.5


Important 305 41.2


Not very important 147 19.8


Not at all important 63 8.5


Total 741 100.0


Speaking a Namibian language


Essential 175 23.5


Important 292 39.1


Not very important 165 22.1


Not at all important 114 15.3


Total 746 100.0




respondents think that people from all four regions of the world cannot
be accepted as part of the Namibian nation. For all four regions of the
world, acceptance is greater for respondents who are better educated,
employed, middle/upper middle class, and who have traveled or lived
outside the country.


Respondents were asked what someone had to do to be accepted as
part of the Namibian nation? From Table 3.6 it can be seen that the
three most important issues are legal requirements, being a good citizen,
and contributing to the economy.


Namibians who think foreigners cannot become part of the
Namibian nation, think they will cause over-population (22%), harm
the economy (21%), engage in illegal activities (19%), and cause
health problems/diseases(16%) (see Table 3.7).


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


40


Table 3.4: Defining Namibian Identity (cont.)


Being willing to fight in war for Namibia No. %


Essential 136 18.7


Important 231 31.8


Not very important 183 25.2


Not at all important 177 24.3


Total 727 100.0


Supporting non-racialism


Essential 170 23.2


Important 284 38.7


Not very important 151 20.6


Not at all important 128 17.5


Total 733 100.0


Being willing to give up citizenship in any other country


Essential 48 6.8


Important 172 24.2


Not very important 255 35.9


Not at all important 235 33.1


Total 710 100.0


Supporting the Namibian constitution


Essential 290 39.2


Important 267 36.1


Not very important 89 12.0


Not at all important 94 12.7


Total 740 100.0


Working and contributing to the Namibian economy


Essential 280 37.9


Important 295 40.0


Not very important 79 10.7


Not at all important 84 11.4


Total 738 100.0




A series of questions were asked about the frequency of contact with
foreigner nationals. About 55% of respondents have some/great deal
of contact with those from South Africa. Respondents with more formal
education, whites, higher household income, the upper middle class,
and those who have traveled/lived outside the country have more con-
tact with those from other regions of the world.


Respondents were asked what type of personal contact they have


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


41


Table 3.5: Perceived Reasons Why People Come to Namibia


No. %


Worse/bad economy in foreigners home country 155 7.6


Better economy here 388 19.0


Political conditions in foreigners home country 173 8.5


Political conditions here 145 7.1


To commit crimes/cause trouble 159 7.8


Hunger/famine in foreigners home country 75 3.7


Better health care etc and quality of life here 144 7.1


To develop our country 165 8.1


Visit, holiday, meet people 384 18.8


Move here permanently/to immigrate 57 2.8


Worse/bad environment in foreigners home country 70 3.4


Better environment/population conditions here 119 5.8


Other 5 0.2


Total responses 2039 100.0


Note: Total is the total responses since the question is multiple-response.


Table 3.6: Requirements for Citizenship


What do people have to do to be accepted as part of the


Namibian nation? No. %


Comply with legal requirements 307 36.7


Be a good citizen 167 20.0


Adapt culturally/socially 34 4.1


Contribute to economy/development 146 17.5


No illegal activities 73 8.7


Good health 57 6.8


Literate/educated 48 5.7


Other 4 0.5


Total Responses 836 100.0


Note: Total is total responses since the question is multiple-response




with foreign nationals from other regions. Friendship and family forms of
contact are most important with those from South Africa (Table 3.8).
Commercial interactions are generally the most frequent type of contact
with those from other regions. Between 14%-20% of contacts are work-
place related. Respondents with lower educational achievement, lower
household income, and women have more contact with foreign nation-
als from whom they buy/sell. Those with higher education, higher
household income, and men have more contact at the work place.


Interactions with foreign nationals from the regions in Table 3.8
were evaluated on a scale going from very positive to very negative.
Respondents say their interactions are very positive/positive with
those from South Africa (75%), Southern Africa (63%), elsewhere in
Africa and Europe/North America (about 60%), and Asia (53%).


Respondents were asked to estimate the number of foreign nationals
they think come legally to work and live in Namibia each year. Only
about 15% of respondents were within the correct range of 1,000 to


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


42


Table 3.7: Reasons Why People Cannot Be Accepted As Part of the Namibian Nation


No. %


Harm the economy 193 21.4


Engage in illegal activities 170 18.8


Unable to adapt culturally/socially 37 4.1


It is our country keep them out 78 8.6


Cause shortages on housing, food and services 74 8.2


Cause health problems/diseases 146 16.2


Cause over-population 204 22.6


Other 1 0.1


Total responses 903 100.0


Note: Total is total responses since the question is multiple-response


Table 3.8: Type of Contact with Foreigners


South Southern Africa % North America Asia %
Africa % Africa % /Europe %


Work for/with 14 17 21 20 15


Live next to 8 10 10 10 6


Are friends 39 29 21 32 14


Children go to school with 6 10 7 6 4


Buy/sell with them 26 32 40 31 61


Family/relatives 7 2 1 1 0


Totals 100 100 100 100 100


N=601 N=391 N=291 N=363 N=250




3,000 per annum. About half of the respondents over-estimated. For
comparison, respondents were asked to estimate the size of the
Namibian population. About 35% of respondents did not know, about
half estimated correctly (between 1.5 and 2.0 million), and about 20%
over-estimated.


Respondents estimated the proportion of foreign nationals in the
population to be 25% on average. That would equal over 400,000 thou-
sand people out of a population of 1.7 million which is a significant
over-estimation. Of the those presently in Namibia, about half are
thought to be in the country illegally. Respondents think about one-
third plan to remain permanently, about one-third are there temporari-
ly, and about one-third are refugees. About 90% of respondents think
the number of has greatly increased or increased. Over 80% of
respondents think there are too many in Namibia. Yet there is clearly
significant misperception and lack of knowledge.


About one-third of respondents have heard once or more than
once about someone being denied a job because it went to a non-
Namibian. But only 20% of respondents personally know of someone
being denied a job that went to a foreign national. Just 9% of respon-
dents say they have personally been denied a job because it went to a
foreign citizen.


Respondents were asked to indicate to what extent they think peo-
ple from Southern Africa in Namibia do various activities. Most respon-
dents evidently think they take jobs, commit crimes, send earnings out
of the country, use welfare services, and bring disease to Namibia (the
mean scores for the above activities are about 7 and greater out of ten).
On the other hand, the mean scores for job creation and skills transfer
are only at about the mid-point of the scale indicating many do not
think people from Southern Africa contribute very much in this area
(see Table 3.9).


When asked what they would do about a foreign national they


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


43


Table 3.9: Perceptions of Southern Africans in Namibia


No. Mean Median


Take jobs from Namibians 736 7.1 8.0


Commit crimes in Namibia 727 6.9 7.0


Send earnings out of Namibia 732 7.3 8.0


Use Namibias welfare services 724 7.2 8.0


Bring diseases to Namibia 731 7.0 8.0


Create jobs for Namibians 732 4.8 5.0


Bring skills needed by Namibia 731 5.4 5.0


Scale: 0 is none of them do this and 10 means all of them do this




thought was in the country illegally, about 80% say they would report
them to the police and 12% said they would do nothing. Regarding
people from Southern Africa, respondents were asked four questions
about the likelihood that they would take part in action to prevent peo-
ple from doing the following activities: (1) moving into their neigh-
bourhood, (2) operating a business in the area, (3) sitting in the same
classroom as their children, and (4) becoming a co-worker. More than
70% of respondents answered that they were unlikely/very unlikely to
take any action.


3.6 IMMIGRATION POLICY ATTITUDES


When asked what the government should do about foreign migrants
coming to Namibia, over 80% said it should strictly limit the number
who can enter Namibia. Given this attitude, it is not surprising that on
specific government policy questions, respondents were rather harsh in
their opinions. The first set of questions concern treatment of migrants
in gaining work permits or permanent residence. Respondents are clear-
ly more supportive of special treatment for those who want to work
temporarily and then go home (49% support/strongly support) com-
pared to those who want to stay permanently and possibly become citi-
zens (31% support/strongly support). Whites are more supportive of for-
eign nationals being granted permanent residence/citizenship. The
region where the person comes from makes little difference. Those with
greater educational achievement were, however, more supportive of
migrants from particular regions of the world receiving preferential
treatment. However, the strongest support (about 89%) is for migrants
with skills not present in Namibia or those who would invest money in
the economy and create jobs.


Respondents were asked a series of questions about immigration con-
trol. They support/strongly support strong measures including: electric
fences on the border (80%); allocating more money to border protec-
tion (81%); using the army to patrol Namibias border (95%); requiring
foreigners to carry identification at all times (90%); giving police the
right to detain suspected illegal immigrants (90%); and penalising busi-
nesses who employ them (95%). Only on the issue of increasing taxes
to cover the expense of increased border patrols does support decline to
50%.


Respondents were asked about their support for various government
policies relating to legal immigration. About 30% supported making it
easier for families of contract workers to come and live in Namibia;
whites, better educated, and households with higher incomes are the
strongest supporters. Only about 20% supported making it easier for con-
tract workers to qualify for permanent residence after the completion of


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


44




their contracts. About 40% supported making it easier for
hawkers/traders and small business operators from Southern Africa to
trade in Namibia.


What should Namibias policy be on the deportation of undocu-
mented migrants? From Table 3.10 it can be seen that deporting
migrants who are in the country legally has some support (20%). For
those who do not contribute to the economy, there is strong support
(71%) to deport them, although households with higher incomes and
the middle/upper middle class give less support. About 96% support
deporting those who have committed crimes or who live in Namibia
without permission. Given these answers, it is perhaps surprising that
60% support offering amnesty to people in the country illegally.


3.7 REFUGEE POLICY ATTITUDES


Respondents were asked a series of questions about refugee issues. From
Table 3.11 it can be seen that about 70% of respondents support giving
refugees asylum. However, there is little support for increasing the num-
ber of refugees or for giving them permanent residence. There is support
for sending refugees back to their own country (85%) and requiring all
refugees to live in camps near the border (67%). About 44% support
using money from the Namibian budget to shelter refugees. Regarding
refugees, respondents were asked if they deserved protection in other
countries? About 60% agreed. However, about 54% thought that it is
impossible to determine whether a person is really a refugee.


3.8 RIGHTS OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES


Respondents were asked a series of questions about the civil rights of
citizens, temporary workers/visitors, refugees, and illegal immigrants.
The first question was about the right to free speech. Most feel the right
should only be granted to Namibian citizens (75%) and should never be
granted to temporary workers/visitors (61%), refugees (76%), and illegal
immigrants (91%). Regarding the right to vote, 99% say it should only
be granted to Namibian citizens and not to any others (over 90%). The
right to legal protection is strongly supported for Namibian citizens
(96%). For temporary workers/visitors and refugees about 50% think it
should always be granted and about 25% say it depends on circum-
stances. Over half of respondents think illegal immigrants should never
be granted this right. The right to be protected by the police, to be free
from illegal searches, and to have your property protected is a right that
should always be granted to Namibian citizens (99%). About 75% of
respondents say temporary workers/visitors should always have this
right, 64% say refugees should always have this right, but only 24%


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


45




MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


46


Table 3.10: Namibias Policy Regarding Deportation


Deporting all foreigners even if they are here legally No. %


Strongly support 34 4.7


Support 110 15.1


Neither support nor oppose 66 9.1


Oppose 349 48.0


Strongly oppose 168 23.1


Total 727 100.0


Deporting all foreigners who dont contribute to the economy


Strongly support 274 37.1


Support 253 34.3


Neither support nor oppose 49 6.6


Oppose 152 20.6


Strongly oppose 10 1.4


Total 738 100.0


Deporting all foreigners who have committed crimes


Strongly support 507 68.2


Support 209 28.1


Neither support nor oppose 5 0.7


Oppose 16 2.2


Strongly oppose 6 0.8


Total 743 100.0


Deporting all those who live here without permission


Strongly support 477 63.9


Support 244 32.7


Neither support nor oppose 10 1.3


Oppose 9 1.2


Strongly oppose 6 0.8


Total 746 100.0


Offering amnesty to people who are here illegally


Strongly support 173 24.2


Support 255 35.7


Neither support nor oppose 108 15.1


Oppose 86 12.0


Strongly oppose 93 13.0


Total 715 100.0




MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


47


Table 3.11: Would You Support/Oppose the Government Policies about Refugees?


Giving asylum to people escaping war and persecution No. %


Strongly support 116 15.9


Support 396 54.4


Neither support nor oppose 53 7.3


Oppose 121 16.6


Strongly oppose 42 5.8


Total 728 100.0


Increasing the number of refugees entering Namibia


Strongly support 5 0.7


Support 66 8.9


Neither support nor oppose 63 8.5


Oppose 353 47.6


Strongly oppose 254 34.3


Total 741 100.0


Granting permanent residence to refugees (5 years)


Strongly support 13 1.8


Support 139 18.8


Neither support nor oppose 59 8.0


Oppose 331 44.8


Strongly oppose 197 26.7


Total 739 100.0


Sending refugees back to their own countries


Strongly support 292 40.0


Support 331 45.3


Neither support nor oppose 37 5.1


Oppose 42 5.8


Strongly oppose 28 3.8


Total 730 100.0


Requiring all refugees to live in camps near the border


Strongly support 197 26.7


Support 302 40.9


Neither support nor oppose 43 5.8


Oppose 119 16.1


Strongly oppose 78 10.6


Total 739 100.0


Using the money from the Namibian budget to shelter refugees


Strongly support 48 6.5


Support 275 37.5


Neither support nor oppose 110 15.0


Oppose 175 23.9


Strongly oppose 125 17.1


Total 733 100.0




thought illegal immigrants should have this right. The final question in
the series was about the right to social services, such as education, hous-
ing, health care and water. Respondents strongly support Namibian citi-
zens rights to these services (98%). About 70% say it should always be
granted to temporary workers/visitors and refugees, and about 50% say
illegal immigrants should never be granted this right.


CONCLUSION


How intolerant are Namibians of outsiders? The answer seemsto be it depends. It depends, in part, on your racial group,your household income, and your education. It does notdepend on your gender, as that seems to make no difference
in attitudes or knowledge. A consistent, statistically significant finding
in the survey was that less tolerant attitudes about outsiders and other
ethnic/racial groups are strongest among poor and less educated
Namibians; conversely, middle class, and better educated Namibians are
more tolerant and accepting. On some questions, those who have trav-
eled or lived outside the country and those who live in Windhoek, are
somewhat more tolerant. However, a majority of respondents have
strong negative opinions about foreign migrants with over 80% of
respondents favouring placing strict limitations on the number who can
enter Namibia.


Namibians have strong national, racial, language, ethnic, and reli-
gious identities. To be accepted as a Namibian, almost 50% say a foreign
person must abandon their own language and culture, and wanting to
become a citizen only slightly improves the Namibian view of the for-
eign national. Nor does the region of origin of the immigrant improve
their chance of acceptance. Namibians fear that foreign migrants harm
the economy, engage in illegal activities, cause health problems, and
contribute to over-population. It is certainly not easy to become a
Namibian.


Foreign citizens from all over the world, and especially South Africa,
are not strangers to Namibians. Namibians encounter them in econom-
ic activities (employment and trading), some are friends, and a few are
related. In general, people rate their contact as positive in spite of the
fact that they think there are too many. The size of the foreign popula-
tion is greatly exaggerated with over half the respondents over-estimat-
ing its size. About 80% think there are too many in the country and
about half are in the country illegally. About one-third of the foreign
population is thought to be refugees with about 40% being genuine
refugees.


When specifically asked about Southern Africans, Namibians rate


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


48




negative behaviours such as taking jobs, committing crimes, sending
earnings out of the country, and bringing diseases, rather high. The
media plays an important part in the development of stereotypes about
foreigners with radio, television, newspapers, and magazines the primary
sources of information. Economic reasons dominate Namibian stereo-
types about why foreign migrants come to the country, and many (63%)
believe that most are just in Namibia to earn money and then go home.
However, only a small percentage of Namibians believe that migrants
take jobs away from Namibians.


Although mildly supportive of preferential treatment for foreign citi-
zens with needed skills and those who create jobs, there is little support
for making it easier for legally resident migrants to bring their families
to Namibia. And there is little support for permitting them to remain
permanently after their contracts are completed. Deportation is strongly
supported for those who are not contributing to the economy as well as
those who are in the country illegally. There is very strong support for
extreme measures such as electrified fencing on borders to keep illegal
immigrants out. However, when it comes to taking action against for-
eigners, most say they would just report them to the police or do noth-
ing.


Regarding the civil rights of citizens, temporary workers/visitors,
refugees, and illegal immigrants, Namibians clearly distinguish between
their rights and those of outsiders in the country. Foreign citizens should
not criticize the government, and they should not vote. Only about half
thought they deserve equal police or judicial protection under the law,
and illegal immigrants deserve little police or judicial protection.
Surprisingly, access to social services is more generously offered than
legal/judicial rights.


Regarding refugees, the attitude is ambivalent. Namibians support
giving refugees asylum, but they are uncertain about their legitimacy
and about using Namibian government money to support them.
Refugees may come to Namibia, but they should stay in camps near the
border, their numbers should be kept low, and they should go home
when it is possible.


How xenophobic are Namibians towards outsiders? It depends on
whether or not you are legal or illegal foreigner, a refugee or migrant,
perceived to be doing something to develop the country or taking jobs
away from Namibians. It may also be influenced by the current econom-
ic and political climate of post-independence disappointment. But it
also depends on who is speaking. The President of Namibia, Sam
Nujoma, has recently made public statements that Namibians should
not marry foreigners and he has publicly criticized gays, most recently
saying they would be barred from entering Namibia.55 Although ques-


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


49




tions on homophobic attitudes were not included on the questionnaire,
official pronouncements contribute to a perception that it is govern-
ment policy.56


Among the important findings of the survey is the fact that many
Namibians are uninformed about immigrants and migrants: their num-
bers, their legal status, where they come from, and what they do. Some
fear migrants will take their jobs. There appears to be an attitude that
they should be helping the Namibian nation or go home. In reality,
many make significant contributions to Namibian economy and society.


A public information campaign, led by national leaders, to better
inform citizens about foreigner and Namibian civil and immigration
rights might help to better inform citizens, and make it more difficult
for people to retain inaccurate and unjustified negative attitudes.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


Iwould like to thank those 750 people in Windhoek, Oshakati, andKeetmanshoop who gave freely of their time and knowledge, agree-ing to be interviewed at length. Special thanks go to Christa Schierwho supervised data entry as well as writing some of the tables pro-
grams. But her contribution is much more than that. Her diligent and
consistent checking of questionnaires and data quality ensured a data
set that was as error free as possible. Data entry was done by Obert
Mutabani, Rosalia Fotolela, Cons Karamata, and Godhardt Kuaere. The
following people worked as enumerators in the field and the project has
benefited from their consistency and hard work in collecting the data:
Asteria Andjamba, Elizabeth Diemeni, Willem Kambonde, Bosco
Katjiua, Jacob Kruger, Linea Naango, Olimpio Nhaleipon, Roslin
Oarum, Tancy Shililifa, and Vida de Voss. George Eiseb and Akiser
Pumoti did an excellent job of supervising the enumerator teams in the
field.


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


50




APPENDIX: SAMPLING METHODOLOGY


Households were chosen using a stratified, systematic, clustermethod. That is, the urban areas stratification was takeninto account by selecting areas that represented the diversityof the area, e.g. shanty areas, built-up areas, middle class
areas, upper class areas, etc. Areas of the city/town were chosen by mak-
ing reference to maps of the city/town. Once an area was identified, the
number of interviews allocated was in proportion to the size of that
area. For example, if the chosen area had 10% of the city/towns popula-
tion, then 10% of the interviews took place there. Within each selected
area, a sample interval was calculated and clusters of households select-
ed. If the chosen household was vacant or abandoned or no people were
living there, then the plot on the right was selected. If more than one
household occupied the plot, the principal/main household was select-
ed.


Once a household was selected, the person to be interviewed was
selected using gender and age categories. Interviews alternated between
interviewing males and females. Only people 16 years of age and older
were interviewed, with people selected alternately from four age cate-
gories: 16-24, 25-34, 35-49, 50+. If there was more than one person
available in the selected household, the person whose age was closest to
the mid-point of the category was chosen. For example, for 16-24 it
would be 20, for 25-34 it would be 30, etc.


Interviewers were trained in a two-day workshop held at the Social
Sciences Division (SSD) of the Multi-Disciplinary Research Centre of
the University of Namibia. A group of experienced interviewers was
selected from the pool maintained by the SSD. The ten interviewers
were organized into teams based on language abilities and supervised by
an SSD researcher. Interviewers translated the survey into various lan-
guages appropriate for the respondent including Oshiwambo,
Damara/Nama, Afrikaans, and Otjiherero. Interviewers encountered rel-
atively little opposition to the questionnaire; in fact, once the topic and
purpose of the survey was explained, most people were willing partici-
pants. This was even true in the primarily white eastern and southern
areas of Windhoek where refusals to participate are common.
Interviewers reported that the only major complaint about the survey
was that it was too long; most interviews took forty-five minutes to an
hour. Household substitution was less than one-percent.


Regarding the data analysis of the findings from the survey, each
question was examined by major demographic independent variables to
assess the extent to which they influenced respondents answers. It
should be noted that race, ethnic group, language, education, income,


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


51




and class are highly inter-correlated and influence each other, e.g. more
white households have higher incomes than black households, black
respondents have lower educational achievement than coloured respon-
dents, etc. The interrelationship between these independent variables is
very much a result of the apartheid policies implemented in Namibia
for many decades under South African colonial rule. The influence of
each, with the exception of language, was separately evaluated in the
data analysis. Language was not included in the analysis because
Afrikaans is spoken at home by both coloured people (who were mar-
ginalized during the apartheid era) and Afrikaners (who were a privi-
leged group during the apartheid era); it would be unclear in the data
analysis which group was being evaluated. An ethnic group variable was
computed from race and language variables; the findings for ethnic
group were consistent with racial group so they are not separately
reported.


In order to do the data analysis, it was necessary to recode the five
category response questions into three categories so that valid chi square
tests could be done. For example, on question 10, strongly agree and
agree were combined, neither agree nor disagree remained the same,
and disagree and strongly disagree became one category; otherwise,
there were too many cells with expected frequencies of less than five
and the chi square test was invalid for bivariant tables. Only where sta-
tistically significant differences were found on bivariant tables were they
commented upon; when no independent variables are mentioned in the
text (such as sex, race, age, etc) it is because their influence on answers
was not statistically significant).


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


52




ENDNOTES


1 I. Tvedten and M. Mupotola, Urbanization and Urban Policies in Namibia.
SSD Discussion Paper No. 10, Social Sciences Division of the Multi-
Disciplinary Research Centre, University of Namibia, 1995.


2 W. Pendleton and B. Frayne, Report of the Findings of the Namibian Migration
Project. Windhoek: Social Sciences Division Research Report No. 35. Multi-
Disciplinary Research Centre, University of Namibia, 1998.


3 Bruce Frayne and Wade Pendleton, Namibians on South Africa: Attitudes
Towards Cross-Border Migration and Immigration Policy, SAMP Migration
Policy Series No. 10, 1998.


4 Wade Pendleton, Katutura: A Place Where We Stay (Athens: Ohio University
Centre for International Studies, 1996)


5 H. Bley, South West Africa Under German Rule (London: Heineman, 1971).
6 Bruce Frayne, Political Ideology, Social Change and Planning Practice in


Namibia Journal of Planning Education and Research, 20 (2000): 55-68.
7 Frayne and Pendleton, Namibians on South Africa.
8 Ibid.
9 A. Cooper, The Institutionalization of Contract Labour in Namibia Journal


of Southern African Studies, 25(1) (1999): 121-138; G. Bauer, Labor and
Democracy in Namibia, 1971-1996 (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1998); R.
Moorsom, Underdevelopment and Labour Migration: The Contract Labour
System in Namibia (Windhoek: University of Namibia, 1995); and R.
Moorsom, Underdevelopment, Contract Labour and Worker Consciousness
in Namibia, 1915-1972 Journal of Southern African Studies, 4 (1977): 52-87.


10 Ibid.
11 Ibid.
12 Republic of Namibia, Population and Housing Census, Report A, Statistical


Tables. Volume 1 (Windhoek: Government of the Republic of
Namibia/National Planning Commission, 1993).


13 Namibian Broadcasting Corporation, Technical Report for the All Media and
Product Usage Survey (Windhoek: NBC, 1996).


14 Population figures in this section and the Urbanization section are based on
estimates for 1996 by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation, Ibid.


15 Republic of Nambia, Report A, Volume 1, p. 8
16 Frayne and Pendleton, Namibians on South Africa.
17 Bruce Frayne and A. Pomuti, Oshakati Status Quo Report (Windhoek: Social


Sciences Division of the Multi-Disciplinary Research Centre, University of
Namibia, 1997).


18 Adapted from Wade Pendleton and Bruce Frayne, Migration as a
Population Dynamic in Namibia In B. Fuller and I. Prommer, eds.,
Population-Development-Environment in Namibia (Laxenburg: International
Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), 2000), pp. 273-96.


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


53




19 A 1995 survey of Windhoek estimated the population at 181,696; a 1994
survey by the Central Statistics Office put the population at 150,000.


20 For more information about Katutura and Windhoek see Pendleton,
Katatura.


21 Municipality of Windhoek, The Windhoek Structure Plan (Windhoek, 1996).
22 Municipality of Windhoek, 1995 Residents Survey Report, Three Volumes


(Windhoek, 1996).
23 Central Statistics Office, Living Conditions in Namibia (Windhoek: National


Planning Commission, 1996).
24 Municipality of Windhoek, The Windhoek Structure Plan (Windhoek, 1996).
25 Region in the development budget reports refers to clusters of Regions; the


regions identified are North, Central and South. Central includes Erongo,
Khomas, Omaheke and Otjozondjupa. Reference to the actual development
projects shows the centrality of Windhoek, which is located in the Khomas
Region, in the development process.


26 National Planning Commission, Development Budget (Windhoek:
Government of Namibia, 1995, 1996, 1997).


27 United National Development Programme, Human Development Report 1997
(Windhoek: UNDP with UNAIDS, 1997).


28 Wade Pendleton. Katutura.
29 Wade Pendleton and Bruce Frayne, Report of the Findings of the Namibian


Migration Project, SSD Research Report No. 35 (Windhoek: Social Sciences
Division of the Multi-Disciplinary Research Centre, University of Namibia,
1998).


30 Pendleton and Frayne, Findings of the Namibian Migration Project.
31 The discussion on internal migration patterns focuses on the findings pre-


sented in Table 4, and while referenced, it should be noted that it is taken
from the survey report on the results of the Namibia Migration Project
(Pendleton and Frayne, Findings of the Namibian Migration Project).


32 Ibid.
33 Ibid.
34 Ibid.
35 Ibid.
36 Ibid.
37 Http://www.css.gov.za/releases/ demograp/deomgr01.html
38 Frayne and Pendleton, Namibians on South Africa.
39 Ibid.
40 Ibid.
41 Leila Monib, International Responses to the Refugee Crisis in Southern Africa: A


Case Study of Angolan Refugees in Namibia (Durban: School of Development
Studies, University of Natal). Available at
http://www.nu.ac.za/csds/donor_z.pdf


42 Ibid.


MOBILE NAMIBIA: MIGRATION TRENDS AND ATTITUDES


54




43 Http://www.css.gov.za/releases/ demograp/deomgr01.html
44 Frayne and Pendleton, Namibians on South Africa.
45 Ibid.
46 This chapter is based on a 1998 national survey funded by the Canadian


International Development Agency (CIDA) as part of their support for the
Southern African Migration Project (SAMP), and was implemented by the
Social Science Division (SSD) of the Multi-Disciplinary Research Centre
(MRC) of the University of Namibia (UNAM).


47 For more detailed discussion on this point, see Frayne and Pendleton,
Namibians on South Africa.


48 Ibid.
49 On this point see D. McDonald, ed., On Borders: Perspectives on Cross-Border


Migration in Southern Africa (New York: SAMP/St. Martins Press, 2000). For
a comparison of the results between Namibia and these three countries, see
Bruce Frayne and Wade Pendleton. Namibians on South Africa.


50 Http://www.css.gov.za/releases/demograp/demogr01.html
51 See J. Crush and V. Williams, eds., The New South Africans? The Immigration


Amnesties and their Aftermath (Cape Town: Idasa, 1999).
52 See David McDonald, John Gay, Lovemore Zinyama, Robert Mattes and


Fion de Vletter. Challenging Xenophobia: Myth and Realities about Cross-Border
Migration in South Africa, SAMP Migration Policy Series No. 7, 1998.


53 The project is funded by the Canadian Development Agency (CIDA) as part
of their support for the Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) and
was implemented by the Social Science Division (SSD) of the Multi-
Disciplinary Research Centre (MRC) of the University of Namibia
(UNAM).


54 Details on the population of Windhoek and the socio-demographic charac-
teristics of the various areas are based on the City of Windhoeks 1995
Residents Survey (1996:20,22,23).


55 The Namibian, April 6, 2001.
56 The Windhoek Observer (April 7, 2001) reported under the headline


Disquieting Petition the delivery of a petition to the President by about
400 people attacking the judiciary for unpopular decisions, the removal from
the country of unpatriotic people, and, seriously condemned and were
undertaking to fight all the ungodly, un-African and un-Namibian tenden-
cies and the culture of satanist cults, demonism, homosexuals, the gays and
the lesbians. We shall support the deportation of all foreigners who are
inclined to support such activities. The petition also attacks foreign consult-
ants and foreign-funded non-governmental organizations.


MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


55




MIGRATION POLICY SERIES


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MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 27


57




PUBLISHED BY:


SOUTHERN AFRICAN MIGRATION PROJECT
6 Spin Street


Church Square
Cape Town 8001


and


SOUTHERN AFRICAN RESEARCH CENTRE
Queens University


Kingston
Canada


PARTNERS:


Queens University (Canada)
Idasa (South Africa)


Sechaba Consultants (Lesotho)
ARPAC (Mozambique)
University of Zimbabwe


MRC, University of Namibia
ITPPSD, University of Botswana


University of Swaziland
P&DM, Wits University


This project is funded by the
Canadian government through the


Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
and the British government through the


Department for International Development (DFID)