1971–72 Namibian contract workers strike

During this period Namibia existed under the context of Apartheid, as a subjugated colonial state of South Africa.[7] Apartheid started in 1948[9] under British control through the Union of South Africa state. By the mid-1960s around 45-50% of the Black labour force was contract migrant labour from the Namibia northern colonial reserves.[7]

The contract system existed under the control of SWANLA, a semi-governmental agency. Any Black or Indigenous person who lived within the colonial reserves were not allowed outside the boundaries of these reserves unless they signed a 12-18 month fixed labour contract with SWANLA, which offered set wage-rates & conditions with no bargaining allowed. Workers were required to carry around passes with their movement strictly controlled & monitored. Women were barred from signing and as such not allowed outside the reserves.[7]

Contract workers then would be leased out by SWANLA to other businesses. Any breaking of the contract, such as quitting or labour organising, brought criminal sanctions alongside severe disciplinary punishments that could be exercised by the employer. Contract workers also lived in compounds controlled by their employers through SWANLA.[7] As such, alongside the typically bad working conditions, it's been characterised by many as close to slavery.[5][6]

For contract work under SWANLA, workers were classified into 4 separate grades of physical fitness, and to some extent job experience: Class A, B, C, and [Child][lower-alpha 1].[7][1] Wages were monthly, with the minimum ranging from 3.75 (for a child) to 8.75 Rand (for Class A).[1] For reference, at the time this was $5 to $10 USD.[1]

The preceding decades of apartheid before the strike saw significant labour organising efforts and prevalent strikes, including the development of OPO.[7] The Windhoek or Old Location massacre occurred in 1959, which in part led to the formation of SWAPO[10][7] from OPO. This played a large role in the fight against apartheid within Namibia, including a limited role within this strike.

In August 1971, pro-independence students, many of which already had experience with contract work, were expelled from high schools throughout Ovamboland by South African officials. Many former students then took contract work with the intention of promoting a general strike.[7] They cooperated with local workers and SWAPO branches to establish contact with others to kickstart the campaign.

Previous organising had already established a substantial degree of autonomy within the big compounds. Alongside this, tactics used to subvert pass laws allowed significant mobilisation within these compounds. Police responded with mass raids, where all workers were searched systematically and wide arrests were made.[7]

In March & June, Katutura, Windhoek was raided by police and a checkpoint was established at it's only entrance where workers were forced to show valid passes, disrupting pass evasion. Five months later on the night of November 11th, workers raided the checkpoint and offices, destroying them. Police responded with another large raid four days later.[7]

In June, the International Court of Justice ruled that South Africa's ongoing occupation of Namibia was illegal, which was used to encourage anti-colonial actions within the territory.[5]

By early November, labour organising had enough ground to organise more openly. Organisers at Walvis Bay called a mass meeting attended by the majority of contract workers in the compound. During this meeting a deadline was established for the start of the strike, with letters & information sent out to other compounds. It was decided there that mass meetings would be held on Sunday, December 12th at both Walvis Bay & Windhoek, and that the strike would start the following week. With the information reaching Windhoek on December 5th.[7]

Given the pass system, workers planned to return to the Ovamboland reserve for the span of the strike. This was in part a response to the statements of Jan de Wet, the Commissioner General for Ovamboland, made earlier on when the government became aware of a potential strike. He claimed contract labour was not slavery since workers signed the contracts. In reality the economic conditions within the reserves in conjunction with the pass system often forced signing them as a means of survival.[7] Special taxation of those in the reserves by the South African government also worsened this, which some claim was by design.[1]

In a letter written on November 28, as a culmination of the earlier mass meeting, workers at Windhoek wrote in response[7]:

...He said we ourselves want to be on contract because we come to work. We must talk about ending the system. We in Walvis Bay discussed it. We wrote a letter to the government of Ovamboland and to SWANLA. We will not come back. We will leave Walvis Bay and the contract, and will stay at home as the Boer J. de Wet said.

In response to the earlier November meeting, police arrested 14 organisers at Walvis Bay. The meeting also revealed some of the leadership and the timing of the strike to the South African government. Which likely played a role in the mitigated success of the strike in Walvis Bay compared to Windhoek.[7]

On December 12th[7][1] during the planned mass meeting at Walvis Bay (which also occurred at Windhoek) the South African government led a strike opposition meeting with pro-government speakers & Bantustan officials. This action however backfired due to the militant response of workers, with Bishop Auala, the influential head figure of ELOK, being persuaded to endorse the strike during it.

On January 28, 1972, three men were killed by police at Ondobe.[2] Later on January 30, 1972, five workers were shot and killed by police in the Epinga village.[2]

A mass grave of the 5 contract workers became known by the broader public in 2008, buried miles away.[3] Four of the workers died in the village (Thomas Mueshihange, Benjamin Herman, Lukas Veiko and Mathias Ohainenga). While three others were injured but survived and another died later in the hospital (Ngesea Sinana).[2]

By late February the strike had been partially broken. However, wide scale opposition continued, eventually merging into a long-term guerilla campaign in the north as a part of the Namibian War of Independence. For the strike, many workers continued to hold out, with some but not all of them returning many months later.[7] Some accounts, note March, 1972.[17] While one (from SWAPO member John Ya-Otto) claims May, 1972.[18]