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Hydropolitics, Interest Groups and Governance pp 11–36Cite as

The Kunene River’s State-Centric Hydropolitical History

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Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science ((BRIEFSENVIRONMENTAL))

Abstract

The hydropolitical history of the Kunene River is usually recounted from a state-centric perspective. I start the Kunene River’s hydropolitical history in the days when colonists colonised South West Africa. It is therefore a very Eurocentric rendition of the river basin’s hydropolitical history. Even so, since the days of the early German colonists, water and the implementation of water infrastructure, played a significant role in building a Westernised state entity. The centrality of water infrastructure for irrigation and hydro-electric production also played a role after South Africa’s mandate over South West Africa. This culminated in a number of initiatives and studies to tap the potential of the Kunene River, which also led to a number of bilateral agreements between Portugal and South Africa over the sharing and utilisation of the Kunene River’s water resources. It was in the 1960s that the exploitation of the Kunene River took off, with the construction of Ruacana for hydro-electric generation to be used in the then South West Africa. In the 1970s, war between the newly independent Angola and South Africa had severe ramifications for further developments along the Kunene’s course. The civil war in Angola and the border war between Angola and South Africa defined the way forward regarding the Kunene’s development. It was only after Namibia’s independence and the short-lived end of the Angolan civil war that the Namibian government initiated plans for Epupa’s construction.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Agreement between the government of the Republic of South Africa, and the government of the Republic of Portugal in regard to rivers of mutual interest and the Cunene River scheme, of 13 October 1964.

  2. 2.

    Agreement between the government of the Republic of South Africa and the government of the Republic of Portugal in regard to the first phase development of the water resources of the Cunene River basin, of 21 January 1969.

  3. 3.

    At a cabinet meeting held in 1978, it was the hawkish Defence Minister P.W. Botha who insisted that South Africa become more directly involved in the Angolan War. The cabinet was overwhelmingly in favour of South Africa’s involvement and Vorster had to give into the so-called hawks (De Klerk 1998).

  4. 4.

    The Portuguese ambassador to South Africa protested against the action, but no assurances could be given by him regarding the safety of the workers and the pump station and the South Africans remained at Calueque (Steenkamp 1990).

  5. 5.

    Agreement between the government of the Republic of Namibia and the Government of the People’s Republic of Angola in regard to the development and utilization of the water potential of the Kunene River, of 18 September 1990.

  6. 6.

    Protocol of Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Namibia and the Government of the People’s Republic of Angola on the Development of a Hydroelectric Generating Scheme, in Principle in Principle on the Cunene River, signed at Lubango, Angola on 24 October 1991.

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  1. Centre for Water Resources Research, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville, South Africa

    Richard Meissner

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Meissner, R. (2016). The Kunene River’s State-Centric Hydropolitical History. In: Hydropolitics, Interest Groups and Governance. SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38887-8_2

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