Referendum in Southwest Africa 1946 – Wikipedia
The Referendum in Southwest Africa 1946 was a referendum in Southwest Africa, which was held in May and June 1946. Future belonging to the South African Union should clarify and was carried out in the form of surveys of the individual ethnic groups. The United Nations rejected the possibility of belonging to today’s South Africa, since until then the people in Southwest Africa were not sufficiently politically formed and therefore such a decision could not be made rationally. [first]
„We, the undersigned, Chiefs, Headmen or Board Members of the people of the [________] tribe, who live in the [________] Reserve in this mandated Territory of South West Africa, acting with full authority of the people of the tribe of the [________] Reserve, wish to say that we have heard the people of the world are talking about the administration of these countries such as ours and that the administration of these countries may be changed.
We and our people wish the following matters to be known to the people of the world:
(a) That our people have been happy and have prospered under the rule of the Government of the Union of South Africa and that we should like that Government to continue to rule us;
(b) That we do not wish any other Government or people to rule us;
(c)That we would like our country to become part of the Union of South Africa“
‘ We, the chiefs, headmen or council members of the [________] ethnic group drawn here, who live in the reserve [________] in this mandate area in Southwest Africa, in full representation of the people of the people in the reserve [________], share that the words of the People of the world have belonged to the administration of states as ours and that the administration of these countries can be changed. We and our people therefore want to tell the people of the world the following:
(a) that our people under the administration of the South African Union are happy and aspiring and therefore want to continue living under the leadership of the government;
(b) that we do not want any other form of the government for our people;
(c) that our country should become part of the South African Union ”
| Selection | Voices | % |
|---|---|---|
| For this | 208,850 | 85.46 |
| Against it | 33,520 | 14.54 |
| voter turnout | 299.160 | 81.14 |
| not involved [2] | 56,790 | 18.98 |
The referendum was affected by a broad criticism to rejection. Such reactions came from the domestic base and from abroad. Tshekedi Khama (905–1959), traditional ruler of Bamangwato and the Herero-Chief Hosea Kutako played an important role. With the support of six Tswana chiefs, Khama managed to publish a memorandum against the referendum in which the transfer of the UN mandate via South West Africa should be transferred to the United Kingdom or directly to the United Nations. In the same play, the demand for Betschuanaland arose to obtain free access to the Atlantic coast, at least to the port of Walvis Bay. [3]
South African organizations also went in opposition to the referendum, including the large unions African Union of Industrial and Commercial Workers (Icu) and the Brick and Quarry Workers’ Union in Cape Town. In November 1946, the then ANC President Alfred Bitini Xuma sent a protest note to the United Nations Secretary General. There were also protests by the Native Advisory Board of Langa , the Hindu Congress of Tongaat , the Chemical and Allied Workers’ Union , the Explosive and Fertilizers Workers’ Union from Cape Town and the Coloured Garment Workers’ Union in transvaal. They were also involved Democratic African Party and the Passive Resistance Council . [4]
The referendum received political support from the nasional party. Furthermore, newspaper commentators spoke to the leaves that are sympathetic to it Southwest Afrikaner and The Southwestern for that. [5]
On December 14, 1946, the UN General Assembly voted against the incorporation of Southwest Africa to the South African Union with 37 votes, 0 votes against and 9 abstentions. [6]
- ↑ Markku Ski: Bringing in the People: A Comparison of Constitutional Forms and Practices , 1993, S. 253.
- ↑ ANDRÉ DU PISANI: SWA/NAMIBIA: The Politics of Continuity and Change . Jonathan Ball Publishers, Johannesburg 1985, S. 111
- ↑ Pisani: Swa/namibia . 1985, S. 112–113
- ↑ Pisani: Swa/namibia . 1985, S. 114
- ↑ Pisani: Swa/namibia . 1985, S. 115
- ↑ Pisani: Swa/namibia . 1985, S. 116
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