ABSTRACT
Urban ethnicity is remarkably salient in Windhoek and shows no signs of diminishing in importance in the future. Ethnicity there is the product of historical events, political and administrative factors, socioeconomic conditions, racial stratification, and a general lack of crosscutting mechanisms that would diminish its importance. Urban migration to Windhoek is the result of a complex of factors. Initial African migration was unavoidable. Afrikaners were attracted in the 1920s to South West Africa by government offers of large farms that could be financed with low interest loans, but not many migrated to Windhoek. After the National Party won the 1948 election in South Africa, Afrikaners did migrate to Windhoek. The separation of racial and ethnic groups into different residential areas was established during the German period. It has been strengthened by the establishment of separate townships for African and coloured people in the 1960s.
