ABSTRACT
South West Africa/Namibia is not unique among African territories in its ethnic heterogeneity. But its ethnic diversity in combination with other elements make for an extraordinarily unstable and volatile political situation. The basic conflict over the future of an independent Namibia stems from the continued white domination of the society. Advancement opportunities for blacks have been even more severely limited than they have in South Africa. Unlike industry in the Republic, territorial industry is not large enough to provide a meaningful number of semiskilled or skilled jobs. The Portuguese coup brought about an immediate and massive act of political defiance by Namibian blacks. South African official confidence was at a peak just before the 1974 Portuguese coup. During the previous fifteen years, every apparent threat to South African control of the territory had either proved illusory or had been quickly squelched. The evidence of this strengthened resolution remains circumstantial, but it is nonetheless persuasive.
