''Die Suidwes-Afrikaner'' (1927-1976) was the official newspaper of the
United National South West Party (UNSWP), a political party in
South West Africa with close ties to the
United Party in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. The UNSWP was incorporated into the UP in 1971.
History
The Windhoek publisher John Meinert decided in 1927 that an
Afrikaans language
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch dialects, Dutch vernacular of Holland, Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German set ...
paper was needed to complement the
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
''Windhoek Advertiser'' and the
German language
German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...
Allgemeine Zeitung
The ''Allgemeine Zeitung'' was the leading political daily journal in Germany in the first part of the 19th century. It has been widely recognised as the first world-class German journal and a symbol of the German press abroad.
The ''Allgemeine ...
.
Ernst Schlengemann accepted the post of editor. The first edition was published on April 8, 1927, the second-Afrikaans-speaking daily after the short-lived ''Suidwes Nuus'' (1922-1923). ''Die Suidwes-Afrikaner'' was initially meant to be a voice for
Afrikaners
Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...
in SWA, where Dutch and English in 1920 had replaced German (the former colonial power's tongue) as the official language. The editor grew the paper into a major political factor and later ran as a candidate for the UNSWP for the 1929 legislative elections. Schlengemann ran for the Windhoek-Sentraal constituency, but lost in a landslide to the
National Party of South West Africa candidate. In 1929, he represented South West Africa at the foundation of the
Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurverenigings in
Bloemfontein. On May 8, 1930, he died of pneumonia in
Windhoek Central Hospital
Windhoek Central Hospital is a public hospital in Windhoek, Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to ...
. He wrote the first Afrikaans poem written in SWA, "Die Namib-woestyn."
''Die Suidwes-Afrikaner'' endured longer as an opposition UP mouthpiece than any Afrikaans-language UP paper in South Africa. The growth in popularity of ''Die Suidwester'' (the NP newspaper) so overwhelmed its competitor in readership that the UP paper stopped publishing in 1976. At the end of 1977, ''
Die Republikein'' emerged under editor
Jan Spies
Johannes Petrus Spies (30 June 1936 – 4 January 1996) was a Namibian author and popular storyteller. Alongside P.G. du Plessis he was the presenter of the popular television program ''Spies en Plessie – met permissie'', and hosted personalit ...
as a competitor to ''Die Suidwester'', which won the battle on December 21, 1990, when ''Die Suidwester'' was forced to change from daily to twice-weekly and ultimately weekly publication.
Sources
*
Böeseken, Dr. A. J.,
Krüger, Prof. D. W. and Kieser, Dr. A. 1953. ''Drie eeue. Die verhaal van ons vaderland''. (Three Stories: The Story of Our Fatherland") Cape Town: Nasionale Boekhandel.
* Krüger, Prof. D.W. 1978. ''The making of a nation. A history of the Union of South Africa, 1910-1961''. Johannesburg & London: Macmillan.
* Potgieter, D.J. (ed.) 1972. ''
Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa''. Cape Town: Nasionale Opvoedkundige Uitgewery (Nasou).
* Van der Spuy, D.C. (chief ed.). 1975. ''Amptelike Jaarboek van die Republiek van Suid-Afrika 1975'' (First Edition). Pretoria: Departement van Inligting.
* (af
Afrikanergeskiedenis: Namibië (Suidwes-Afrikaner) URL accessed 2 November 2016.
Daily newspapers published in Namibia
Newspapers established in 1927