Walvis Bay Namibia

Since the Nineteenth century walvis bay has been under the control of various european governments. Now it is part of Namibia. The people there are still being exploited by white people and now the people of Namibia are being shadowed by the dark shadow of AIDS. When Walvis Bay was granted independence from South Africa there was a big celebration and the people of Walvis Bay were very happy. Walvis Bay is between the desert and the Atlantic Ocean. It has a smell of fish from the factories and a deep port for shipping. From 1990 to 1994 Walvis Bay was a part of South Africa and was used to get around the embargo that was placed on the repressive South African apartheid regime.

Walvis Bay was first settled by fishermen and townships were built for black workers on the outskirts of the city. The black township is still there today and the town is still in effect segregated to this day. In the white part of town the villas have a view of the lagoon and the grass is green all year round. Now Walvis Bay has a black mayor and things are changing in Walvis Bay. In the old days black people were not allowed into the white sections after dark and there was a curfew. A lot of the older folk used to be members of SWAPO the movement for Namibian independence.

The hostels were once built to house the seasonal workers who came to work for the South African businesses and industry. Now they are changing it to become residential buildings for local people and they still house seasonal workers who come to Walvis Bay from Northern Namibia because of economic hardship and drought that drove the villagers off their farms. Seventy percent of people in Namibia live below the poverty line and workers come to Walvis Bay to look for work in the fishing industry or to work on the docks.

Before independence fishing was unregulated and was exploited by foreign fishermen and now Namibia has put in place an exclusive two hundred mile economic zone from the coast of Namibia. The Namibian fishermen work for a ship that may have a Spanish captain for example and they are learning the ropes, so to speak. The ocean off Namibia has rich upwelling currents that bring nutrients to the surface and fish swarm there looking for food. NOw the fishing boats are regulated and there are quotas and rules in place. The fish are filleted on board the boat and processed after they are caught. The work is intensive - twelve hours on and six hours off.

The fish factories are very good and they are well run. The fishing industry is a good foreign currency generator along with the diamond industry. The fish fillets frozen at sea are packed at the factories and they usually do about ten tonnes per day. The Russians are the smallest investors in the Namibian fishing industry and they stay out for months at a time. The outskirts are the poorest part of town and is where the desert begins.

Walvis Bay Resources

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