Reagent
Gerrit Viljoen's Utopia: An Alternate Namibia
POD: Gerrit Viljoen is does not become P. W. Botha's Minister of Education in 1980. As a result, he remains Administrator-General of South West Africa through 1983.
In the early 1980s, Apartheid South Africa was on the verge of collapse. Riots were commonplace, and authority over the Townships was eroding. These problems were compounded for the South African government, by the ongoing border war in Angola. The border war with Angola was consuming an increasing amount of resources, and South Africa was looking for a way out.
In 1983, a solution manifested itself. In a secret conference organized by the CIA in Cape Verde, representatives (among them Gerrit Vilojen) from South Africa and Angola met with the intention of resolving the conflict. The CIA developed a plan that would satisfy concerns held by both sides, and would hopefully damage the influence of the communist-backed SWAPO movement in South-West Africa - a partition of South-West Africa.
The Northern Three "Bantustans" (East Caprivi, Kavangoland, and Ovamboland) would be given independence as the nation of "Ovimbundu". Leadership of this new state would be conferred to Jonas Savimbi, in return for him ceasing operations within Angola (which were faltering after Cuban military support was brought in to assist the governing faction of Angola). Ovimbundu would act as a buffer state against SWAPO for South African interests in South-West Africa. The remaining territory of South-West Africa would be granted independence (as South Africa's mandate of the territory was declared illegal under international law) under a government presumably friendly to Pretoria. On the initiative of Gerrit Vilojen, it was proposed that the remaining Bantustans (sans Tswanaland, which in reality was majority Herero and accordingly was reabsorbed into Hereroland) would be granted autonomy within a federal structure. Gerrit Vilojen convinced Pretoria that a government sympathetic to South Africa could be elected freely in South-West Africa because of the federal structure (it was hoped that opposition would become more regional and fractured) and demographic shift (nearly 2/3rds of the African population, and practically none of the White population would find themselves in the new nation of Ovimbundu). Pretoria reluctantly agreed to the deal, and Free, Multi-Racial elections monitored by the United States were held in South-West Africa in 1984.
The Democratic Turnhalle Alliance won a narrow majority in the 1984 Free elections. While no longer having the intimidation of the South African Army behind them, the Demographic shift and SWAPO called boycott (which suppressed opposition turnout to a degree) allowed the DTA to win the election (composed largely of Whites, Coloureds, and the African middle class). The Khoekhoe Alliance, and Herero Front, both ethno-linguistically based parties, performed second and third respectively. The DTA, with contribution from the Khoekhoe Alliance and Herero Front, drafted a new constitution for South-West Africa that guaranteed equality of races and ethnic groups. However, the DTA sought to change the demographic makeup of the country to be more favorable to them, through immigration policy. While each of the former Bantustans (now known as "Autonomous Republics") was able to control their own immigration policy within their territory, the vast majority of the country remained under the control of the government and subject to their immigration laws. Accordingly, the DTA (which drew most of its support from the White community) began promoting Afrikaner immigration to South-West Africa. Since 1984, nearly 100,000 White South Africans moved to South-West Africa. Some White South Africans saw South-West Africa as a suitable location for a volkstaat, such as Constand Viljoen (of no relation to Gerrit Viljoen). Others were fearful about the aftermath of Apartheid (which proved largely to be unfounded), and believed that South-West Africa to be a suitable place to relocate to (given its stability even after the transition to majority rule). Others still took advantage of South-West Africa's lower tax rates, and moved with their fortunes to the neighboring nation. However, this was never enough to make the nation an Afrikanner majority like some within the DTA hoped, and genuine efforts were made to improve the lives of Africans and Coloureds to ensure the electoral viability of the DTA
Today, South-West Africa enjoys one of the highest standards of living in Africa. Mineral Wealth and Capital flight to the nation from South Africa have given the nation a large government budget. South-West Africa has a fairly successful educational system (though the particular federal structure of the nation has reduced efficiency and effectiveness, as Autonomous regions often have different priorities / standards than the nation as a whole). South-West Africa is currently undergoing the process of implementing a universal healthcare system (which the current government hopes will build upon the large success in fighting the HIV epidemic). South-West Africa has a leading infrastructure in its region system, with new highways and a high speed rail system connecting the principle cities of the nation. Given the abundance of Uranium, South-West Africa in addition to exporting the resource has also become nearly self-sufficient on Nuclear Energy. South-West Africa is on good terms with her neighbors, and has contributed peacekeeping forces in regional hot-spots like the Congo. Demographically, the nation is about 30% White (with Whites making up a strong plurality in the non-Autonomous area), 15% Coloured, and 55% African. Recently, there has been a trend for Africans living in the Autonomous areas to move to big cities like Windhoek or Walvis Bay, which have more work available than the mostly rural Autonomous Areas. The Government has responded by building public housing, with access to all the amenities one would need. Gerrit Viljoen's Federal Structure may have had its biases initially, but South-West Africa has been well served by its government, and the 21st century looks bright for the young nation.