DOCSLIB.ORG

Assessement of the Impacts of Pollution on Water Quality in the Calueque-Oshakati Canal in North-Central Namibia

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Assessement of the Impacts of Pollution on Water Quality in the Calueque-Oshakati Canal in North-Central Namibia UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE ASSESSEMENT OF THE IMPACTS OF POLLUTION ON WATER QUALITY IN THE CALUEQUE-OSHAKATI CANAL IN NORTH-CENTRAL NAMIBIA. By SHUUYA MATHEUS. KUUTONDOKWA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS IN INTERGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (IWRM) Faculty of Engineering Department of Civil Engineering JUNE 2008 Assessment of the impacts of pollution on water quality in the Calueque-Oshakati Canal in north- central Namibia. ABSTRACT North Central Namibia which is home to almost half of Namibia‟s estimated 2 million people, like the whole of Namibia is heavily dependent on water sources from neighbouring countries for secure water supplies. A good example is the Calueque- Oshakati Canal which was built to convey water to the Region from the Kunene River in Angola. Due to population expansion, traditional sources of water could no longer meet the water demand in the Region and they increasingly became susceptible to pollution and contamination. There are four water purification plants (Olushandja, Ombalantu, Ogongo and Oshakati) abstracting water from the Canal and distributing it to the surrounding villages and urban centres. The Canal is however exposed to pollution due to poor sanitation and other land use activities in the basin. The objective of this study was to assess the impacts of pollution on water quality and its subsequent effects on the water suitability for the various intended uses (Aquaculture, irrigation and potable use) and its implications on the water purification processes. Water samples were collected at four points along the Canal from February to April 2008 with the furthest sampling point upstream situated at the Canal entry into Namibia borders and furthest point down stream located at the end of the Canal. The following physico-chemical and biological parameters were determined: temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, total dissolved solids, sodium, Calcium, Magnesium, total hardness, Nitrate, and Escherichia coli. Water treatment plant performance data for the year 2006/2007 of the four water purification plants were obtained from NAMWATER with monthly average values of pH, turbidity, coagulants and chlorine used, and the cost of chemicals used. Jar tests were also carried out to confirm the impacts of pollution on water purification process. Water samples were collected at four points along the Canal from February to April 2008 with the furthest sampling point upstream situated at the Canal entry into Namibia and furthest point down stream located at the end of the Canal. Temperatures at all stations averaged between 24ºc and 26.7ºc, dissolved oxygen averaged between 3.9 and 4.7mg/l at all sampling stations, pH values averaged between 6.9 to 7.6, turbidity averaged 111NTU upstream and 243NTU down stream. Total dissolved solids concentrations were 43mg/l upstream and 68mg/l down stream, total hardness was 15mg/l as CaCo3 upstream and 24mg/l as CaCo3 downstream while nitrate concentrations both up stream and down stream were below 0.1mg/l. and E.coli averaged 4 Most probable number per 100ml (MPN/100ml) upstream and 42 MPN/100ml. Jar test results indicated that chemical dosages increased from upstream to down stream treatment plants, Olushandja, 16mg/l, Ombalantu 18mg/l, Ogongo 29 mg/l and Oshati 38mg/l. Despite the increase in parameters concentration from upstream to downstream, most parameter concentrations were within the permissible limits of NAMWATER standards and the WHO guidelines for drinking water and the water was found to be suitable for the various intended uses except, as a direct source of potable water. The jar test results shows that treatment plant further downstream use high dosages of coagulants to purify the water compared to those further upstream, this could be attributed to the cumulative impacts of pollution. MSc. IWRM Thesis by Shuuya. M. K June 2008 ii Assessment of the impacts of pollution on water quality in the Calueque-Oshakati Canal in north- central Namibia. DEDICATION This project is dedicated to my Mother. Thanks mom for always being there, keeping strong and keeping us all grounded. MSc. IWRM Thesis by Shuuya. M. K June 2008 iii Assessment of the impacts of pollution on water quality in the Calueque-Oshakati Canal in north- central Namibia. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and for most I thank the Almighty Father for giving me the strength and wisdom during the work of this project. Secondly, thanks to Waternet for financing my studies. The author wishes to convey special thanks and appreciation to Eng. Z. Hoko for his assistance as the author‟s supervisor. He is thanked for his suggestions, constructive criticisms, advice, instruction and above all his patience. May the Almighty Father bless you always! I will always be thankful to Eng. C. Moyo for the assistance and advice on this study. In addition I will always be thankful to our working group of Grace Nkuli, Mavuto Chiimpantenga, Victor Kimey, Jacquiline Diaz and Hazel Mpande I really learned a lot from you guys, GOD BLESS YOU. This study could not have been possible if it were not for the assistance and material support from NAMWATER. To my brothers and cousins, thanks a lot for the immense moral support and for having me living off you during my studies. Your support and patience are not taken for granted. MSc. IWRM Thesis by Shuuya. M. K June 2008 iv Assessment of the impacts of pollution on water quality in the Calueque-Oshakati Canal in north- central Namibia. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................ii DEDICATION ..............................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................viii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ ix LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................................ x ABBRIVIATIONS AND ACCRONYMS ................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................ 1 1.0. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Background ......................................................................................................... 2 1.2. Problem identification......................................................................................... 3 1.3. Justification ......................................................................................................... 3 1.4. Study objectives .................................................................................................. 4 1.4.1. The specific objectives:................................................................................ 4 1.5. Scope of study ..................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................... 6 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 6 2.1. Fresh water availability from a global perspective ............................................. 6 2.2. Namibia‟s water resources .................................................................................. 6 2.3. Interbasin transfers (IBT).................................................................................... 6 2.4. Pollution Regulations and legal framework in Namibia ..................................... 7 2.5. Water pollution ................................................................................................... 8 2.5.1. Causes of water pollution............................................................................. 9 2.5.2. Natural processes affecting water quality .................................................. 10 2.6. Impacts of pollution on water quality ............................................................... 10 2.7. Impacts of water pollution on different water uses........................................... 11 2.7.1. Impacts of pollution on the water suitability for Agricultural use ............. 11 2.7.2. Impacts of pollution on the water suitability for Fisheries use .................. 12 2.7.3. Impacts of pollution on the water suitability for Potable use .................... 13 2.8. Physical, chemical and biological water parameters ........................................ 13 2.8.1. Temperature ............................................................................................... 13 2.8.2. Dissolved Oxygen ...................................................................................... 14 2.8.3. Water pH .................................................................................................... 14 2.8.4. Turbidity..................................................................................................... 15 2.8.5. Total dissolved solids................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • SADF Military Operations
    SADF Military Operations 1975 -1989 Contents 1 List of operations of the South African Border War 1 2 Operation Savannah (Angola) 3 2.1 Background .............................................. 3 2.2 Military intervention .......................................... 4 2.2.1 Support for UNITA and FNLA ................................ 5 2.2.2 Ruacana-Calueque occupation ................................ 5 2.2.3 Task Force Zulu ........................................ 5 2.2.4 Cuban intervention ...................................... 6 2.2.5 South African reinforcements ................................. 6 2.2.6 End of South African advance ................................ 6 2.3 Major battles and incidents ...................................... 6 2.3.1 Battle of Quifangondo .................................... 7 2.3.2 Battle of Ebo ......................................... 7 2.3.3 “Bridge 14” .......................................... 7 2.3.4 Battle of Luso ......................................... 7 2.3.5 Battles involving Battlegroup Zulu in the west ........................ 8 2.3.6 Ambrizete incident ...................................... 8 2.4 Aftermath ............................................... 8 2.5 South African order of battle ..................................... 9 2.6 Association .............................................. 9 2.7 Further reading ............................................ 9 2.8 References ............................................... 9 3 Operation Bruilof 13 3.1 Background .............................................
    [Show full text]
  • Independence, Intervention, and Internationalism Angola and the International System, 1974–1975
    Independence, Intervention, and Internationalism Angola and the International System, 1974–1975 ✣ Candace Sobers Mention the Cold War and thoughts instinctively turn to Moscow, Washing- ton, DC, and Beijing. Fewer scholars examine the significant Cold War strug- gles that took place in the African cities of Luanda, Kinshasa, and Pretoria. Yet in 1975 a protracted war of national liberation on the African continent escalated sharply into a major international crisis. Swept up in the momen- tum of the Cold War, the fate of the former Portuguese colony of Angola captured the attention of policymakers from the United States to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Colombia to Luxembourg. The struggle over Angolan independence from Portugal was many things: the culmination of sixteen years of intense anti-colonial struggle and the launch of 28 years of civil war, a threat to white minority rule in southern Africa, and another battle on the long road to ending empire and colonialism. It was also a strug- gle to define and create a viable postcolonial state and to carry out a radical transformation of the sociopolitical structure of Angolan society. Recent scholarship on Angolan independence has provided an impres- sive chronology of the complicated saga yet has less to say about the wider consequences and ramifications of a crisis that, though located in southern Africa, was international in scope. During the anti-colonial struggle, U.S. sup- port reinforced the Portuguese metropole, contiguous African states harbored competing revolutionaries, and great and medium powers—including Cuba, China, and South Africa—provided weapons, combat troops, and mercenar- ies to the three main national liberation movements.
    [Show full text]
  • EGU2014-12327-1, 2014 EGU General Assembly 2014 © Author(S) 2014
    Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 16, EGU2014-12327-1, 2014 EGU General Assembly 2014 © Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License. Stable isotope and hydro chemical variability along the Calueque-Oshakati Canal in the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin, Namibia Paul Koeniger (1), Matthias Beyer (1), Marcel Gaj (1), Josefina Hamutoko (2), Shoopi Uugulu (2), Heike Wanke (2), Markus Huber (3), Christoph Lohe (1), Martin Quinger (1), and Thomas Himmelsbach (1) (1) Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR ), Hannover, Germany ([email protected], 0511 643 3072), (2) University of Namibia (UNAM), 340 Mandume Ndemufayo Avenue, Windhoek, Namibia, (3) Geo-Tools-Consult, Munich, Germany Since 1973 Kunene River water (currently between 47 and 63 Million m3 per year [1]) is carried from the Calueque Dam in Angola along a 150 km concrete canal to Oshakati in the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin which supplies the most densely populated area of Namibia with drinking water. Backup storage is held in the Olushandja Dam and in water towers at Ogongo, Oshakati and Ondangwa and about 4,000 km of pipelines radiate out from purification schemes and supply most of the people and the livestock [2, 3]. The canal is open along most of its course to Oshakati, allowing livestock and people living nearby to make free use of the water. During the rainy season, flood water from the vast Oshana drainage system swashes into the canal bearing a potential health risk when consumed untreated. Within the SASSCAL project (Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adap- tive Land Management – www.sasscal.org) water samples were collected during a field campaign from 18th to 20th November 2013 right before the onset of the rainy season 2013/14, to gain information on water evolution, evaporation and mixing influences as well as to characterize input concentrations for indirect recharge in this area.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of the Joint Monitoring Commission from the South African Perspective
    Platform for peace: the history of the Joint Monitoring Commission from the South African perspective http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.rep19850000.035.017.d1.18 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Platform for peace: the history of the Joint Monitoring Commission from the South African perspective Author/Creator Military Information Bureau; South African Defence Force Date 1985-00-00 Resource type Reports Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa, Angola, Namibia, Southern Africa (region), Southern Africa
    [Show full text]
  • U.S.-Chinese Cooperation and Conflict in the Angolan Civil Arw
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Dissertations and Theses City College of New York 2014 U.S.-Chinese Cooperation and Conflict in the Angolan Civil arW Morgan Hess CUNY City College How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/268 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Abstract This study examines China’s role in the Angolan Civil War through the context of U.S.-Chinese rapprochement and the global Cold War. Based on declassified conversations between U.S. and Chinese officials along with declassified intelligence cables, government documents, and research in the United Nations archives this paper illuminates how China played a crucial role in escalating the Angolan Civil War and encouraged U.S. intervention in the conflict. This study builds on previous scholarship yet takes a new approach that emphasizes China played the primary role in intensifying the Angolan Civil War, not the U.S. or Soviet Union. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! “Empty Cannons” U.S.-Chinese Cooperation and Conflict in the Angolan Civil War Morgan Hess Dr. Craig Daigle May 3rd, 2012 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of (Fine) Arts of the City College of the City University of New York Table of Contents 1) Introduction 1 2) Portuguese Colonialism, African Resistance, and Angola’s Independence 5 3) U.S.-Chinese Diplomacy Surrounding Angola 14 4) Motives Behind China’s Angolan Policies 20 5) Foreign Aid, Intervention, and Escalation 26 6) Recognition of Angola and Effects of the War 39 7) Conclusion 42 8) Bibliography 46 ! Introduction Angola, China, and the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • Namibia and Angola: Analysis of a Symbiotic Relationship Hidipo Hamutenya*
    Namibia and Angola: Analysis of a symbiotic relationship Hidipo Hamutenya* Introduction Namibia and Angola have much in common, but, at the same time, they differ greatly. For example, both countries fought colonial oppression and are now independent; however, one went through civil war, while the other had no such experience. Other similarities include the fact that the former military groups (Angola’s Movimiento Popular para la Liberacão de Angola, or MPLA, and Namibia’s South West Africa People’s Organisation, or SWAPO) are now in power in both countries. At one time, the two political movements shared a common ideological platform and lent each other support during their respective liberation struggles. The two countries are also neighbours, with a 1,376-km common border that extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Zambezi River in the west. Families and communities on both sides of the international boundary share resources, communicate, trade and engage in other types of exchange. All these facts point to a relationship between the two countries that goes back many decades, and continues strongly today. What defines this relationship and what are the crucial elements that keep it going? Angola lies on the Atlantic coast of south-western Africa. It is richly endowed with natural resources and measures approximately 1,246,700 km2 in land surface area. Populated with more than 14 million people, Angola was a former Portuguese colony. Portuguese explorers first came to Angola in 1483. Their conquest and exploitation became concrete when Paulo Dias de Novais erected a colonial settlement in Luanda in 1575.
    [Show full text]
  • Namibia Crane News 32
    Namibia Crane News 32 October 2007 BEYO ND O PO NO NO – TO ANG O LA! Ann & Mike Scott & Nad Brain As Etosha becomes progressively drier this year, its Blue Cranes have moved out northwards into the wetlands of the Lake Oponono area. By August 2007, no cranes can be found within Etosha, and only 15 at Lake Oponono. At this stage we have no idea where the missing birds could be. Southern Angola appears to be a strong possibility, especially the Upper Cuvelai system, which eventually flows down southwards into Etosha. Although we have records of both Wattled and Crowned Cranes in southern Angola, there are no confirmed records of Blue Cranes in this country; still, we agree that it is important to investigate this area before the next rainy season. At short notice, the International Crane Foundation/ Endangered Wildlife Trust Partnership is able to provide invaluable co-finance to our basic funding. Paul van Schalkwyk kindly makes his turbo Cessna 206 available, and the necessary flight clearance is obtained. On 25 September 2007, Nad Brain flies up from Windhoek to meet us at Okaukuejo. The local MET staff provides logistical and other support. The following day we take off to the north, doing a quick but fruitless check at Lake Oponono, and refuel at Ondangwa. Then we are winging over southern Angola at 200-300‘, flying northwards over neat kraals with their demarcated cattle-holding areas and huge baobabs, makalani palms and other trees. We do not see many people. Some 150 km into the country, the habitat has become bushier and we are now over the Parque Nacional da Mupa (Mupa National Park).
    [Show full text]
  • The Kunene River Scheme Introduction Water Demand Water Infrastructure Dams and Associated the Kunene River Scheme
    About Tutorial Glossary Documents Images Maps Google Earth Please provide feedback! Click for details Resource Management You are here: Home>Resource Management >Water Infrastructure >Dams and Associated Infrastructure >The Kunene River Scheme Introduction Water Demand Water Infrastructure Dams and Associated The Kunene River Scheme Infrastructure The Kunene River Scheme In theThird Water Use Agreement of 1969 the Governments of Portugal and South Infrastructure for Africa outlined the first phase of their joint development of the water resources of the Hydropower in Angola Kunene River. The agreement outlined a plan to manage the river as an integrated Infrastructure for Water system enabling the development of a hydropower project at Ruacana. This resulted in Supply the construction of three major structures on the river in the 1970s comprising the Water Security Kunene River Scheme, in addition to the already existing Weir and Power Plant at Water Storage & Flow Matala . These three structures, built on the Upper,Middle andLower Kunene , were to Explore the sub- basins of the Control function as an integrated system, ensuring regular flow conditions for constant Kunene River Bulk Transfer Schemes electricity generation. The three structures are the Gove dam, the incomplete Calueque Groundwater Services & weir (which also facilitates drinking water supply to the northern parts of Namibia as Infrastructure well as water supply to irrigation projects) and the Ruacana weir and hydropower Irrigation Infrastructure plant 170 km upstream of the proposed Baynes Site (ERM 2009). Operation and Maintenance of The elements of the Kunene River Scheme are: Infrastructure Rehabilitation and Future The Gove Dam Development Wastewater Infrastructure Located in the upper reaches of the catchment, 120 km south of Huambo, the Gove The Value of Water dam was the first component of the Kunene River Scheme to be completed in 1975, Video Interviews about the Resource Monitoring and thus facilitated the construction of the weirs at Calueque and Ruacana.
    [Show full text]
  • From Soweto to Cuito Cuanavale: Cuba, the War in Angola and the End of Apartheid
    Saney, Isaac Henry (2014) From Soweto to Cuito Cuanavale: Cuba, the war in Angola and the end of Apartheid. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18258 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. From Soweto To Cuito Cuanavale: Cuba, the War in Angola and the End of Apartheid Isaac Henry Saney Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in History 2014 Department of History School of Oriental and African Studies University of London Declaration for PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination.
    [Show full text]
  • Angola: from War to Peace*
    Book Review Article Angola: from war to peace* Chris Saunders [email protected] Edward George (2005) The Cuban Intervention in Angola, 1965- 1991: from Che Guevara to Cuito Cuanavale. London: Frank Cass. Clive Holt (2005) At Thy Call We Did Not Falter: a frontline account of the 1988 Angolan War, as seen through the eyes of a conscripted soldier. Cape Town, Zebra Press. Justin Pearce (2005) An Outbreak of Peace: Angola’s situation of confusion. Cape Town: David Philip. Michael Comerford (2005) The Peaceful Face of Angola: biography of a peace process (1991-2002). Luanda, n.p. One of the most remarkable transformations in southern Africa in recent years has taken place in Angola. For over forty years, from 1961, when the nationalist insurgency began, to 2002, when Jonas Savimbi was killed, numerous wars were fought, which killed millions of people. Since 2002, Angola has been at peace and many hope the multi-party elections of 2008 will usher in a new era of political stability. Much about the wars that ravaged Angola for decades remains murky. There is no scholarly account that presents an overview of all of them.1 There are some brilliant but very partial accounts by first-hand observers: the Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski’s Another Day of Life (1987) comes immediately to mind, as does Michael Wolfers and Jane Bergerol, Angola in the Front Line (1983) and the impressionistic account by the American journalist Karl Maier, Angola, Promises and Lies (1996). Much about the * I thank Colin Darch for commenting on a draft of this review, which was written in 2008 TRANSFORMATION 69 (2009) ISSN 0258-7696 161 Chris Saunders wars went unreported, however, so that there are scant, if any, written records of what happened.
    [Show full text]
  • South African Foreign Relations with Angola
    SOUTH AFRICAN FOREIGN RELATIONS WITH ANGOLA, 1975 - 1988: A STRUCTURAL REALIST PERSPECTIVE by L.J.D. Devraun Thesis submittedUniversity in fulfilment of Cape of the requirements Town for the degree of Masters of Arts in International Relations in the Department of Political Studies at the University of Cape Town Cape Town Republic of South Africa September 1996 ~o:·•;:r.~c-.7".""-.x-·-..,··:;r.·,·,....-·-··c-:-;;-:e:r,.-::=-~ t~ Tht·: f?1·: ·r ... ,... ~{,· ri' ri·. · ·r,.-,.•:-, }.,_."~ !\··2-n ni"·nn ~ ~th~:;;;_·;~!_,:~:) .i::i~:i~·:\>.,.:,f:~>'.:;,~~.~---'_:1 _.·?;:~:~ ~ I or lfl r--·"· C,1,.•/ ';-;,h !,, ·---U ,_.,, .-.,.,.,.,r. ~ ·)~..);".:,.::.· :._-.·-~..,.,..- ;;,,";~,-~·;·t.• :,$>1'~·~-·."f·:--· •n.~w.... ·; ,,'•'•: The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town SOUTH AFRICA IN ANGOLA 1975 -1988 Copyright (1996) by L.J.D. Devraun D.D.D. to my Russian forbearers ABSTRACT: There are an enormous number of competing interpretations of South Africa's apartheid era policies both in the region and towards Angola. With South Africa's role in the Angolan civil war as its case study, this paper evaluates the relative utility of certain selected approaches to international relations theory. This paper evaluates the relative utility of system level versus unit level theories to explain the nature of South African involvement in the Angolan conflict.
    [Show full text]
  • 08, with the 20Th Commemoration of the So-Called Battle of Cuito
    115 RESEACH REVIEW ARTICLE THE STANDARD OF RESEARCH ON THE BATTLE OF CUITO CUANAVALE, 1987–1988 Leopold Scholtz1 Department of History, Stellenbosch University Abstract The purpose of this article is to examine the standard of research about the so-called Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. After examining what objectivity for the academic researcher should mean, two categories of researchers are looked at. The first is called the “non-researchers”. They are those who do no or virtually no real research into the events at Cuito Cuanavale, but uncritically copy what politicians and politically correct academics have to say about the subject. The focus also falls on one particular historian, Italian-American Professor Piero Gleijeses. On the basis of several articles (his book about Cuba‟s role in Africa until 1976 is judged to be good), the conclusion is that his evident admiration for Cuba and its dictator, President Fidel Castro, and his revulsion at apartheid South Africa brings about a one-sided and distorted picture of what went on at Cuito Cuanavale and the Border War in general. The last category is the “serious researchers”, whose work is based on good research. Although their work displays certain gaps in the sense that they had no access to Cuban or Angolan sources, they generally are much more reliable in their facts than the “non-researchers” and Professor Gleijeses. Introduction The so-called Battle of Cuito Cuanavale (August 1997–July 1988) was the culmination of the Border War. As such, this battle has become the focal point of the public debate about the question who actually won the war.
    [Show full text]