Talks on Orange River border continue

NAMIBIA and South Africa are still negotiating on the exact position of the Orange River border between the two countries, a senior official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

The head of the Bilateral Department in the Ministry, Wilbard Helao, told The Namibian that the two countries continue to meet in an effort to resolve the matter. Asked if the dispute was likely to disturb diplomatic relations between the two countries, Helao said this would not happen as both parties have shown maturity towards resolving the matter in a peaceful manner. ‘We are neighbours. Nobody is going to shift,’ he said. The dispute has been dragging on since Independence.Namibia says the border is in the middle of the river but South Africa claims it is on the northern high-water mark and this boundary was established when erstwhile colonial powers Britain and Germany signed a treaty to that effect in Berlin in 1890.After 1910, however, Germany and Britain were not able to reach agreement on the exact location of the border.Britain insisted that the boundary should be formed by the high-water level of the northern [Namibian] bank, while Germany preferred the boundary to be located in the centre of the main river channel.After the change of government in South Africa in 1994, the boundary issue was brought to the attention of the new government, which decided the existing Orange River boundary should be retained. In fact, before 1990, South Africa claimed sovereignty over the whole river.The confusion about the exact location of the border has resulted in differences over mineral rights in the river and grazing rights on its islands.Both countries claim that, with no clear boundary, they are unable to prosecute fishing vessels for trespassing on the river.