Abstract
This thesis studies the history of the Orange River Development Project in South Africa as an
example of the apartheid government’s large technopolitical projects. The purpose of
technopolitical analysis is to show how a technological component or system is designed and
developed for the purpose of meeting political goals. Within a technopolitical analysis, a
technological component or system is designed and developed for the express purpose of
meeting political goals. This thesis shows that the multi-purpose project was presented as a
means of supplying water for agriculture, industry, and urban use, but that there were clear
political motivations behind the project.
The massacre of protestors by police at Sharpeville in March 1960 drew the attention of the
international community and the South African government faced increasing criticism to the
apartheid system. In response to the mounting pressure to abandon apartheid, the government
attempted to project an image of economic and political stability to the international diplomatic
community. This thesis places the Orange River Project within this context and shows how the
project was not only about providing water to irrigate fields and generate electricity, but that a
key aim was to assist the government in portraying itself as “modern” and “stable”. The thesis
also demonstrates how the Orange River Project depended on the establishment of a
paradoxical situation – the project was intended to show that the country was technologically
proficient, but the design and construction of the project’s most significant dams and tunnels
was only possible with the assistance of international experts.
Lastly, the thesis highlights how the Orange River Project was dependent on the co-operation
of several government departments, with significant input from the departments associated
with the regulation and recruitment of black workers for the project’s construction phase. This
interdepartmental co-operation reveals the project’s reliance on the concept of heterogenous
engineering, which is the process of shaping and designing parts of a large system to fit within
the needs and goals of the system. These parts and components may be designed specifically
to fulfil a role in the system, or they may be pre-existing features that are altered and shaped
by engineers and constructors to meet a specific need within the system.