elf. Within most tribal groups, the means of subsistence were a combination of animal husbandry and agriculture. Only in an insignificant number of instances were the means of subsistence related to urbanized economic activities. The supreme significance of the
4family structure in pre colonial Namibia was due to the follow ing characteristics:
1. The family structure provided an accepted set of rules which governed societal activities in Namibia. The observance of the rules provided social stability in the country.
2. The family structure, together with its rules, pro vided a basis for an equitable distribution of wealth and income in the country, and an equitable basis for political participation in the country. It does not matter that the economic and political equity provided by this family struc ture was or was not compatible with western criteria for eco nomic and political equity. What mattered was that the people of Namibia perceived the existence of economic and political equity, and that they
...