New Union of South Africa (1983: Doomsday)

New Union of South Africa Nuwe Unie van Suid-Afrika Timeline: 1983: Doomsday OTL equivalent: Lesotho, Parts of South Africa and Namibia
Motto:  Deur swaarkry Ons is een
Motto:  Through Adversity We Are One
Territorial evolution of the NUSA
Official working languages		Afrikaans, English
Demonym		South African, Sud Afrikaan
Establishment
-	Establishment	2004
-	Dissolution	2014
Currency		Union Rand

There was another Union of South Africa that existed as a provisional government 1985-1987; see Foundation of the Dominion.

The New Union of South Africa (NUSA) was a confederation created as a successor to the former Republic of South Africa. Formed in 2004 between the Republic of the Cape, South West Africa, Volkstaat, and Waterboersland, it united the nations into one political entity with a common foreign policy. It represented the interests of its constituent nations as a member of the League of Nations.

During the New Union's decade of existence, these states co-operated extensively as the union grew and worked toward regional unity, though the the Union also accentuated rivalries with the Azanian League and Dominion of South Africa. The founding members were all dominated by Afrikaans-speaking White or Coloured populations, but through the Union they eradicated explicit, legal forms of racial segregation left over from the apartheid and pre-apartheid eras. In 2008 two predominantly Black kingdoms in the east of South Africa joined, KwaZulu and Lesotho. This helped project a more positive image of NUSA, but it also effectively blocked the membership of the Orange Free State, which otherwise was an important economic partner.

By 2014, internal tensions led to NUSA's dissolution. The Republic of the Cape had been the largest and strongest of the founding group, but the country had collapsed and been partitioned early on and its main successor the RZA had declined to join. KwaZulu had then replaced it as the most powerful member, and some in the smaller republics, though they had welcomed the kingdom initially, now resented having to follow its lead. Politicians in the three founding member states, but especially in Volkstaat, now argued that the New Union had served its purpose and that such a tight union did not serve their interests. In addition, the Dominion of South Africa was now looked at in a much more positive light after the end of the Third Dominion-Xhosa War, while KwaZulu and Lesotho were forming closer ties to Azania. After a series of talks, the nations signed the Article for the Dissolution of the New Union of South Africa on the 26th of September.

History

Post-Doomsday

After Doomsday, South Africa fell into chaos. Its economy collapsed as it lost its international trading partners, while intensifying opposition movements began to tear the nation apart. Famine in the rural areas, especially the Black homelands, brought multitudes of starving people to the cities and townships. Many of the displaced became radicalised; the ranks of armed partisan groups swelled, further worsening the already deteriorating situation. Rioting was rampant, even though curfew was declared. Several districts became ungovernable as the situation grew worse.

It soon became apparent that the apartheid government was siphoning food and fuel rations off to mainly the whites. The black South Africans would not take this and began either taking power for themselves, as in some rural areas, or exploding in open rebellion in the main cities of the Rand. Meanwhile, South Africa's parliamentary opposition, led by the Progressive Federal Party, attempted to gain support to take over the country.

In 1986-1990, South Africa fractured. Revolutionary parties gained control of most of the Transvaal. Displaced Transvaal Whites formed the tiny republics of Heiligdom and Volkstaat, while the Griqua people began to organize the republic of Waterboersland. The PFP managed to gain a patch of territory in the eastern Cape Province, where they were joined by some remnants of the British army and navy and a few thousand of refugees. The KwaZulu and Transkei homelands occupied large swaths of White-owned territory, creating the Kingdom of KwaZulu and Republic of KwaXhosa. The national government took refuge in Cape Town, where it had to share power with a Colouored-led opposition movement, giving rise to the Republic of the Cape. In the Orange Free State, the provincial government managed not only to hold on to power but to retrench the apartheid system, isolating it from the other parts of South Africa.

The 90s remained a turbulent time as the breakaway regimes established themselves. In many parts of South Africa, ethnic and political violence were rampant. People were forced to move or fled their homes. Most of the new states could do little beyond try to maintain their own independence and unity, while doing all they could to rebuild their agricultural base to stave off starvation.

With the new millennium, parts of South Africa were achieving greater stability while trade was increasing. A few of the states began to consider uniting under one Union to help sort out many of the problems that plague the area. This would cumulate in 2004 as negotiations between Volkstaat, Waterboersland, the Republic of the Cape, and South West Africa would lead to the formation of the New Union of South Africa.

The New Union

The New Union faced setbacks immediately. Even while the four republics were still negotiating the treaty, tension was reaching a boiling point between the Cape's President Marais and the White army brass. The army mutinied in 2003, junior officers staged a counter-mutiny, and the country was in a state of civil war by the time the New Union went into effect. In 2005, Marais was killed in a commando attack, and the Republic of the Cape essentially disintegrated.

Nevertheless, the New Union helped the other three member nations establish a successful trading link and improve their economies. The nations together could fund more industry and infrastructure than they could do individually, providing employment and supplying their peoples' with a larger variety of goods. But the remaining members were so small that pooling their resources could have only a limited impact. They searched for larger economies that could join the Union.

The Charter of the New Union explicitly outlawed apartheid and other forms of discriminatory governments. However, the enforcement of this was up to the individual nations' themselves. Of the four founding members, South West Africa had the most racial laws in place; under pressure from the Cape, it repealed these laws, though less explicit discriminatory practices remained.

The collapse of the Cape was followed by a foreign intervention. Australian, New Zealander, and South American troops occupied Cape Town, while the bulk of the remaining territory was seized by the Dominion of South Africa. These events sufficiently alarmed the KwaZulu that it now requested NUSA membership. The kingdom had already enjoyed growing trade relationships with the small republics. The other members saw in KwaZulu a large economy that could replace the Cape and give the alliance some new heft. In addition, bringing a Black nation into the fold would demonstrate that the nations in the Union had truly moved on from the apartheid system of pre-doomsday South Africa, earning the respect both of the rest of the world and of the member states' Black populations. A few months later, Zulu diplomats also persuaded Lesotho to join NUSA.

The Union would continue to focus on infrastructure in their member nations and help establish significantly better living conditions. Roads would be built and trading deals would be sought and finalised with surrounding nations. Roads from Volkstaat to SWA and Waterboersland, and between KwaZulu and Lesotho, would all be repaired, providing safer trade routes for the nations.

New Currency

In this new Union, many problems still remained. Monetary transactions remained a large problem. For such a small area, it had various currencies and this hindered the trading of many goods. It took more time than needed for trading between the nations and many could see that this was a problem that had to be overcome for the Union to be able to grow closer economically. The government thought about pegging the currencies to each other. However, this was abandoned due to it being clearly evident that it would cause a lot of chaos because some of the currencies were much stronger than others.

The idea of establishing a new currency began to become a lot more popular and it soon became evident that South West Africa would definitely prefer it to be the best option, being a primarily trading power. It took time but the idea grew and became more appealing to all the nations. After more than a year of debating formalities, in April 2012 it was announced that there would be a new currency put into place: the Union Rand. 

Each of the member nations' currencies would be phased out slowly, the NUSA government were under no illusions that it could be done quickly. It would take six months, but by October 2012 the Union Rand would grow to become the most prominent currency in use, with regional ones dying out. This would correspond with the significant growth in the region and the investment of money in other services.

Joint Military

With the new currency in place, the peoples in the member nation began to feel part of something bigger than just being citizens of their respective nations. Closer relations were being developed within the Union than with external states in the area, just like how the member nations would have preferred it to be like. Talks began of joint military exercises between the nations, and all quickly accepted the proposal to conduct joint operations.

Most of these operations were to do with protecting trade routes in areas which hadn't been secured by any nation yet. The efficiency with which the operation was conducted between the forces was better than what any single nation had ever managed. It soon became well that troops and officers worked well with their counter-parts from other member nations. (Backtracing for both events to be done soon enough)

Talks soon began to open about uniting the militaries of the member states under one central command chain and location. Initially, the idea was not extremely popular. Yet the results spoke for themselves and there was no denying that the militaries would be better united than distanced. Many argued that it would steal the independence of their nations, but they were reminded that almost all aspects of control were under the regional states. It was also quietly stated that it would be able to provide a better counter-weight to the military of the Dominion of South Africa, which was superior to most other nations in the region.

Dissolution

By 2014, internal tensions were hampering NUSA despite its successes. Many in the smaller republics were resenting KwaZulu's relative size and influence within the Union. This was particularly true in Volkstaat, but some politicians in South West Africa and Waterboersland made similar complaints, along with complaints made on racial and ethnic grounds.

Additionally, as their economies grew, the smaller republics were beginning to feel more self-sufficient. Many argued that the close Union was an outdated idea, no longer necessary. A less-comprehensive trade bloc like the one that the DSA was heading would be sufficient. And with NUSA's members scattered so far apart from each other, even free trade might seem to be of questionable value. Supporters of Union argued against undoing a decade's worth of progress in uniting the five countries, but in the end their opponents won out.

The leaders of all five nations came together on 19 September 2014. Following a week of meetings and conferences, on 26 September the Article for the Dissolution of the New Union of South Africa was signed by all five powers, thus bringing an end to the union. Following this, four of the five nations (not South West Africa) applied to the League of Nations to get individual seats on the assembly.

Legacy

Although the NUSA could be called a failed endevour, the New Union did have some significant long term impacts on the region. Most significant was the implementation of its joint currency. Although the Union ceased to exist, the Union Rand remains the currency of all five former members has become a recognisable currency throughout Southern Africa. Such has been its impact that the Republic of Good Hope adopted the Rand for itself despite never being a Union member. The Dominion of South Africa also accepts the Union Rand as legal tender while also having its own currency, the South African Pound.

Military co-operation, especially among the western nations, has allowed for the development of some common lingo between the armies in the region. It has also fostered an environment of mutual respect and an ongoing series of joint exercises between SWA, Volkstaat and Waterboersland.

Government

The government model of the NUSA can be described as collectivism. It provided the opportunity for the states in the Union to have a collective voice in the League of Nations, while having establish a collective currency and a house of Parliament. 

Military

Each member nation had its own military, but a central command chain was established and the nations were on the path to unite many aspects of their own forces with other members' armies. The nations' militaries worked together a few times to combat issues such as raiding and providing security on trading routes, however large scale co-operation was still a few years away when the New Union began its path to dissolution.

Member States

State	Capital	Population	Official Language	Years of membership
Republic of the Cape	Kapstadt (Cape Town)	4,000,000	Afrikaans	2004-2006
Volkstaat	Springbok	500,000	Afrikaans, English	2004-2014
German Africa	Walvisbaai (Walvis Bay)	65,000	Afrikaans, German	2004-2014
Waterboersland	Griekwastad (Griqua Town)	600,100	Afrikaans	2004-2014
KwaZulu	Ulundi	9,200,000	Zulu, English	2008-2014
Lesotho	Maseru	2,060,000	Sesotho, English	2008-2014