The Griquas are a subgroup of heterogeneous former Khoe-speaking nations in Southern Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Cape Colony. Under apartheid, they were given a special racial classification under the broader category of "Coloured".
The Basters are a Southern African ethnic group descended from white European men and black African women, usually of Khoisan origin, but occasionally also enslaved women from the Cape, who resided in the Dutch Cape Colony in the 18th century. Since the second half of the 19th century, the Rehoboth Baster community has been concentrated in central Namibia, in and around the town of Rehoboth. Basters are closely related to Afrikaners, Cape Coloured and Griqua peoples of South Africa, with whom they share a language and culture.
Rehoboth is a town in central Namibia just north of the Tropic of Capricorn. Located 90 kilometres south of the Namibian capital Windhoek, Rehoboth lies on a high elevation plateau with several natural hot-water springs. It receives sparse mean annual rainfall of 240 millimetres (9.4 in), although in the 2010/2011 rainy season a record 731 millimetres (28.8 in) were measured. In 2005, it had a population of 21,378 later increased to 28,843 in 2011, according to the 2011 Namibian Population and Housing Census.
Rehoboth was a bantustan in South West Africa intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Baster people in the area around the town of Rehoboth, Namibia. A centrally administered local government was created in 1979. The bantustan existed until 29 July 1989, a few months prior to the Independence of Namibia.
Hermanus Christoffel Beukes was a Coloured Namibian politician and activist. Beukes was a frequent petitioner of the United Nations because of Apartheid South Africa's actions while Namibia was held under its mandate.
Johannes Gerard Adolph Diergaardt, more commonly known as Hans Diergaardt was a Namibian politician active for nearly a decade after Namibia gained independence. Prior to that, he was elected as the fifth Kaptein of the then-autonomous Baster community at Rehoboth, succeeding Dr. Ben Africa in 1979 after winning a court challenge to the disputed election of 1976.
The Federal Convention of Namibia (FCN) was a political party based in Rehoboth, Namibia. It was created in the wake of Namibian independence in 1988 by a merger of several smaller parties and gained a seat in the Namibian Constituent Assembly. After also-ran results in 1994 and 1999 it ceased to be publicly active.
Coloured people in Namibia are people with both European and African, especially Khoisan and Bantu ancestry, as well as Indian, Malay, and Malagasy ancestry especially along the coast and areas bordering South Africa. Coloureds have immigrated to Namibia, been born in Namibia or returned to the country. These distinctively different periods of arrivals, from diverse backgrounds and origins have led to a diverse Coloured population. This diversity was even further exploited by South African officials who referred to three distinct groups amongst the coloureds, namely: "Baster", "Cape Coloureds" and "Namibian Coloureds".
Hermanus van Wyk (1835–1905) was the first Kaptein of the Baster community at Rehoboth in South-West Africa, today Namibia. Under his leadership, the mixed-race Basters moved from the Northern Cape to leave white racial discrimination, and migrated into the interior of what is now central Namibia; the first 30 families settled about 1870. They acquired land from local natives and were joined by additional Baster families over the following years. The Baster people developed their own constitution, called the Paternal Laws. They relied on the herding of sheep, goats and cattle as the basis of their economy.
Hermanus is a Latinized version of the Germanic masculine given name Herman. It and its less common variant Hermannus have been used in the Low Countries and South Africa as a birth name. Most people use a short form, like Herman, Harm, Harmen, and Manus. Hermanus also is a patronymic surname in South Africa. People with the name include:
Jan Johannes van Wyk is a Namibian politician who has served as a Member of the National Assembly of Namibia since 2015, first as a representative for the United People's Movement (UPM) and later for the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) from 2020 onwards. He is the UPM's current vice-president and former national chairperson. Van Wyk represented the UPM on the Rehoboth Town Council from 2010 to 2015 and was the UPM's sole parliamentary representative before the party formed a pact with the PDM ahead of the 2019 general election.
Ben Africa is a Namibian politician, medical doctor, and former Baster captain.
Petrus "Piet" Matheus Junius was a Namibian politician who served as the Deputy Education Minister of the Interim Namibian Government from 1985 to 1989.
John McNab was a Namibian politician who served as Rehoboth Baster captain from 1999 until 2020.
The Rehoboth area, historically the Free Republic of Rehoboth is an unrecognized state in central Namibia, inhabited by the indigenous Baster people.
The Baster Council, is the parliament of the unrecognized state of the Rehoboth area in Namibia. It forms the legislature, or Volksraad, of Rehoboth together with the executive Captains Council (Kapteinsraad).
Cornelius van Wyk was the second Captain of the Rehoboth Baster, serving from 1914 until his death in 1924.
Albert Mouton was the third Captain of the Rehoboth Baster in South West Africa from 1924 to 1925.
David Jacobus "Dap" Izaaks (1932/1933–2005), also known as Oom Dap, was a Namibian Baster politician who served as Acting Captain of the Rehoboth Baster between February 1998 and January 1999. He also served as Mayor of Rehoboth.
The Rehoboth Uprising of 1924-25 was the bloodless revolt of the Rehoboth Baster against the South African Administration in South West Africa. The revolt was caused by diminishing Baster autonomy and territory, as a result of Administration policies.
