The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late nineteenth century to Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990.
The Basters are a Southern African ethnic group descended from Cape Coloureds and Nama of Khoisan origin. 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 and Namibia, with whom they share a language and culture. They are also related to the local Nama people, with the Rehoboth Basters being considered a Nama clan by many, having a "Kaptein" just like many Nama settlements in Southern Namibia.
The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic Front, it formed the official opposition in Parliament until the parliamentary elections in 2009. The party currently holds 16 seats in the Namibian National Assembly and one seat in the Namibian National Council and is the official opposition. McHenry Venaani is president of the PDM.
The United Democratic Front (UDF) is a political party in Namibia. Justus ǁGaroëb founded the party in 1989 and led it until 2013. He was succeeded by Apius Auchab.
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.
The Rehoboth Volksparty was a political party in Namibia. It was founded in 1968 by Hans Diergaardt, on the basis of the Rehoboth Taxpayers Association.
The Bondelswarts Rebellion in 1922 was a controversial violent incident in South Africa's League of Nations Mandate of South West Africa, now Namibia.
The Transitional Government of National Unity (TGNU), also commonly called the Interim Government, was the interim government of South West Africa (Namibia) from June 1985 to February 1989.
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.
J.G.A. Diergaardt et al. v. Namibia (2000) was a case decided by the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
The Rehoboth Ratepayers' Association (RRA) is a local political party in Rehoboth, Namibia. It is closely affiliated with Namibia's Baster community which is centered in Rehoboth. The party was formed in 1998 by Baster leader Hans Diergaardt to the contest the 1998 local elections. Despite Diergaardt's death in February 1998, the party continued to run candidates. In 2009, the party's leader and first secretary was Lukas de Klerk.
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.
The National Archives of Namibia (NAN) is the national archives of Namibia, located in Windhoek. It was established in 1939 and today shares a building with the National Library of Namibia. NAN belongs to the National Library and Archives service of the Namibian government, in the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture.
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:
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 Captainsof the Rehoboth Baster were the traditional leaders of the indigenous Baster community in central Namibia, until the dissolution of the Rehoboth Homeland in 1990, upon Namibian independence.
Cornelius van Wyk was the second Captain of the Rehoboth Baster, serving from 1914 until his death in 1924.
