The Quest For Land:
The Basters were searching for land that they could rightfully call
their own and their movements took them further northwards to a
place about 80km south of Windhoek called Rehoboth.
Rehoboth:
The people of the Red Nation of Hoachanas, the Swartbooi tribe
lived in this area. A Rhenish mission station was established there in 1845
and Dr. Carl Hugo Hahn, the missionary named the place Rehoboth using an extract from
Biblical scripture Genesis 26:22 "And he
removed from thence and digged another well; and for that they
strove not; and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For
now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the
land".
The Basters numbered under 500
people at this time and they rented the land for the price of 1 horse per
year. They claim to have made a later purchase of the area known as the Rehoboth from the Swartbooi Chief for the price
of 100 horses and 5 wagons.
The First
World War: The Basters had learned their lesson from
their previous experience with their German masters and now refused
to ally themselves and fight for the German cause. They rightly
viewed the conflict as being a 'White Man's War'. The Germans did
not respect the neutrality of the Basters and declared war on them
in March 1915. The Basters abandoned the settlement at Rehoboth and
fled about 80 km westwards to the hilly and better defensible lands
known as Sam Kubis. It was here that they waged a guerrilla style
defence from the hills against their German foe. They held their
lines until 8 May 1915 when the Germans had to make a tactical
retreat owing to South African Union Forces taking command of the
area.
The League
of Nations Mandate: Entrusted South Africa to govern the
former German colony. In 1923 the Basters entered into lengthy
discussions with the South Africans and demanded that Rehoboth be granted the status of independence. This was refuted by the South
Africans and in 1928 they appointed a white South African magistrate
as the Kaptein of the Baster Volksraad, plus re-arranging the
council to a number of 3 members elected by the South African
government and having 3 Baster members. Thus ending the Baster's
dream of independence.
The
Odendaal Commission: In 1962 the South African government
appointed F.H. Odendaal to chair a commission of investigation into
the native affairs of South West Africa. In compliance with the
apartheid policies of the government of racial and tribal separation
the commission recommended that the Basters at Rehoboth be given
'homeland status'. For the first time since 1933 it appeared that
the Basters might at long last have some form of legally recognized
autonomy and political interests were 'resurrected'. In 1976 the Act
no 56 was passed by the South African government which granted the
legal right to self-governance for the Rehoboth Gebiet, which in
effect then became in effect an independent state within the borders
on Namibia as a whole. However, it was not until 1979 the elections
were held to appoint a Baster to Kaptein the Volksraad. Hans
Diergaard was inducted in 1979 and the Basters of Rehoboth were
under the administration of the Rehoboth Government until 21 March
1990 when Namibia gained its independence from South Africa.
Rehoboth and its people are Namibian citizens and therefore fall under the
Central Government of Namibia.
What's In A
Name: The meaning of words is determined by the people
who make frequent use of them. For example: the modern world has
quite recently taken the word for the colour green to mean ecology
aware or ecology friendly.
Dictionaries list the word bastard as being, "one
born out of wedlock; unauthorized; illegitimate etc." In certain
western countries the word bastard is sometimes used as an insult; whereas In Australia the word
is often used as a friendly adjective during conversations between
men.
In the Namibian culture and daily used vocabulary
the term Bastard or Baster has no association at all with
'illegitimacy'. It refers solely to a member and descendent of that
brave and proud group of nineteenth century trekkers who migrated
northwards across the river in search of a better life and seeking
recognition as being equals to any other human being. Here, in
modern day free and independent Namibia the Basters' rights to that
equality are firmly entrenched in the Namibian Constitution. The dream of
Hermanus van Wyk and the early Baster Pioneers has been realized.
Acknowledgements and further reading: M8.
► Rehoboth
► WIndhoek
