Coloured people in Namibia

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Namibian Coloureds
Namibian Coloureds from the Apartheid Era
Total population
107,855 (2023 census)[1][a]
Regions with significant populations
Namibia, South Africa
Languages
Afrikaans, English, German
Religion
Protestantism, Catholic, Islam
Related ethnic groups
Baster, Khoekhoe, Nama, Griqua, Afrikaners

Coloured people in Namibia are Namibians of mixed ancestry, typically with both European and African heritage, particularly Khoisan and Bantu, as well as Indian, Malay, and Malagasy ancestry, especially along the coast and in areas bordering South Africa. Some Coloured people immigrated to Namibia, some were born there, and others returned after living abroad. These different waves of arrival from diverse backgrounds have contributed to a heterogeneous Coloured population. South African authorities further classified the community into three groups: Basters, Cape Coloureds, and Namibian Coloureds.

Another distinct community was located in Walvis Bay, which remained under South African control until 1994. This group maintained close cultural and social ties to the Cape Coloured population.

The most significant cultural conflict occurred in the mid-1980s, when students influenced by teachers returning from the University of the Western Cape (UWC) began challenging older community leaders, many of whom served on Coloured Councils or in Rehoboth self-government structures and opposed SWAPO. Younger people increasingly embraced Black nationalism, rejected the label "so-called Coloured," and advocated for a racially unified, independent Namibia. Many echoed the view of Norman Duncan, who stated that "there's no such thing as a Coloured culture, Coloured identity."[2]

Since the early 2000s, however, more scholarship has argued that Coloured communities in Namibia are experiencing marginalisation.[3]

History

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The Coloured community in Namibia represents a wide range of genetic and cultural backgrounds. They are a mixed population with European and African ancestry, and their history under South African rule closely resembled that of Cape Coloureds. The general consensus is that Coloureds accept the Seven Steps of District Six to describe their lineage, which includes:

  1. Indigenous peoples (including Khoe, San, amaXhosa, baSotho, and baTswana)
  2. Slaves
  3. Free Blacks
  4. Europeans
  5. Maroons (runaway slaves, free Black rebels, mixed Baster descendants of Indigenous peoples and slaves, nonconformist Europeans, escaped convicts, and missionaries)
  6. Exiles and refugees
  7. Indentured labourers and migrants (including debtors and economic migrants)[4]

After World War I

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The African People's Organisation (APO), a Coloured political group, opposed transferring the German colony to South African authority. After South Africa assumed control of South West Africa (now Namibia) at the end of the war, more Cape Coloureds migrated into the territory. In 1921, the South African Department of Native Affairs approved their petition to establish a Coloured township in Windhoek, north of the Old Location, in what is now Pionierspark.[5]

The South West Africa (SWA) administration and white settlers distinguished three groups within the Coloured population: Basters, Cape Coloureds, and Namibian Coloureds.

In February 1923, the APO opened its first local branch, advocating for "the Social, Political and Civil Rights of the Cape Coloured Community throughout the SW Protectorate." Two years later, the African National Bond (ANB) was formed to represent Coloured interests. Both APO and ANB aligned themselves with South African political parties, particularly the South African Party and the National Party.[6]

Proclamation No. 34 of 1924 (Native Urban Areas Proclamation) dealt a significant blow to Coloured status, declaring that "a coloured person who lives in the native location shall be regarded as native." The 1926 Colour Bar Law, which restricted certain jobs in mining to white workers, was also applied in South West Africa.

In 1946, Andrew Kloppers moved from South Africa to Windhoek. A former member of the Kleurling Ouer-Onderwyser Vereniging (KOOV), he founded the South West African Coloured Teachers' Association (SWACTA) in 1947. Clemens Kapuuo served as its president from 1950 to 1953.

In 1950, the National Party of SWA (NPSWA) won elections for the Legislative Assembly.[6] Concerns about blurred ethnic boundaries between Coloureds and poor whites motivated implementation of the Group Areas Act (1950), which enforced residential segregation by race.

On 18 April 1955, SWACTA and the South West Africa Coloured People's Bond (SWACPB) petitioned for a new Coloured township in Windhoek and requested the creation of a Council for Coloured Affairs. Until then, Coloured residents of Windhoek were represented only by a Coloured member on the Native Advisory Board of the Old Location.

On 2 August 1957, Herman Andimba Toivo ya Toivo founded the Ovamboland People's Organisation in Cape Town. Among its members were Coloured activists Ottiliè Schimming and Kenneth Abrahams.

Two new Coloured organisations were formed in 1959:

  • South West Africa Coloured Organisation (SWACO), which was pro-South African
  • Volksorganisasie van Suidwes-Afrika (People's Organisation of South West Africa), which was anti-South African

Both opposed the creation of Khomasdal, a new Coloured township planned west of central Windhoek.[7]

On 10 December 1959, police attempted to disperse protesters in the Old Location who opposed forced relocations to Khomasdal and Katutura (the new Coloured and Black townships). Police opened fire, killing Coloured leader Willem Cloete, a member of the Native Advisory Board. Official reports listed 11 deaths and 25 injuries.[8]

Coloureds' organisations

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  • Coloured Advisory Council
  • Coloured Council
  • Council for Coloured Affairs
  • Federal Coloured People's Party (FCPP)
  • South West Africa Coloured Organisation (SWACO)
  • South West Africa Coloured Peoples' Bond (SWACPB)
  • South West African Coloured Teachers' Association (SWACTA)
  • South West African Labour (SWALP)

Namibian coloureds

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Historical

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Politics

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  • Charlie Hartung, National Independence Party candidate to the South West Africa Coloured Council on 30 October 1974.
  • Joey Julius, Politician and leader of the Democratic People's Party (est. 1982).
  • Andrew Kloppers, Politician. Founder of South West African Coloured Teachers' Association (SWACTA) in 1947, later leader of the Labour Party and Chairman of the Coloured Council for 12 years – 1962 to 1974.
  • Albert Krohne, National Independence Party candidate to the South West Africa Coloured Council on 30 October 1974.
  • Willem "Billy" Phillips, Politician and leader of the Namibia Volksparty (People's Party) (est. 1988).

Business

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  • Navin Morar, Entrepreneur and first President of the post-Apartheid chamber of commerce and industry. Though of Indian descent, he was classified as coloured. Indians had to receive special permission and travelling papers to enter the administered territory of South West Africa.

Notes

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  1. ^ Includes 45,629 Basters.

References

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  1. ^ "Namibia 2023 Population and Housing Census Main Report" (PDF). Namibia Statistics Agency. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  2. ^ Norman Duncan, interviewed in the Cape Times (4 December 1996), in Erasmus, Coloured by history, 21.
  3. ^ Marginalization of Coloureds must end Archived 4 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "BLK Roots Workshop: The Seven Steps". 31 March 2012.
  5. ^ "77-1921". klausdierks.com.
  6. ^ "Elections in Namibia". africanelections.tripod.com. 9 March 2011.
  7. ^ Katjavivi, Peter H. (1988). A History of Resistance in Namibia. Currey. ISBN 978-92-3-102511-2.
  8. ^ "International Human Rights Day". namibia-1on1.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2018.
  9. ^ Dierks, Klaus. "Biographies of Namibian Personalities, J". klausdierks.com. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  10. ^ Dierks, Klaus. "Biographies of Namibian Personalities, H". klausdierks.com. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  11. ^ Dierks, Klaus. "Biographies of Namibian Personalities, R". klausdierks.com. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  12. ^ a b Dierks, Klaus. "Biographies of Namibian Personalities, B". klausdierks.com. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
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