By Salmaan Jacobs
🌅 14 September, 1932
🜘 Bethanie, ||kharas Region, Namibia
👑 Gaob Dawid Frederick
🝯 12 January, 2018
The passing of Gaob Dawid Frederick of the !Aman Traditional Authority of Bethanie, ||kharas Region, came as a shock and dismayed many judging by the expressions of sorrow, sympathy and condolences received by his family.
I, personally, lost a brother. A very loving and supportive brother. A brother who traversed the Land of the Brave in search of answers to the pertinent questions he had had. He found the answers, perhaps, or perhaps not, but in the process he left remarkable footprints worthy of emulation by those who come after him.
At the time of his passing, he was 85 years, 3 months, and 29 days old, and under normal circumstances would have passed as any other elderly person who had reached their finality.
Our late Gaob Frederick was a combination of fine qualities; he was born great, achieved greatness in his life, and through his commitment to genuine causes, had greatness thrust upon him.
He was a relentless soul and a warrior, traveling across this ancestral land of his forefathers, from east to west, north to south, and over the sea and the mountains. He was burning from within to witness the return of his dismembered ancestors' skulls from Germany. He brought some of the skulls back himself having been part of a delegation entrusted to return human remains from Germany.
I met him at the airport that day, in September, 2011. We both cried, and he said: ''I thank God the Enabler, the Consoler, that our age-old yearning for the return of these essential parts of our grandparents could be realised. Let us praise His Holy Name.''
He was a very deep and conscientious believer, a religious person, who knew that only Unseen Power could have enabled for the return of these remains. As mortal beings, we only fulfill His wishes.
His quiet departure from this world left all of us, especially his beloved wife and adored children, his community, the Nama community, and the Namibian nation, at large, in shock and with profound emptiness.
We did not expect his departure now because, fair or unfair, his passing caused anxiety, particularly for those who had pinned their hopes on his perserverance to seek closure on claims for reparations and genocide, including the return of all the skulls of ancestors still lingering in museums and libraries in foreign hinterlands, to be returned for reunification with the rest of the bodies for proper burial.
The late Gaob Frederick experienced the brutality of the apartheid regime when he was barely ten years old and in standard 2, today it's grade 4. He was expelled from the Rhenish Missionary School at Bethanie. The expulsion was not for reasons of his own making but because his father and his uncle, Gaob Josef Frederick, together with a large group of community members, walked out and discontinued their membership of the Rhenish Missionary Church, in 1942. They subsequently joined the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, in 1946.
His father and namesake must have seen leadership qualities in his son because it was reported that his father narrated to Gaob Dawid Frederick horrifying stories of how Nama people were subjected to cold-blooded extermination. His father told him how his grandfather, Gaob Cornelius Frederick, the !Aman chief, was beheaded with many Nama and other indigenous nations at Shark Island in !namiǂnûs, Luderitz.
Gaob Cornelius Frederick was beheaded on the 16th of February, 1907, on Shark Island, or Death Island, as this wretched place came to be known. May his offspring live to see the realisation that Shark Island be declared Heroes' Acre. This is a place where many indigenous inhabitants of Namibia perished under harsh conditions; hanging, decapitation, diseases, brutal and inhumane treatment by colonial German settlers.
Our late Gaob Frederick had a father who ensured he was properly taught history, who always showed him the house where Gaob Cornelius Frederick used to live whenever they came to Bethanie, from their farm.
His smooth transition into the royal seat was paved by careful preparations and he was first appointed senior counselor to Gaob Jan Samuel Herero in 1960 after Gaob Josef Frederick had passed away, in 1957. The position enabled him to work closely with his community, consulting widely on issues of water and grazing, peaceful co-existence and cooperation, and combating theft. In addition, he organised traditional festivals and dignified burials for those in the community who passed away.
Sometimes, Gaob Dawid Frederick would go to white people's farms to speak to their workers which was not an easy task. He narrated to us how he was chased away from white settler farms during visits to his community members. Some of them followed him with guns but he did not stop those visits.
One particular day, during such visits, a white farmer followed him by car, at a distance. Gaob Frederick said he could see the farmer had a gun. He saw through the rear window of his vehicle that he was being followed in a car but he continued on his way. When he reached the farm, the white farmer stayed in his car, at a distance. When Gaob Frederick continued from there, after meeting with the people, the farmer followed him again.
Our Gaob drove until he reached the main road, stopped his car and got out, expecting the farmer to do the same so that he could establish why the farmer was following him. He stopped to see what this farmer was up to and to provoke, if need be, the farmer to do whatever it is he wanted to do. The white farmer stopped his car at a distance, and remained seated in the car.
So, Gaob Frederick went to the back of his own car, took out a flask with tea and his lunchbox. He also took out a folding chair and sat down as if he was unaware of the white farmer's existence. The white farmer remained at a distance. Gaob Frederick ate his lunch and drank his tea. When he had finished, he got into his vehicle and drove away, slowly. The white farmer did not follow him but remained there, in his car. The moral of the story is that Gaob Frederick was a brave man. He would rather confront a sitatuion and discover the outcome than shy away from a challenge.
From 1974 onwards there were intense political campaigns and discussions around the question of Namibia's self-rule. Having been approached by representatives of the South African regime, that occupied Namibia, to come to the Round Table Talks, Gaob Jan Samuel Herero, together with Dawid Frederick, joined these talks. He, Gaob Frederick, was in his 40s at the time, mobilised his people to participate in political activities until the indepenence of Namibia was achieved, in 1990.
The early to late 70s and 80s were times of political divide in southern Namibia, as it was elsewhere in the country. The political divisions did not separate us, however, from the family who were staunch supporters of a SWAPO-driven solution towards the independence of Namibia.
The love and respect we had for one another, and he being our older brother from my mother's side, made us warmly embrace each other whenever he visited Berseba or Keetmanshoop, or we visited Bethanie for family or community events.
With the dawn of independence in 1990, the challenges facing the Namibian people intensified and socio-economic issues took precedence over traditional matters. The setting up and recognition of traditional authorities via the Traditional Authorities Act of 1992 by the Namibian government, the roles and purpose of the existence and meaning of traditional communities also came into focus and gave impetus for more work to be done for the betterment of their people.
The mandate accorded by the Traditional Authorities Act of 1992 is very clear: to protect, promote and preserve the cultures and traditions of indigenous communities. Gaob Dawid Frederick, like all other traditional leaders, organised himself properly towards his community as well as collectively with other leaders as a united force to address issues of unity among themselves as the traditional leaders of their communities. The Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA) should be seen in that context.
His tireless efforts to raise the issues of genocide, reparations and the return of skulls taken to Germany were painful thorns in the flesh for the late Gaob. He raised these issues way back at the one of the !Aman festivals at Shark Island in 2005, where he asked in his maiden address: ''Where are the heads of our forefathers and mothers?''
He went on to state that this matter gave him sleepless nights. It was therefore natural for him to join forces with the late Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako, who tabled a motion in parliament in 2006 for debate on genocide and reparations. He wanted a national debate on the issue of atrocities committed against the Nama and Ovaherero during the protracted extermination war between 1904 and 1908 to find direction and closure. Those remaining must resolve to continue with the court case in the USA taken to those courts by Gaob Frederick and Paramount Chief Vekuii Rukoro.
Gaob Frederick was at the forefront to facilitate unity among the Nama community and for them to benefit from mineral and natural resources discovered in their areas. Also, for the children of these communities to receive adequate education, for the use of the Nama language by Nama people themselves, and for the Nama community to play a significant and constructive role in the agenda for national development.
He treated everyone with respect, people from all walks of life could relate to him, and he was easy to communicate with, a good listener and adviser on all matters of life. His humility and the extent to which he showed love appeared as if he was going over and beyond to express love and care. Whenever we met, I was his ''beloved brother'' and my wife his ''beloved brother's lovely wife''. When it is said in our language it sounds genuine and touching, emotionally.
What was clear is that he genuinely believed in all people and that they are all inherently good. He loved his people and tirelessly consulted with the relevant stakeholders to improve their situation.
Gaob Frederick was also a nationalist and held constructive views on all matters of national importance. He steered clear of politics and urged his traditional community to vote for whom they chose but to keep in mind that unity and nation-building, a united Namibia, should be their ultimate aim.
What was remarkable about him was his total devotion to his people and his reponsibilities.
The late Gaob Frederick was hospitalised in June, 2015, and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unity (ICU). With God's help and prayers from the Namibian nation, who genuinely loved him, he recovered until he could recognise and talk to those who visited him.
While in hospital, in the presence of his beloved wife, he dictated to me and my wife to write down the details and particulars of the upcoming !Aman Festival scheduled to take place in September of 2015. His instructions ranged from logistics to the programme content. People were expected from Botswana, South Africa, Omaheke, and other regions of Namibia. There should be enough tents and chairs, he had said, and adequate food for all who attended.
He spoke about how people should be accommodated. There was so much detail in the draft checklist for the festival he asked us to put together and send to his sons, Hartmut and Ruben. In retrospect, he was preparing us for this day, the day of his home-going.
The wife of Gaob Frederick, for more than 55 years, has been brave throughout this ordeal, constantly beside his sickbed whenever he was in hospital and out. She slept in his hospital room and devoted her time to him with care and love. They were an exemplary and dignified royal couple. Instead of us consoling her, Zies consoled my wife and I with words of God. What an amazing mother and wife she has been all these years.
Gaob Dawid Frederick loved his children, unconditionally, and they loved him, equally, if not more. May his beloved wife and his lovely children, and the entire !Aman community, and all Namibians, find solace in the words of God: ''Blessed are the dead who died in the Lord... They will rest from their labour for their deeds will follow them'' (Revelations 14:13).
ǂkhîb !nâ sâ re, Gaotse!
Opgedra aan die !Aman tradisionele owerheid in die suide van Namibië en die familie van Gaob Dawid Frederick.
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