A Tribute to Gaob Stephanus Goliath, !nagaǂnôa Gaob of the |hai'|khaua Namaqua of !autsawises (Berseba)

    by Salmaan Dhameer Jacobs 

    The home-going of Gaob Stephanus Goliath, deputy chief of the |hai'|khaua traditional community of Berseba, was received with sadness and shock by many in Namibia, and beyond. He left this world in the early hours of Friday, 10 March, 2023. 

    First responses to the sad news came from many corners, sending messages of condolences and sympathy, both on social media and via other media platforms. 

    The statement of the deputy bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN), during a brief mourning church service on the evening of 10 March, 2023, at the residence in Windhoek, spoke volumes. The deputy bishop narrated how Gaob Goliath consolidated himself in his community and the nation, and deeply imprinted on the cultural and political landscapes of Namibia.

    Bishop Abraham ||khaibeb stated that the history of Namibia, particularly of southern Namibia, cannot be written without mentioning Gaob Goliath's name. This statement that summed up the truth, as Gaob Goliath came to be known, about a trendsetter who was always the first to start so many worthy causes, and supported them until completion.

    He was a man who served humanity and remained humble without knowing his own true worth, a humble servant of his people, and the Namibian nation, who served with dignity and integrity. 

    We can vividly recount the sacrifices he had made, both in his personal life and for his community, the far-reaching programmes he had brought to the nation to change the socio-economic landscape, a loving and exemplary husband, a father to many, a nationalist with deep roots in tradition, humble and approachable, a visionary, a unifier, a hero who never wavered in his convictions and principles. His life simply cannot be summed up in a few words.

    He was the first of the southerners to obtain a university degree in the early 1970s. He was the first from that area to become the principal of a high school, and the first chairperson of the Nama Teachers Union (NTU), in the 70s. He was the first to rise up against apartheid in 1976, when he and reverend Hendrik Witbooi of Gibeon led southern teachers on a strike for better wages and living conditions. He was among the first to join SWAPO in the south, in 1974, when the Berseba traditional authority publicly joined the liberation movement under the leadership of Gaob Dawid Christian Goliath of the |Hai'||Khaua. He left deep footprints in Namibia and southern Namibia because he chartered a course and gave direction for unity in his community and the nation. 

    Before and after independence in 1990, he and others traveled throughout this country on a mobilisation drive for SWAPO, to convince our peoples and make them understand the right course of political action and participation.

    Gaob Stephanus Goliath was among the first to openly oppose the intimidation of learners at the school where he was principal by the apartheid military. He, defiantly, opened a Cambridge private school in Berseba, a school that produced many who are today in responsible positions of government.

    There were only four (4) such schools in Namibia, at the time. The first was opened in Gibeon in 1978 under the leadership of reverend Witbooi, a second in !hoaxa!nâs under the leadership of the late Gaob P. S. M. Kooper, a third in Khoixas under the leadership of reverend Willem Konjore, and the fourth in Berseba under the leadership of Gaob Goliath. 

    Gaob Goliath had opened his private school in Berseba in 1987 to provide alternative education to the ''Bantu education'' enforced by the South African apartheid regime, in Namibia. As a consequence of opening this school, he was harassed, monitored and stalked by South African intelligence and security forces, openly and clandestinely. Against all odds, he successfully opened his school with a full compliment of teachers who could hardly speak English.

    Gaob Goliath was subsequently arrested and imprisoned at Gobabis, and in Windhoek, for six (6) months, under the notorious Proclamation AG 26, an apartheid proclamation that was used to imprison most of SWAPO's leaders, at the time. 

    Upon his return to Berseba, our chief experienced trauma at the hands of his own people. The ''handlers'' of the opposing forces connived with locals to break into his house in 1999, while Gaob Goliath and his wife, Elizabeth, were resting after lunch, and stab him with a knife, multiple times. He was unarmed and he and his wife fought back fiercely to defend themselves against their attackers and to prevent his fatal injury. 

    This attack on the chief shocked the entire community. Gaob Johannes Fleermuys, his ally and friend, transported Gaob Goliath to Tses for first aid treatment and then to Keetmanshoop for emergency treatment and intensive care. The criminal matter was pursued but died a natural death. Through all of this, the chief maintained his composure and integrity for the greater good of the |Hai'|Khaua community, and for the Berseba people to remain united.

    The course the departed Gaob Goliath had chartered was clear because he wanted only unity, progress and development for the greater Namibia. 

    As the first governor of the ||kharas region after independence in 1990, the current regional demarcations were done. He stressed emphatically that unity should at all times be maintained, that traditional communities should preserve their land rights and fully participate in leasehold allocations of their lands.

    Many will claim they had played instrumental roles in the realisation of the Neckertal Dam but I recall a crucial meeting that the late minister, Abraham Iyambo, had held with the traditional authorities of the southern regions, in 2007. In that meeting, the late Gaob Goliath laid out a clear plan and vision detailing the necesssity of the Neckertal Dam. Minister Iyambo took that plan and vision to Cabinet and motivated for its endorsement.

    Ostrich communal farming boomed in the south because of his wisdom and visionary leadership. The ostrich project empowered 53 families and communal farmers farmed with more than 2,000 ostriches. The farmers were also shareholders in the Ostrich Production Namibia (OPN), and an abattoir, still standing on the outskirts of Keetmanshoop, that functions as a sheep slaughtering facility, today. 

    Having been a traditional leader deeply conscious of the sacrifices his ancestors had made for land, he vehemently opposed those who had called for ancestral land rights not to be discussed at the second land conference held in 2018. In a rare emotional outburst, he articulated a need for ancestral land rights to be discussed at the conference because it is relevant and many factions in our community are severely affected by land dispossession. He persuaded the political leadership to include this critical matter in the agenda for the conference. 

    The Berseba traditional community he served as chief had been divided into opposing factions for more than 75 years, ever since the banishment of the last chief, Diederick Goliath, to !hoaxa!nâs in 1938, by the South African apartheid regime. After independence in 1990, Gaob Goliath brought back to Berseba the remains of Gaob Diederick Goliath for reburial, who had died at !Hoaxa!nas in 1947. In doing so, Gaob Goliath brought closure for many to a painful chapter in the |hai'|khaua traditional community. 

    When we say he had made sacrifices, we mean it. It would have been very easy for him to claim leadership of the |Hai'|Khaua traditional community because of his good standing within the community, and the Namibian nation, at large. He did not, and opted instead to serve as deputy chief of the entire |hai'|khaua clan of Berseba and the surrounding areas. He was a selfless leader who wanted peace and unity for his people more than anything. Thanks to his sacrifice, the community is now united, and he leaves the community united after having been integral in orchestrating their unity. 

    He did what he came to do, in this world. He obtained an education when it was difficult. He applied his knowledge to educate children and students. He deployed his expertise in the course of the struggle for the independence of Namibia. He served the government and the people of Namibia both before and after independence.

    His reign as the first governor of the ||kharas region was without conflict because he succeeded in uniting the political, religious and traditional leadership of the region. He made sacrifices in his personal life and gave up teaching formally to establish an alternative education system for the Namibian people. He had knife stab wounds on his body. He sacrificed a royal position to unite opposing factions within the |hai'|khaua traditional community.

    His footprints are deeply imprinted on Namibian soil. History will always remember him for the roles he had played in his community and the country. He was dignified and humble. He was approachable to ordinary citizens, dined with dignitaries and world leaders, and could articulate on any platform about national matters. His personal presentation was exemplary, always neat and clean. He wore traditional attire to show his roots but remained nationalistic in his disposition and vision. 

    May we emulate his rare qualities of humility, his visionary and exemplary leadership, his sense of sacrifice for the greater good of others. 

    His passing is Namibia's loss and heaven's gain.

    |hai'|khaua lost a unifier and a leader of the highest calibre. The traditional throne will not be the same without him. His family lost a dear husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather. Our king is no more. 

    May his beautiful soul rest in eternal peace. 

***

    Gaob Jacob Stephanus Goliath (27/11/1944 - 10/03/2023) was laid to rest on Saturday, 1 April, 2023, at !autsawises (Berseba), in the ||kharas region of Namibia. The Namibian government had granted him a state funeral as a hero of the liberation struggle for the independence of Namibia. 

    Read the original tribute by Salmaan Dhameer Jacobs here: Tribute: Chief Stephanus Goliath, a Humble Unifier, New Era, 23/03/2023: https://neweralive.na/posts/tribute-chief-stephanus-goliath-a-humble-unifier 

Xu Nossob Xoa Xrup ǂkhîb !nâ sâ re !nagaǂnôa Gaob Stephanus Goliath tsî kai aiôs