Manasse !noreseb Xamaob, Part II: In Remembrance of His Death in Battle in 1905, at !gubu'oms (Aminuis)

In Remembrance of the Death in Battle of 

Manasse !noreseb Xamaob 

at !gubu'oms (Aminuis) on 1 December, 1905

against the German Schutztruppe

by 

Dr. Klaus Dierks

On the occasion of Heroes' Day, 5 December, 2004

(continued from Part I)

    The third period, the active resistance period in Namibia's history of struggle for freedom, reached its first culmination point in the German-Namibian War of 1903 to 1913. The patterns of all socio-political structures in Namibia were fundamentally altered by this war. The “Leutwein System”, based on a combination of diplomacy and military force, broke down completely, and Theodor Leutwein was unseated as governor of German South-West Africa in 1904, when General Lothar von Trotha was brought in to take over the administration of the colony.

The genocide against the Nama and Ovaherero communities, and the extreme suffering this war caused, is demonstrated by the fact that out of approximately 25,000 Nama in 1901, only 9,810 had survived by 1911, meaning more than 50% of the Nama had died, victims of Germany's colonial rule. Many Namibians, more than 50% of the area's total population, perished in German concentration camps, among them members of the Red Nation of !hoaxa'!nâs. 

    In October, 1903, the German-Namibian War began with the Bondelswarts at Warmbad. In January, 1904, the Ovaherero took up arms against German colonial rule. On 27 January, Leutwein hastily made peace with the Bondel in the Peace of Kalkfontein, so as to avoid a war on two (2) fronts, central and far south, which the German colonial administration was ill prepared for, at the time. In accordance with the Peace of Kalkfontein, the Bondel had to disarm and handover all arms and weapons to German colonial forces.

    From Warmbad the German commander, Von Heydebreck, moved north in order to join the war against the Ovaherero. On the way to Windhoek, he disarmed the Kaiǁkhaun under Manasse !noreseb Xamaob at !hoaxa'!nâs who, it was rumoured, showed interest in joining the Ovaherero in their resistance war against the Germans. German forces, subsequently, established a military station at !hoaxa'!nâs. 

    After the outbreak of the Nama-German War in October, 1904, the Kaiǁkhaun joined Hendrik Witbooi. The Bondelswarts under Jakob Marengo and Johannes Christian, around 300 to 400 armed men, the Veldschoendragers under Jan Hendrik (150 to 200 armed men), the Fransman Nama under Simon Kooper (600 to 700 armed men), the Bethanie Nama under Cornelius Fredericks (300 to 400 armed men), and the Red Nation under Manasse !noreseb from !hoaxa'!nâs (90 to 100 armed men), united behind Hendrik Witbooi in the resistance struggle against the Germans.

    As said before, in October, 1904, Manasse !noreseb Xamaob responded to Samuel Maharero's call: ''Let us die fighting.'' Manasse was always committed to Namibian self-determination and peace. He was further influenced by Jakob Marengo who, from the fortified settlement of ǁkhauxa'!nâs in the Great ǁkharas mountains, launched the first attack against the Germans in Namaland in August, 1904.

    By October, 1904, the entire Namaland, except for some parts of Bethanie, Berseba, and Keetmanshoop, was at war with Germany. At the height of the war, 2,000 poorly equipped Nama freedom fighters fought against 15,000 German soldiers equipped with the most advanced weaponry of their time. There were more than 200 separate encounters in the war in Namibia's south.

    As a side note, I am aware that many people are still disputing these facts and have still not come to terms with the bitter facts of Namibia's colonial history, but they should study a German colonial source by Deimling, Aus Der Alten in die Neue Zeit, 1930, pp 111 to 116. We must come to terms with history, and without knowledge of Namibian history there can be no national reconciliation.

    To continue, on 1 December, 1905, Manasse !noreseb Xamaob of the Red Nation of !hoaxa'!nâs died in action against the German Schutztruppe in the Battle of !gubu'oms, at present-day Aminuis.

    After the defeat of the Red Nation and following the death of their chief, Manasse !noreseb Xamaob on 1 December, 1905, the traditional, ethnic Red Nation social structures were disbanded by the German colonial administration and their communal lands confiscated as punishment for their so-called ''rebellion'' by the Red Nation.

    On 8 August, 1906, a German law was enacted that provided for the expropriation of land and cattle of so-called ''dissident tribes'': Ovaherero, Swartbooi Nama, Topnaar Nama, Witbooi Nama, Red Nation, Bethanie Nama, Fransman Nama, Veldschoendragers, and Bondelswarts. It is clear that south of the Red Line, only the Baster at Rehoboth and |hai'|khauan of Berseba kept their land, while the Daman, whom the Germans considered as having no land rights, were given some land as a grant, but not as property. This ordinance of August, 1906, was further enacted on 8 May, 1907.

    !hoaxa'!nâs ceased to exist as an important Nama community centre, in colonial Namibia, but the story of the Red Nation did not end there. This was not the end of the German-Namibia War nor the end of colonial oppression in Namibia. Jakob Marengo, Johannes Christian, and Abraham Morris of Warmbad, Cornelius Fredericks of Bethanie, and Simon Kooper of Gochas, continued to struggle against colonialism. In actual fact, the anti-colonial resistance continued until 1990, and the Red Nation of !hoaxa'!nâs was always involved. At the end of the German era, in 1915, the Red Nation was completely impoverished and dispossessed of all their lands, cattle, sheep, and goats.

    The Kaiǁkhaun of !hoaxa'!nâs obtained a new leader in 1922 only, !hoeb ǁoasmab (Fritz Lazarus ǁoaseb) who died on 18 July, 1936. His successor was Noag Tsai'tsaib who ruled the Kaiǁkhaun traditional authority until 1948. He was followed by Matheus Kooper until 1986. On 3 December, 1988, a new leader, Petrus Simon Moses Kooper, was sworn in.

    In the 1930s and 1940s, !hoaxa'!nâs served as a place of refuge for leaders from other Nama groups who were sent into exile by the South African apartheid administration in Namibia, like the |hai'|khauan leader, Diederik Ruben Goliat (Goliath), from Berseba, for example. In August, 1938, the S. W. A. administration conducted three (3) investigations against Diederik Goliat for his opposition to the South African native reserve policy. Chief Goliat was ordered out of the Berseba reservation and sent into exile at !hoaxa'!nâs. On 12 November, 1947, he died at !hoaxa'!nâs after having spent years there in exile. His body was returned to Berseba after Namibian independence from South Africa, in 1995.

    After the Second World War, a leader of the !hoaxa'!nâs community, Reverend Markus Kooper together with Hosea Kutako and Samuel Hendrik Witbooi, were among the first Namibian leaders to petition the newly established United Nations to grant Namibia independence from South Africa. In 1959, Reverend Kooper rejected South Africa's apartheid plans to evict the Red Nation from !hoaxa'!nâs and to resettle them at Aminuis and Tses. The South African administration, consequently, forced him to move to !autsawises in the Tses reservation. The people of !hoaxa'!nâs threw stones at low-flying South African war planes, terrorising and threatening them with bombing, so as to force them to leave !hoaxa'!nâs. However, under the determined and brave leadership of Markus Kooper, the Red Nation of !hoaxa'!nâs successfully resisted South Africa's apartheid ideology to evict them from !hoaxa'!nâs, and to resettle them elsewhere in Namaland.

    It was on the date of independence that Namibia's 200 years of resistance came full circle. The legacy of Manasse !noreseb Xamaob for a free, united, and peaceful Namibia was continued by successor chiefs of the Red Nation until SWAPO's victory in 1989. The Red Nation at !hoaxa'!nâs, which had been dispersed and impoverished by the German colonial administration and later, by the South African apartheid administration, must be restored to its former glory. 

    This day of remembrance of the death of Manasse !noreseb Xamaob in battle in 1905, at !gubu'oms (present-day Aminuis), 99 years ago, should serve as a stepping-stone to achieve this goal. Namibia should take note of the Red Nation's contribution to the struggle for independence. I can only bow in honour of the heroes of the Kaiǁkhaun, and I salute the people of !hoaxa'!nâs. 

***

End of Part II.

    Dr. Karl Otto Ludwig Klaus Dierks was born on the 19th of February, 1936, in Berlin-Dahlem, Germany, and studied civil engineering and history at the Berlin Technical University. In 1982, Dr. Dierks joined SWAPO and rose to become a member of the Central Committee. From 1979 onwards, he had consistently used the name, ''Namibia'', and spoke about an ''independent Namibia'', when it was considered provocative and risky to do so. In the 1980s, he started writing about ''Namibian history'' in an effort to pursue ''an academic war'' against the apartheid regime by focusing on the cultural, economic, political, and social development of Namibia prior to the arrival of European settlers and missionaries. Until Namibian independence in 1990, the South African apartheid regime denounced Dr. Dierks' extensive historical research and work as false. After independence, Dr. Dierks served Namibia as a member of the National Assembly, and in the roles of Deputy Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Communications, and later, as Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy. Until his death in Windhoek in 2005, he was fascinated by the history of the settlement at ǁkhauxa'!nâs in the Great ǁkharas mountains. He also published a book, Chronology of Namibian History: From Pre-historical Times to Independent Namibia. This speech at !hoaxa'!nâs was his last as a public official before his retirement and death, in 2005.

    Gaob Petrus Simon Moses Kooper ǁgawamûma'!kharab (Weer Sien) became the leader of the Kaiǁkhaun Red Nation at !hoaxa'!nâs, in 1988. He was also the leader of the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA) until his death, in 2022. Gaob Kooper was born at !hoaxa'!nâs in 1950, and survived the terror and threats by the South African apartheid regime against the Red Nation. During his lifetime, he was greatly influenced by the courage and determination shown by preceding Kaiǁkhaun leaders to protect the community at !hoaxa'!nâs and actively supported the pressing need for Namibian self-determination, and independence from South Africa. ǁgawamûma'!kharab had a charismatic personality, was beloved and popular, and a riveting orator.