John McNab (1934/1935 - 3 October 2020) was a Namibian politician who served as Rehoboth Baster captain from 1999 until 2020.
22-770: John McNab was born around the Rehoboth area of South West Africa in 1934 or 1935. His grandfather was of Scottish descent, and was murdered in Waterberg in 1880. In 1971, McNab co-founded the Rehoboth Baster Association (RBA), alongside Ben Africa and Piet Junius . McNab remained with the RBA before leaving in 1977 to establish the Rehoboth Democratic Movement . McNab was elected as Baster captain on 11 January 1999, with 40.8% of
44-631: A 'Treaty of Protection and Friendship' with the German Empire which permitted him to retain a degree of autonomy in exchange for recognizing colonial rule. Relations between Rehoboth and Germany remained close for more than twenty years, but in 1914, following the outbreak of World War I , Germany's use of Baster soldiers to guard South African prisoners — contrary to the terms of their enlistment — led to armed revolt. German forces then attacked Rehoboth, committed atrocities against Baster civilians and attacked refugees encamped upon
66-605: A few years, the Basters were closely linked to the town of Rehoboth and became identified as Rehoboth Basters or Rehobothers . The population increased rapidly from an initial number of 333 in 1870, 800 in 1874 and 1500 by 1885. The growing Baster population settled in the surrounding areas, which would become known as the Rehoboth Gebiet ("Gebiet": German : area ). In 1885, Baster Kaptein Hermanus van Wyk signed
88-537: A high elevation plateau with several natural hot-water springs. It is situated 90 km (56 mi) south of the Namibian capital Windhoek on the B1 national road . The B1 intersects Rehoboth from north to south and also serves as the border of the two electoral constituencies in the town, Rehoboth Urban West and Rehoboth Urban East . It receives sparse mean annual rainfall of 240 millimetres (9.4 in), although in
110-781: A result of an attack by the Orlam Afrikaners. Rehoboth means "streets" in Hebrew. The arrival of the ǀHôaǀaran (Oorlam Afrikaner) in ǀAeǁgams (Windhoek) in 1840 marked the start of the ǀHôaǀaran-ǁKhauǀgôan (Oorlam Afrikaner-Swartbooi Nama) feud. This feud lasted from 1840 to 1865, as the Oorlam Afrikaner attacked the Swartbooi Nama at Rehoboth in a bloody clash resulting in the Swartbooi Namas fleeing to ǃAmaib in ǃOeǂgâb (Erongo region). The Rehoboth area
132-701: A suburb of Lübbecke , then in the Kingdom of Prussia . He was a trained carpenter and blacksmith. Kleinschmidt became a missionary with the Rhenish Missionary Society , which sent him to Southwestern Africa in response to the request of Jonker Afrikaner , chief of the Oorlam tribe residing there. He arrived in Windhoek in October 1842. When Wesleyan missionaries arrived in 1844, also at
154-667: Is a town in the Hardap Region of central Namibia , just north of the Tropic of Capricorn . It had a population of 40,788 people in 2023. Rehoboth is intersected from north to south by the national road B1 , which also serves as the border of the two electoral constituencies in the town, Rehoboth Urban West and Rehoboth Urban East . Rehoboth is the core territory of the Baster community which still lives according to their Paternal Laws which were enacted in 1872. Rehoboth lies on
176-446: The 16th century and named the site ǀGaoǁnāǀaus (Fountain of the falling buffalo). The ǃAinîn later permanently settled at ǃNawases 11 km (7 mi) NE of Rehoboth in the mid 1700s under the reign of chief Xomaǀkhāb (third in line of chieftain chronology) circa 1725- (1750). The traditional community is as per post-independent Namibian legislative framework is administered by a traditional authority (ǃAinîn Traditional Authority) under
198-569: The 2010/2011 rainy season a record 731 millimetres (28.8 in) were measured. The majority of the population consists of Basters . The town is served by Rehoboth railway station . There is also a private landing strip for small aircraft near the Oanob Dam . To the west is Gamsberg Nature Reserve . Public amenities include a public hospital, primary and secondary schools and a district court with resident magistrate. The Oanob Dam , approximately six kilometres (4 miles) from Rehoboth, supplies
220-525: The coast and Windhoek until the end of the century. Their missionary work was not very successful, and while Hahn visited Europe between 1853 and 1856 to gather support for his endeavors, Kleinschmidt moved back south to the Nama communities, where he founded the mission station and town of Rehoboth in 1845. Kleinschmidt was fluent in Khoekhoegowab (also called Nama or Damara/Nama). Together with
242-543: The fauna rich springs of Rehoboth so as not chase away game roaming the site. In 1845 ǁKhauǀgôan (Swartbooi) clan arrived under the leadership of Willem Swartbooi (ǃHuiseb ǂHaobemâb) and Franz Heinrich Kleinschmidt of the German Rhenish Missionary Society . Kleinschmidt named the place Rehoboth that year, and established a Rhenish Mission Station there. In 1864, the Nama abandoned the area as
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#1732787822407264-545: The first Rhenish mission station to the Herero there. At that time Jonker Afrikaner oversaw the development of the road network in South-West Africa. Hahn and Kleinschmidt initiated the creation of a path from Windhoek to Barmen via Okahandja, and in 1850 this road, later known as Alter Baiweg ( Old Bay Path ), was extended via Otjimbingwe to Walvis Bay . This route served as an important trade connection between
286-548: The invitation of Jonker Afrikaner, Kleinschmidt and his colleague Carl Hugo Hahn moved northwards into Damaraland in order to avoid conflict with them. Hahn and Kleinschmidt arrived at Otjikango on 31 October 1844. They named the place Barmen (today Gross Barmen ) after the headquarters of the Rhenish Missionary Society which was located in Barmen , Germany (today part of Wuppertal ), and established
308-521: The mountain of Sam Khubis , but, despite repeated attacks and the use of superior weaponry, were unable to destroy the Basters' position. On the following day the Germans retreated and Rehoboth's Baster community was reprieved. Namibia was occupied by South Africa in 1915 and, ten years later, a second rebellion broke out at Rehoboth. This revolt collapsed, however, when colonial forces, armed with machine guns and supported by two warplanes, marched into
330-461: The reign of Kai ǀGarub (regnal title- "Great Leopard") Chief Hans Eichab. ǀGaoǁnāǀaus was later renamed ǀAnes (place of smoke) by the Kaiǁkhaun (Rooinasie Nama of ǃHoaxaǃnâs) who for a short period had settled there before migrating to Hoachanas . The "smoke" referred to the steam that was rising over the hot water fountains on cold winter mornings. The ǀHūǃgaoben decided to settle at a distance from
352-444: The town and arrested more than 600 people. Rehoboth is divided into eight neighbourhoods, called blocks. The oldest part of the town is blocks A, B and C, of which block B contains most public services and shops. Block D is home to the wealthiest inhabitants of the town. Block E is the poorest neighbourhood and was originally (under Apartheid ) designated for blacks. Blocks F, G and H are the newest neighbourhoods. The current mayor of
374-452: The town council, followed by SWAPO with two seats and 2,322 votes. The local Rehoboth Independent Town Management Association also obtained two seats (1,523 votes), and the remaining seat went to the UPM (841 votes). 23°19′S 17°05′E / 23.317°S 17.083°E / -23.317; 17.083 Franz Heinrich Kleinschmidt Franz Heinrich Kleinschmidt (1812–1864)
396-620: The town is Mr. Pieters, living in Block E. Administratively, Rehoboth is classified as a town with its own council of 7 elected individuals. The 2015 local authority election was won by the SWAPO party which gained four seats (4,519 votes), while the local United People's Movement (UPM) gained three seats (3,101 votes). The 2020 local authority election was narrowly won by the newly formed Landless People's Movement (LPM) which scored well all over Hardap. LPM gained 2,468 votes and two seats in
418-633: The town with fresh water. The aboriginals of Rehoboth and its surroundings are the now seemingly extinct and or greatly assimilated/ accultured San (Haiǁom) and the Damaras, of the ǃAinîn traditional community (or rather the Dama of the ǃAib [aka ǀHūǃgaoben]), a sub clan of the ǀGowanîn (Dune Damaras/ Damaras of the Kalahari). They first came upon the hot water springs after the fall of the Damara cohession in
440-817: The vote, succeeding Hans Diergaardt . McNab signed the Rehoboth Baster community into the membership of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) on 17 May 2008. In 2016, McNab was awarded the Afrikaans Language Board's Koker Award for his "continued struggle for the protection of Afrikaans in Namibia." In 2018, McNab delegated office duties to Martin Dentlinger due to ill-health. On 3 October 2020, McNab died aged 82. Rehoboth, Namibia Rehoboth
462-537: Was a German missionary and linguist who worked in southern Africa, now in the region of Namibia . He founded the missionary station and town of Rehoboth and together with Carl Hugo Hahn set up the first Rhenish mission station to the Herero people in Gross Barmen . Kleinschmidt is known for his scientific work on the Nama language . Kleinschmidt was born on 25 October 1812 in the village of Blasheim, today
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#1732787822407484-649: Was mostly bare except the Swartbooi Nama who were sheltered by the ǀHūǃgaoben. In 1870, the Basters , who had migrated out of the Cape Colony in 1868, moved into the territory and were granted permission to settle at Rehoboth by the participants of the peace conference of Okahandja on 23 September 1870. Paternal Laws , the constitution of the Rehoboth Basters, were enacted in 1872. The Baster community of Rehoboth still lives according to these. Within
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