Ben Africa (born 13 October 1938) is a

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n politician, medical doctor, and former

Baster The Basters (also known as Baasters, Rehobothers or Rehoboth Basters) are a Southern African ethnic group descended from white European men and black African women, usually of Khoisan origin, but occasionally also enslaved women from the Cape, ...

captain. Africa is most notable for serving as the fourth Captain of the Baster and his tenure as vice-president of the

Democratic Turnhalle Alliance The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic ...

Life and death

Ben Africa was born in Rehoboth,

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

(present-day Namibia). He was educated at Athlone High School in Cape Town, South Africa. He studied medicine at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

Medical School in 1964. Africa narrowly avoided expulsion after publicly confronting on-campus racial discrimination. He became the first Resident District Surgeon of Rehoboth in 1966. In 1971, alongside

John McNab John McNab (1934/1935 - 3 October 2020) was a Namibian politician who served as Rehoboth, Namibia, Rehoboth Baster captain from 1999 until 2020. Life and death John McNab was born around the Rehoboth, Namibia, Rehoboth area of South West Africa ...

and

Piet Junius Petrus "Piet" Matheus Junius (1941 - 3 April 2021) was a Namibian politician who served as the Deputy Education Minister of the Interim Namibian Government from 1985 to 1989. Junius also served as vice-president of the Democratic Turnhalle Asso ...

, Africa established the Rehoboth Baster Association (RBA). The RBA was founded in opposition to the Rehoboth Volksparty to negotiate with the

government, to counterract the

gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea and gastro, is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of energy, and dehydra ...

epidemic in the "

Gebied". Africa was elected as Captain of the

s on 3 October 1977, winning by 2,307 votes. His closest competitor,

Johannes Diergaardt Johannes Gerard Adolph Diergaardt, more commonly known as Hans Diergaardt (16 September 1927 – 13 February 1998) was a Namibian politician active for nearly a decade after Namibia gained independence. Prior to that, he was elected as the fifth Ka ...

, challenged the result, whom received 2,180 votes.''Translations on Sub-Saharan Africa'', U. S. Joint Publications Research Service, Nr. 1831, S. 85.↑ Africa would remain as Baster captain until a successful court challenge by Diergaardt overturned the October 1977 vote, pronouncing Diergaardt as the fifth, and last, Baster captain. In November 1977, the RBA joined the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA). Africa went on to become vice-president of the DTA on 3 July 1978.

References

1938 births Living people Namibian politicians {{Namibia-politician-stub