Cornelius van Wyk (died 24 April 1924) was the second Captain of the Rehoboth Baster, serving from 1914 until his death in 1924.

Life and death

Van Wyk succeeded his father,

Hermanus Hermanus (originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service

, upon his death in 1905. However, the German colonial government abolished the role of the Baster Captain, replaced instead by a Council of Basters (''Basterrat''). In 1915, the Basters, whom had signed a protection agreement with the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

almost thirty years prior, rebelled against the military force in

German South West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

. Van Wyk had previously met with

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...

Prime Minister Louis Botha, to seek conflict resolution, but to no avail. The rebellion finally ended after van Wyk's wife and children, among others, were killed in the Battle of Sam Khubis. As of 2013, the battlefield is in the process of being recognized as a national monument of Namibia. Under Cornelius van Wyk, the ''de facto'' independence of the

Rehoboth area The Rehoboth area, historically the Free Republic of Rehoboth (German: ''Freie Republik Rehoboth'') is an unrecognized state in central Namibia, inhabited by the indigenous Baster people. Between 1979 and 1989, the area was a South West African b ...

as a

homeland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethni ...

was approved by the Union of South Africa on 9 July 1915. Van Wyk died on 24 April 1924, and was succeeded by Albert Mouton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:van Wyk, Cornelius Namibian politicians Rehoboth, Namibia Year of birth missing 1924 deaths