Khorixas is a town of 6,000 inhabitants in southern

Kunene Region Kunene is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Opuwo, its governor is Marius Sheya. The region's name comes from the Kunene River which forms the northern border with Angola. Besides the capital Opuwo, the region contains the ...

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 ...

. It was the capital of the

Damaraland Damaraland was a name given to the north-central part of what later became Namibia, inhabited by the Damara (people), Damaras. It was bounded roughly by Ovamboland in the north, the Namib Desert in the west, the Kalahari Desert in the east, a ...

bantustan A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now N ...

before Namibia's independence. It is the administrative capital of

Khorixas Constituency Khorixas is a constituency in the Kunene Region of northwestern Namibia. Its district capital is the town of Khorixas, its population in 2004 was 10,906. , it has 8,788 registered voters. The name of this constituency comes from a derivation of ...

. Most of the inhabitants are from the Damara ethnic group. The town is located near to an important deposit of petrified wood and the

Twyfelfontein Twyfelfontein (Afrikaans: ''uncertain spring''), officially known as ǀUi-ǁAis ( Damara/Nama: ''jumping waterhole''), is a site of ancient rock engravings in the Kunene Region of north-western Namibia. It consists of a spring in a valley flanked ...

valley, known for its

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

. Khorixas (2018).jpg, Aerial view of Khorixas (2018)

Economy and infrastructure

Khorixas landing strip and main road C39 (2018)

Khorixas from a lack of economic development and employment opportunities, which leads to frustration and outward migration among many of the town's youth. The unemployment rate in town is estimated to be around 70%. Donkerhoek ( af, dark corner), the town's informal settlement, has neither water nor electricity. The regional hospital and some other regional offices are still located in Khorixas, though the capital of Kunene Region is

Opuwo Opuwo is the capital of the Kunene Region in north-western Namibia. The town is situated about 720 km north-northwest from the capital Windhoek, and has a population of 20,000. It is the commercial hub of the Kunene Region. Economy and inf ...

. Khorixas has a landing strip nine kilometers east of town parallel to the main road C39. The Runway Numbers are 09/27 and elevation is 3320 feet. There are six schools and one branch of

University of Namibia The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a multi-campus public research university in Namibia, as well as the largest university in the country. It was established by an act of Parliament on 31 August 1992. Background UNAM comprises the follow ...

(UNAM) in Khorixas, Versteendewoud is the biggest primary school and Cornelius Goreseb High School is the biggest secondary school. Other schools are: Eddie Bowe Primary School, Welwitchia Primary School, Welwitchia Junior Secondary School and Th. F. ǃGaeb Primary School.

Politics

Khorixas is governed by a town council that has seven seats. Due to its location in former

, the ethnically Damara-based United Democratic Front (UDF) has strong support in the population. Unlike in most other

constituencies of Namibia Each of the 14 regions of Namibia is further subdivided into electoral constituencies. The size of the constituencies varies with the size and population of each region. There are currently 121 constituencies in Namibia. The most populous con ...

, the ruling

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

party had until 2015 never won in Khorixas.

Local authority elections

The 2015 local authority election was won by SWAPO, gaining four seats (1,741 votes) and the majority in the village council. The remaining three seats went to the UDF with 1,345 votes. The 2020 local authority election was won by the UDF which gained 985 votes and four seats. SWAPO was runner up with 624 votes and two seats. The remaining seat went to the

Landless People's Movement The Landless People's Movement was an independent social movement in South Africa. It consisted of rural people and people living in shack settlements in cities. The Landless People's Movement boycotted parliamentary elections and had a histor ...

(LPM, a new party registered in 2018, 261 votes).

Mayors

* 2005 Martha Claassen, UDF. Claassen was the first female mayor of Khorixas but her reign lasted only three days. * 2012–2015 Trypohasa Moloto, UDF. * 2015–2020: Elizabeth Geises, SWAPO

Geography

Climate

Khorixas has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(''BSh'', according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

), with warm to hot summers and mild winters. It borders on a

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(''BWh''). The average annual precipitation is , with a low of during the 2010s drought in 2018/19.

Sport

The Robber Chanties, which in August 2010 played in the Northern Stream Division One and sought promotion the

Namibia Premier League The Namibia Premier League (NPL), also known as Debmarine Namibia Premiership is the highest level of domestic association football in Namibia. The league was established in 1990 and was trimmed to 12 teams from the traditional 16 in 2005. It was ...

, are based in Khorixas.Chanties cry foul over unwanted whistle blower
'' New Era, 5 August 2010

Sights

* Organ Pipes * Burnt Mountain

References

External links

{{Coord, 20, 22, S, 14, 58, E, region:NA_type:city, display=title Populated places in the Kunene Region Towns in Namibia