Ondangwa (earlier spelling ''Ondangua'') is a town in the
Oshana Region
Oshana is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Oshakati. The towns of Oshakati, Ongwediva and Ondangwa, all situated with this region, form an urban cluster with the second largest population concentration in Namibia after the c ...
of northern
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 ...
, bordering the
Oshikoto Region
Oshikoto is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, named after Lake Otjikoto. Its capital is Omuthiya. The city of Tsumeb, Otjikoto's capital until 2008, and the towns of Omuthiya and Oniipa are also situated in this region. , Oshikoto had 112, ...
. Ondangwa was first established as a mission station of the
Finnish Missionary Society
The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission (''FELM'', formerly ''The Finnish Missionary Society''; fi, Suomen Lähetysseura ry; sv, Finska Missionssällskapet rf) is a Lutheran missionary society formed on January 19, 1859, in Helsinki, Finland. ...
(the FMS) in 1890. In 1914, it became a local seat of government.
Ondangwa is said to mean ''the end of the Ondonga area''. (
Ondonga is one of the kingdoms of
Ovamboland
Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people.
The term originally referred to the parts ...
), and Ondangwa is located on the western edge of this kingdom.
Ondangwa is located about from the
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
n border, along the
B1 road. It is one of the places of residence of the
Kings of Ondonga; the current King
Eliphas Kauluma, father to the reigning king, lives here. Most of the residents of the town speak
Oshindonga.
Ondangwa is the district capital of the
Ondangwa electoral constituency.
Economy and infrastructure
Ondangwa features various shopping centre, a large open market, and several tourism facilities. There are also shopping centres such as Gwashamba mall, Yetu complex, Ondangwa Industrial Park, Time Square Mall, Sun Square mall, Andimba Toivo yaToivo Complex, Three Sisters Mall and others. Many local authorities for the
Oshana
Oshana is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Oshakati. The towns of Oshakati, Ongwediva and Ondangwa, all situated with this region, form an urban cluster with the second largest population concentration in Namibia after the ...
and
Oshikoto
Oshikoto is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, named after Lake Otjikoto. Its capital is Omuthiya. The city of Tsumeb, Otjikoto's capital until 2008, and the towns of Omuthiya and Oniipa are also situated in this region. , Oshikoto had 112, ...
regions are seated in the town, e.g. the Ministry of Education and Police.
Onandjokwe State Hospital
Onandjokwe State Hospital, until 2016 Onandjokwe Lutheran Hospital, is the oldest hospital in the northern part of Namibia. It was built in 1911 by the Finnish Missionary Society under the leadership of Selma Rainio. The hospital was operated b ...
is situated nearby.
Ondangwa remains an important transit point for Owambo contract workers going to or coming from the copper- and lead-mining town of
Tsumeb
, nickname =
, settlement_type = City
, motto = ''Glück Auf'' (German language, German for ''Good luck'')
, image_skyline = Welcome to tsumeb.jpg
, imagesize =
, image_caption ...
, southeast.
There are several schools in the town, among them
Andimba Toivo ya Toivo Senior Secondary School
Andimba Toivo ya Toivo Senior Secondary School is a school in the Oshana Region of Namibia, in the suburb Oluno in Ondangwa town. It was established in the 1970s during South African occupation. The school's original name was ''Oluno Senior Second ...
. Some schools extend far from the town - for instance
Ekulo Senior Secondary School.In terms of education, there are many schools in Ondangwa such as Heroes Private School, Nangolo Secondary School, Iihenda Secondary School and Ondangwa Secondary School. There are also primary schools such as Olukolo Primary School and Ondangwa Prof-Private School and many other. Apart from schools that offer full time classes, there are also schools which offer part time classes to learners who want to improve their grade 10 and 12 results. These are schools such as Elite and NAMCOL. NAMCOL centre also offers other programmes such as ICDL which trains students on how to use computers and other ICT skills. The most well-known football team is
KK Palace
KK Palace is a football (soccer) team in Ondangwa, Namibia.
They are internationally known for taking part in the longest Penalty-Shootout ever, where they beat F.C. Civics Windhoek on January 23, 2004 after 48 kicks and a 17–16 victory in the ...
and
Volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
.
Since independence, the government has settled up an industry in the north, to create jobs and improve the poor infrastructure.
Rössing Foundation,
Kayec and
Cosdec are the three vocational skills schools training young people in building maintenance, sewing, cooking, and Internet Technology.
Safland Namibia is developing a multimillion-dollar shopping mall in Ondangwa.
Transport
![Ondangwa Airport](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Ondangwa_Airport.jpg)
In 2001, planning started on a railway line to link Tsumeb with Ondangwa, with extensions to
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
planned to follow. The rail line had its first official service on 11 May 2006. The passenger train ''
Omugulugwombashe Star'' traveled once a week back and forth between
Windhoek
Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...
and Ondangwa before it broke down due to climatic conditions.
Ondangwa Airport
Andimba Toivo ya Toivo Airport formerly known as Ondangwa Airport is an airport serving Ondangwa, a town in the Oshana Region of Namibia. The airport is about northwest of the center of Ondangwa.
The Ondangwa non-directional beacon (Ident: OA) ...
is linked to Oshakati and
Oshikango
Oshikango is a former village in northern Namibia and since 2004 part of the town of Helao Nafidi, although it still maintained its own village council for a number of years. ''Oshikango'' is still the name of the border post with Angola and the ...
by a tarred road. Rental car services are available to tourists. There is Ekamuti Lodge, Ondangwa Town Lodge, Protea Hotel, Oshoto Pension Hotel, Anot Guest House, Ondangwa Restcamp and many others. All these places can give accommodation in Ondangwa Residents and car drivers are extra cautious when crossing and driving in town, because livestock permission in town is not strictly regulated by the authorities. As a result, cattle and many goats roam around streets, especially at night.
Geography
Ondangwa is situated amidst the dramatic scenery of the Kaoko and Damara regions, in the vicinity of
Etosha National Park
Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. ...
. The relatively pristine state of much of the local culture in the surrounding areas is balanced by the bustling markets and vibrant urban life of the town centre. For visitors, Ondangwa town has a variety of accommodation options, from camp sites to a range of hotels. Informal markets sell a variety of products including traditional clothes and local street food such as dried caterpillars and meat dishes.
Climate
Ondangwa 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 hot summers and warm winters (with mild days and cool nights). The average annual precipitation is , with rainfall occurring mainly during summer. In the unusual rainy season of 2010/2011 rainfall was over ,
while in 2018/19 during the 2010s drought only of rain fell. On October 28, 2020, a maximum temperature of was registered.
Politics and Government
Ondangwa is governed by a town council that has seven seats. Current challenges faced include the growing demand for housing due to rapid urbanisation, as well unemployment. TIPEEG, a government project to create jobs, is intended to assist in curbing unemployment in the town. The council has produced a development plan with guiding documents in the hope of facilitating investment. In order to combat the shortage of housing, the council has entered into a private-public partnership with Namibou, for the intended construction of roughly a thousand houses. It has also declared the aim of making the local government "an engine for sustainable development" in the region, and joined
ICLEI
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (or simply ICLEI) is an international non-governmental organization that promotes sustainable development. ICLEI provides technical consulting to local governments to meet sustainability objectives. ...
in 2013.
Oshana Region, to which Ondangwa belongs, is a stronghold of Namibia's 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. In the
2015 local authority election SWAPO won by a landslide (2,582 votes) and gained six council seats. The remaining seat went to 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 ...
(DTA) which gained 158 votes. SWAPO also won the
2020 local authority election. It obtained 1923 votes and gained four seats. The
Independent Patriots for Change
The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) is a political party in Namibia. It was founded by Panduleni Itula in August 2020. As an independent presidential candidate in the November 2019 election, Itula won the best result of a losing candidat ...
(IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, obtained 1,744 votes and gained three seats.
History
Finnish mission station
The Ondangwa mission station was founded by
August Pettinen in 1890. It was located northwest of the
Olukonda
Olukonda is a settlement in the Oshikoto Region in the north of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Olukonda electoral constituency. During colonial time of German South West Africa the missionary station and settlement was known as the ...
mission station. At that time it was said that the distance was equal to two hours of travel on an ox cart.
Before Ondangwa was founded, the Finns had experienced a string of setbacks in the territories of other
Ovambo tribes, i.e. in the kingdoms of
Uukwambi
Uukwambi is a traditional kingdom of the Ovambo people in what is today northern Namibia. Its capital is Elim.
The last king of Uukwambi was Iipumbu yaTshirongo, who was toppled by the South African authorities in 1932. Nowadays the highest tra ...
,
Ongadjera in the west and
Oukwanyama Oukwanyama (''Uukwanyama'' in the neighbouring Oshindonga dialect) is a traditional kingdom of the Ovambo people in what is today northern Namibia and southern Angola. Its capital is Ehole.
List of rulers
The Oukwanyama Kingdom and King Mandume M ...
in the north, and circumstances dictated that their work had to be concentrated in Ondonga. Even in Ondonga, the Finns could only work in the west, because in eastern Ondonga, Prince Nehale had been acting in an erratic and despotic way and thus made it impossible for foreigners to work or even survive there.
In August 1889 the Finns received news that Nehale was planning to kill them and to plunder the mission stations in his realm. The reason for this was that Nehale thought, incorrectly, that the Finns would have much ammunition that he could acquire. Pettinen had brought with him a couple of Christian families, and some of his servants were also Christians, so a small congregation existed in Ondangwa right from the beginning.
In 1898 the FMS sent
Hilja Lindberg and
Anna Rautanen, daughter of
Martti Rautanen, to Ovamboland and Ondangwa. They were the first unmarried female missionaries in Ovamboland. Both had been given a chance to practice healthcare work at the
Helsinki Deaconess Institute, as the plan was that they would be engaged in this line of work in Ovamboland. Lindberg was also going to teach Ovambo women how to spin and weave cotton.
However, the cultivation and processing of cotton turned out to require too much labour and water, and the results were not in a reasonable proportion compared with the amount of work required. Furthermore, the Ovambos were used to getting material from the Finns and were not motivated to produce their own material. This experiment thus had to be abandoned.
In 1900 the director of the FMS,
Jooseppi Mustakallio, came to Ovamboland to inspect the mission field. One of the sites inspected was Ondangwa. He was in general happy with what he saw there.
When
August Hänninen
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...
arrived in Ovamboland in 1904, Ondangwa became for a short time the most important place of health care there. Hänninen was not trained for medicare work, but as a conscript in the army he had worked as a surgeon’s assistant, or some kind of a paramedic, and he was eager to continue in this line of work in Ovamboland. Indeed, he soon became known as a famous healer. August Pettinen reported that in 1905, when many kinds of epidemics ravaged Ovamboland, some 7,000 visits by patients had been made in Ondangwa. Even the following year there were 3,700 visits by patients. It appears that sometime after this Hänninen moved to
Oniipa
Oniipa is a town in the Oshikoto Region of northern Namibia and the district capital of the Oniipa electoral constituency. It lies just outside Ondangwa. It is the hometown of former Lutheran bishop and liberation leader Leonard Auala.
There i ...
, where he used 4–5 hours daily for taking care of patients.
Armed conflict in Ondangwa
In February 1906, there was an armed conflict in the immediate vicinity of the Ondangwa mission station. The battle was connected to an attempted coup on Ondonga. The nephews of King Kambonde, Albin and Martin had been baptised and were next in line for the throne. Their aunt, Kambonde’s sister Amutaleni incited them to kill the king. Even before this, the brothers had started to sort out things in Kambonde’s realm, without the consent of Kambonde. When Albin decided that he would not continue to act against the king, his brother Martin assassinated him. This led into an armed conflict between the supporters of these two brothers. Circa 40 Ondonga men were killed in this conflict, and as a result of the affair, two other brothers, also in line for the throne, had to go into exile.
It seems that most people in Ondangwa lost their fortunes in this conflict, since in 1908 it was reported that the people in Ondangwa could not support their parish in any way whatsoever.
Administrative outpost
In early 1914 the Finns had abandoned the Ondangwa mission station. When the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
took over
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 ...
during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, they also came to Ovamboland and in 1915 chose Ondangwa as the location of their administration. On
Christmas Day
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
that year they hoisted the
Union Jack
The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...
in Ondangwa for the first time. The commander of the English was Major C. N. Manning, whose title was the ''Resident Commissioner''.
In October 1915 Lieutenant
C. H. L. Hahn arrived in Ovamboland. He was the grandson of
Carl Hugo Hahn
Carl Hugo Hahn (1818–1895) was a Baltic German missionary and linguist who worked in South Africa and South-West Africa for most of his life. Together with Franz Heinrich Kleinschmidt, he set up the first Rhenish mission station to the Here ...
, raised by the son of the latter, Pastor
Carl Hugo Hahn Jr., in
Paarl
Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after ...
,
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...
. He worked in Ovamboland as the highest administrator for 30 years and had a great influence on the relations between the Finnish missionaries and the colonial administration.
The official status of the government station in Ondangwa was not sorted out until several years later, when in 1921 the government finally bought it from the Finns.
In 1945, towards the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n government sent an ''Organizer of Native Education'' to Northern Namibia, to oversee school work in Ovamboland and
Kavango. The first such organizer was D. R. Rootman, who was based in Ondangwa. Later this moved to
Grootfontein
, nickname =
, settlement_type = City
, motto = Fons Vitæ
, image_skyline = Grootfontein grass.jpg
, imagesize = 300px
, image_caption =
, image_flag =
, flag_si ...
, and the organizer visited Ovamboland once a year.
During Apartheid
Due to its strategic airport, Ondangwa became an important staging area for the
South African Defence Force
The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...
during its campaigns in neighbouring
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
. Local road and rail links were also improved by authorities to facilitate the rapid movement of military vehicles. While prior to 1970 the highway was unpaved beyond
Otjiwarongo
Otjiwarongo ( hz, beautiful place) is a city of 28,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Otjiwarongo electoral constituency and also the capital of Otjozondjupa.
Otjiwarongo is situated in c ...
,
by the end of the decade the tarmac extended through Ondangwa to
Oshakati
Oshakati is a town in northern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Oshana Region and one of Namibia's largest places.
Oshakati was founded in July 1966 and proclaimed a town in 1992. The town was used as a base of operations by the S ...
.
As the
Namibian War of Independence
The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and An ...
intensified, Ondangwa became a target for the
South West African People's Organization
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 ...
until South Africa's withdrawal from the region in 1990.
Notable residents
*
Eddie Amkongo
*
Angelina Immanuel
See also
*
Transport in Namibia
This article deals with the system of transport in Namibia, both public and private.
General History
The beginnings of organised travel and transport routes in the territory of South West Africa, today Namibia, have not yet been established. This ...
*
Railway stations in Namibia
A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...
References
Notes
Literature
*
External links
Maplandia MapOndangwa*
{{Coord, 17, 55, S, 15, 57, E, region:NA_type:city, display=title
Populated places in the Oshana Region
Towns in Namibia
Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission mission stations in Ondonga
Populated places established in 1890
1890 establishments in Africa