Tses is a village in the

ǁKaras Region The ǁKaras Region (pronounced , with a lateral click) is the southernmost and least densely populated of the 14 regions of Namibia; its capital is Keetmanshoop. The name assigned to the region reflects the prominence of the Karas mountain rang ...

of southern

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 ...

with a population of approximately 1000; probably 1000 more live in the surrounding semi-desert farming hinterland. It is situated one kilometre off the main B1 highway from

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 ...

Noordoewer Noordoewer is a settlement in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. Its name means 'North Bank' in Afrikaans, in reference to the north bank of the Orange River, on which it is located. The village lies opposite the South African town of Viool ...

, opposite the turning to

Berseba Berseba ( Nama: ǃAutsawises) is a village in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia and the district capital of the Berseba electoral constituency. It is situated north-west of Keetmanshoop near the Brukkaros Mountain, a famous tourist des ...

and the

Brukkaros Mountain Brukkaros Mountain (Khoekhoe: ''Geitsi Gubib'') is a collapsed caldera in ǁKaras Region, Namibia. Measuring 1,590 metres at its peak on the eastern edge of the crater, Brukkaros is located about 15 kilometres northeast of the primarily Nama tow ...

. Tses in

Khoekhoegowab The Khoekhoe language (), also known by the ethnic terms Nama (''Namagowab'') , Damara (''ǂNūkhoegowab''), or Nama/Damara and formerly as Hottentot, is the most widespread of the non-Bantu languages of Southern Africa that make heavy use o ...

means 'place of daylight'.

History

From 1980 until independence in 1990, Tses was part of

Namaland Namaland was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Nama people. Namaland comprised an area of and was to accommodate the estimated 34,806 southern N ...

, a reserve set aside for the

Nama people Nama (in older sources also called Namaqua) are an African ethnic group of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. They traditionally speak the Nama language of the Khoe-Kwadi language family, although many Nama also speak Afrikaans. The Nama Peo ...

Economy and Infrastructure

The main economic activity in this area is subsistence livestock farming. Tses houses a general dealer and a petrol station. The passenger trains from Windhoek to Keetmanshoop stop at Tses. One of the largest employers at Tses shall be Groot Glass, formerly known as Tses Glass, one of the most modern glass plants in the southern part of Africa. Due to unclear financing, the realization of the project is uncertain. Except by a symbolic act of groundbreaking, the erection has not been started up to now.

Politics

Tses is governed by a village council that has five seats. In the 2010 local authority election, a total of 984 votes were cast in the village.

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 ...

won with approximately 55% of the vote. Of the four other parties seeking seats,

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) received approximately 21% of the vote, followed by Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP, 19%),

South West Africa National Union The South West Africa National Union (SWANU) is a Namibian political party founded in 1959. Most of its members came from the Herero people, while fellow independence movement SWAPO was mostly an Ovambo party. The party's president is Charl ...

(SWANU, 2%) and

Congress of Democrats The Congress of Democrats (CoD) is a Namibian opposition party without representation in the National Assembly and led by Ben Ulenga. It was established in 1999, prior to that year's general elections, and started off with a number of notabl ...

(COD, 2%). The 2015 local authority election was likewise won by SWAPO party which gained three seats (260 votes). The remaining two seats went to the DTA which obtained 156 votes. The 2020 local authority election was won by 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) with 267 votes and two seats. SWAPO was the runner-up, obtaining 193 and also two seats. The remaining seat went to the

Popular Democratic Movement 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 ...

(PDM, the new name of the DTA since 2017) with 89 votes.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in the ǁKaras Region Villages in Namibia