The Captains of the Rehoboth Baster (

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

: ''Kapteins van die Rehoboth Baster'') were the

traditional leaders Traditional authority is a form of leadership in which the authority of an organization or a regime is largely tied to tradition or custom. The main reason for the given state of affairs is that " things have always been that way".Reinhard Bendi ...

of the indigenous Baster community in central

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 ...

, until the dissolution of the Rehoboth Homeland in 1990, upon Namibian independence. The 1990

Constitution of Namibia The Constitution of Namibia is the supreme law of the Republic of Namibia. Adopted on 9 February 1990, a month prior to Namibia's independence from apartheid South Africa, it was written by an elected constituent assembly. Preamble "Whereas ...

does not give the same special rights to the Rehoboth Baster as the other traditional leaderships of Namibia. The Baster Council, and the Rehoboth population, still elect a Captain today, but this has no autonomy or powers associated with it, like the other traditional leaderships under the Namibian constitution.

History

The first Captain (''Kaptein'') was

Hermanus van Wyk Hermanus van Wyk (1835–1905) was the first Kaptein of the Baster community at Rehoboth in South-West Africa, today Namibia. Under his leadership, the mixed-race Basters moved from the Northern Cape to leave white racial discrimination, and ...

, who led the Baster nation to Rehoboth 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 ...

from the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

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 ...

to escape the rampant racial discrimination. He served as Baster Captain from 1868 until his death in 1905. Upon the death of van Wyk, the German colonial government established a separate council. It was not until the United Kingdom took over German South West Africa as a British protectorate in 1914, that the Rehoboth Basters elected another Captain -

Cornelius van Wyk 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, upon his death in 1905. However, the German colonial governme ...

. In 1924, South Africa legally transferred all powers of the Baster Captain to the South African-controlled Rehoboth Magistrate through Proclmation No. 31. Following a devastating defeat in the Baster Uprising of 1925, the third Baster Captain, Albert Mouton, was overthrown ''de facto'' by the South Africans. In 1977, two years before the establishment of the Rehoboth Homeland, Ben Africa was elected as the fourth Baster Captain, serving until 1979 upon the successful reversal of the 1976 election by

Hans 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 ...

. Diergaardt's tenure oversaw the independence of Namibia in March 1990, and the subsequent loss of traditional leadership powers under the new constitution. Diergaardt served from 1979 until his death in 1998. Dap Izaaks served as interim Captain until the election of

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 ...

in 1999, who would oversee the Rehoboth Basters' admission to the

Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, or simply UNPO is an international organization established to facilitate the voices of unrepresented and marginalised nations and peoples worldwide. It was formed on 11 February 1991 in The Ha ...

(UNPO).

List of Captains of the Rehoboth Baster

(1835-1905) - 1868–1905; his death *

(?-1924) - 1914–1924; his death * Albert Mouton (?-?) - 1924-1925 * Ben Africa (1938- ) - 1977-1979 * Johannes Diergaardt (1927-1998) - 1979–1998; his death * Dap Izaaks (?-2005) - 1998-1999 (interim) *

(1934/35-2020) - 1999-2020 ** Martin Dentlinger (?-) - interim 2018-2020 * Martin Dentlinger; confirmed by the ''Baster Burgher Volksraad'' on 1 November 2020 ''(disputed)'' * Barney Buys (?-2020) - October 2020-November 2020 ''(disputed'') *

Jacky Britz Jackie or Jacky may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters named Jackie or Jacky ** Jackie, current ring name of female professional wrestler Jacqueline Moore ** Jackie Lee ( ...

(?-) - since 24 April 2021 (''disputed'')

References

{{Baster Captains Politics of Namibia Rehoboth, Namibia Namibian chiefs