St Barnabas was an Anglican

mission station A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such a ...

, church, and school in

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 ...

, the administrative centre of

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 ...

. The school was situated in the

Old Location The Old Location (or as it was known then the Main Location) was an area segregated for Black residents of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It was situated in the area between today's suburbs of Hochland Park and Pioneers Park. History Upon th ...

suburb. When Old Location was closed for blacks in 1968 the existing buildings and institutions, among them St Barnabas, were destroyed.

St Barnabas Anglican Mission School

The Anglican Mission St Barnabas was located in the

suburb of Windhoek, an area exclusively for black people. The primary school at St Barnabas was founded in 1923. It was, at that time, the only school in the territory of South West Africa where teachers were black. In the 1950s, the school had classes from grades 1 up to 12 (

matric Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

), and it also accommodated people that could only attend in the evenings. During the same period the Windhoek municipality and 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 count ...

n colonial administration decided to forcefully move the residents of the Old Location to the north of the city to gain more land for settlement by white people. In 1968, the Old Location was officially closed and whites began to settle while the forced removal prompted the evicted people to give the new location the name ''

Katutura Katutura (Otjiherero for ''The place where people do not want to live'') is a township of Windhoek, Khomas Region, Namibia. Katutura was created in 1961 following the forced removal of Windhoek's black population from the Old Location, which a ...

'' ( hz, The place where we do not want to live). With the new designation for the suburb as an area exclusively for whites St Barnabas, and with it the school, was destroyed.

Notable alumni

A number of prominent

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 e ...

ns attended St Barnabas, among them: *

Clemens Kapuuo Clemens Kapuuo (16 March 1923 – 27 March 1978) was a Namibian school teacher, shopkeeper, president of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), now called Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), and chief of the Herero people of Namibia. Kapuuo w ...

(1923–1978) –

paramount chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a chief-based system. This term is used occasionally in anthropological and arc ...

OvaHerero The Herero ( hz, Ovaherero) are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. There were an estimated 250,000 Herero people in Namibia in 2013. They speak Otjiherero, a Bantu language. Though the Herero primarily reside in Namibia, ...

Mburumba Kerina Mburumba Kerina (born William Eric Getzen; 6 June 1932 – 14 June 2021) was a Namibian politician and academic. He was a co-founder of SWAPO, NUDO, and FCN, and the founder of a host of smaller political parties. For independent Namibia, he was ...

– co-founder,

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 ...

(SWAPO Party of Namibia), the

National Unity Democratic Organisation The National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) is a political party in Namibia. It has been represented in the National Assembly of Namibia and in the National Council of Namibia since it split from the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (now PDM) ...

(NUDO), and the

Federal Convention of Namibia The Federal Convention of Namibia (FCN) was a political party based in Rehoboth, Namibia. It was created in the wake of Namibian independence in 1988 by a merger of several smaller parties and gained a seat in the Namibian Constituent Assembly. ...

(FCN) *

Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, (; born 12 May 1929) is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first ...

– founding

president of Namibia The president of the Republic of Namibia is the head of state and the head of government of Namibia. The president directs the executive branch of the Government of Namibia, as chair of the Cabinet and is the commander-in-chief of the armed fo ...

; attended St Barnabas as from 1949 *

Kuaima Riruako Kuaima Isaac Riruako (24 April 1935CV at Namibian Parliament website

(1935–2014) –

; president,

(NUDO) *

Tjama Tjivikua Tjama Tjivikua (born 27 July 1958) is a Namibian academic and businessman. He was the Rector of the ''Polytechnic of Namibia'' in Windhoek since its inception in 1995. When the institution was renamed into Namibia University of Science and Technol ...

– rector,

Polytechnic of Namibia The Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), formerly known as Polytechnic of Namibia, is a public university located in the city of Windhoek, Namibia. Andrew Niikondo is its acting vice-chancellor. NUST was headed by the founding v ...

; attended St Barnabas from 1967 until the closure of the Old LocationLaudatio for the conferment of the Dr h.c. degree: Dr Tjama Tjivikua.

Notes

Literature

* Organizations with year of disestablishment missing 1923 establishments in South West Africa Anglican schools in Africa Christianity in Namibia Defunct Christian schools Disestablishments in Namibia Educational institutions established in 1923 Schools in Windhoek {{Namibia-school-stub

St Barnabas Anglican Mission School

Notable alumni

See also

Notes

Literature