Long before the sound of guns could be heard in the Windhoek Old Location on 10 December 1959, the sound of drums and saxophones had already fallen silent. 

Many researchers and writers have written about the Old Location and the mass protests. A lot has been documented about the hardships and daily lives of the Main Location inhabitants. Many have written about fashion, sports, and entertainment events like dances and beauty contests, but not much has been written about the musicians and the bands of the Old Location. 

In 1912, the Windhoek Town Council established a designated area where blacks could live, located west of town, and a separate area in Klein Windhoek, a suburb east of the town center. 

Blacks residing in various parts of the Windhoek area were herded together and moved to this new location in 1913, which they called the Main Location for all blacks. The Main Location was reorganised in 1932; streets were laid out, and the ethnic group sections for Damara, Nama, Herero, and Ovambo were officially established. 

During the First World War, which took place from 28 July 1914, to 11 November 1918, Windhoek was occupied on 12 May 1915, by South African Union troops under the command of General Louis Botha. The municipality previously run by German authorities was closed on 31 December 1918, and was replaced by a military magistrate and an advisory council. 

In 1950, the Windhoek Municipality, in consultation with the South West Africa administration and the South African government, decided to establish a new location northwest of Windhoek and relocate all residents there. As early as 1955, most residents of the Main Location opposed the planned closure and refused to consider moving to the proposed new site. Starting in December 1959, tensions rose between the Old Location residents and their administration, with emotions running high, leading to boycotts of municipal services and beer gardens. A protest march to the administrator’s residence on 3 December by a group of women sparked an effective boycott of municipal facilities, including the beer hall, bus services, and the cinema. On the night of 10 December, a protest meeting in the Main Location escalated into a confrontation with the police. 

The police shot and killed 11 people and seriously injured about 44 others. According to some former residents, one of those killed was Bernhard Gutsche, a musician and teacher who was known for his talents on the concertina, violin, and clarinet, and respected as a teacher in the Old Location. 

As a result of the closing of the Old Location, many activities came to an end. Bands could no longer perform, and some band members left the Old Location either through forced removal or because they fled in fear for their lives. This disruption led to the breakup of bands, with some only able to regroup around 1962. Times were very hard on musicians, who were robbed of their livelihood from making music and entertaining their many fans. Some musicians took jobs elsewhere and moved to other towns, while some bands ceased to exist due to the closure of their location. The Old Location was officially closed on 31 August 1968. Most people, if not all in the Old Location, moved to the new location without further incident. 

The new location was named KATUTURA, derived from an Otjiherero phrase. “KA TU na ku ka Tu Ra ko”. Literally translated, it means: “WE WILL NOT MOVE THERE.” The Khoe-khoe Gowab translation reads: “DOE DA TITE DOES GE”, which transcended into a protest song which, to me, is the first protest song of the struggle for Namibia’s independence. 

Music was a dominant form of entertainment in the Old Location, and public dancing happened almost every day. People could privately organise dances by renting halls like the Cybil Bowker Hall, Gloria Hall, Klein-Windhoek Hall (apparently owned by Warmgat), or Hammerton Hall for fundraising, beauty contests, or just for fun. 

Dance events were also used as cover for secret political meetings and information sharing. Although bands and soccer teams were mainly formed along tribal lines, there was no tribal divide when these bands performed. Music served as a unifying factor for people divided by segregation, apartheid, and tribalism. When music played, everyone danced to the same tune and race or tribe did not matter at all. Bands were mainly hired to perform at fundraising events, but the musicians were not seen as important members of the community, except for band owners like the legendary Lyden Naftalie, Andreas Mureko, known as Warmgat, and Arnoldus #Naweb, who were highly regarded as gentlemen of note. Often, musicians were considered good-for-nothings because they didn’t earn much from their performances; they were rarely paid a decent salary. 

Black and mostly coloured bands played for white audiences in Windhoek, Klein-Windhoek, and for the Black community in the Old Location. However, no white bands performed in the Old Location. 

*Baby Doeseb is the founder of the Namibia Audio Visual Archives, a Researcher and founding member of The Stolen Moments Research project on Namibia Contemporary Music History, author of the soon-to-be-published book “BEYOND RECOVERY” on Namibian music history, and a musician.