KEETMANSHOOP – Political leaders in the //Kharas region have proposed that the shrine in honour of the kaptein Hendrik !Anseb Witbooi be erected in Gibeon.
The leaders shared their input during a consultative meeting with the parliamentary standing committee on human resources and community development.
Popular Democratic Movement president McHenry Venaani tabled a motion in Parliament last year, seeking to erect a shrine at Vaalgras in honour of late kaptein Witbooi.
The head of the committee, Member of Parliament Bertha Dinyando said the committee is seeking input from political leaders, traditional leaders and the broader community on the location of the shrine.
Berseba constituency councillor Jeremias Goeieman said as much as the late Witbooi was a national hero, he came from a certain background.
“In our culture, usually even if one rises to a certain level, the moment you have to return to the ancestors, one has to go back to where they came from. The shrine should be erected where his roots are. Something can also be erected at Vaalgras where he made the ultimate sacrifice by paying with his life for Namibia’s liberation,” he said.
Oranjemund councillor Lazarus Nangolo said erecting a shrine in honour of the late kaptein Witbooi will add value to the rich history of Witbooi and Namibia as a whole.
“It is also to show that we have not forgotten about our liberation struggle heroes. I suggest that we put a shrine at the homestead (Gibeon) and also at Vaalgras,” he said.
Also speaking was Blouwes Traditional Authority councillor Deodat Dirkse, who shared similar sentiments as Goeieman on the Nama cultural value and noted that the shrine should be erected where Witbooi was from, and not where he died.
He added that the only reason why the remains of kaptein Witbooi cannot be discussed is because of the extermination order, adding that once the order is symbolically withdrawn, the clan can identify where the remains are located, and have it returned to Gibeon.
“Then kaptein Witbooi will have his final resting place, and for that reason, the shrine should be erected where he belongs,” he said.
Witbooi was a Gaob of the
/Khowesin Nama people, known for leading the resistance against German imperialism in the early 1900s.
In 1904, he led a major revolt against the German occupation of Namibia. He was killed near Vaalgras on 29 October 1905.
Witbooi’s remains were buried in an unmarked grave thought to be in the vicinity of Vaalgras. –Nampa