Recently someone of mixed descent posted a
question on the social networks about his own search for identity. He asked: Am
I a Coloured (a term used in Southern Africa for people of mixed descent) or a
Baster (a term used in Namibia for people of mixed descent – with their roots
in Rehoboth)?
The answers were interesting, yet disturbing at
the same time. It was interesting because it gave voice to people’s struggle
with identity. But it was disturbing in the sense that it exposed (again) the deep
divisions that permeate the society that I come from. Again, I was struck by
and driven to tears by the intolerance for “others”.
Someone even used the land ownership argument: “Coloureds
do not have land or a place that they can call their own!” I was disgusted and
pained at the same time. You see, my father is a so called Coloured who came to
live in Rehoboth as a child – Baster people used to refer to my family as “inkommers”
(those coming from the outside). In fact they even had a very derogatory word
from the Nama language to refer to us – this was of course always used in reference
to land ownership.
What is ironic for me is that this same group
of people were pushed off their land in South Africa and forced North where
they eventually was met in true African hospitality by the original inhabitants
of Rehoboth – and they were given land to live on. Of course this is where the
debate becomes a hefty one – Baster people believe that they bought Rehoboth
from its original inhabitants. This is something I question: Did the original
inhabitants of Rehoboth even have a word for ownership in their language? We
now know that the traditional view held by Africans at the time was that land belonged
to the community (and was never vested in the name of any one individual).
Could it be that the original inhabitants simply offered the vulnerable group
form the Cape simple hospitality – to find rest and refuge after their horrible
ordeals with their White oppressors? And could it be that that misunderstanding
led to that brutal battle between these two groups later on?
Whatever the answer to this – it is clear in my
mind that the original inhabitants of Rehoboth could have refused the Baster
people any form of hospitality – but they chose to provide them with a place of
refuge. In fact, such was the gratitude, that they called the place Rehoboth
(there is now space for all of us).
As said earlier, it is ironic, that this place,
Rehoboth (where there should be place for all of us), have become a place of
exclusion and intolerance of “others”. It has always been one of my deepest
pains that the original inhabitants of Rehoboth have become second hand
citizens on the land of their forebears and that the victims of oppression (in
this case the Baster people) have become the abusers of another.
Should we (of mixed descent) who know the pain
of exclusion, not have greater empathy for others? Should we not be
reconcilers, instead of dividers? In fact, I wondered if any Baster leader have
ever apologized to the Nama speaking residents of Rehoboth for the many years
of pain inflicted on them?
As a Christian, I strongly hold to the belief
that I should always be living for and exemplifying the values of Jesus: hope,
peace, joy, love, justice, equality, tolerance, etc. These are values that I first
learnt in Rehoboth (that have always staked claim to its Christian character).
This Christmas I have one wish – that Rehoboth shall become a place “where
there is now space for all of us”, that these unhealthy divisive discussions
about who’s in and who’s out, will be turned into discussions about how we can
live together as people reflecting the values that Jesus represents.
(Postscript: I have lived both in Rehoboth and
outside Rehoboth, in Namibia and outside Namibia, in Africa and outside of the
African continent – and I know many Baster people who have done the same and
who have contributed to the socio-economic and political lives of those
communities where they have lived/live. Can we do the same for others who come
to live in Rehoboth?)
Keise Eio/ Thank you/ Baie Dankie
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