The Indigenous World 2022: Namibia
The Indigenous Peoples of Namibia include the San, the Ovatue and Ovatjimba, and potentially a number of other peoples including the Damara and Nama. Taken together, the Indigenous Peoples of Namibia represent some 8% of the total population of the country, which was 2,678,191 in 2021.
The San (Bushmen) number between 28,000 and 35,000 and account for between 1.045% and 1.33% of the national population. They include the Khwe, the Hai||om, the Ju|’hoansi, the !Kung, the !Xun, the Khwe, the Naro, and the !Xóõ. Each of the San groups speaks its own language and has distinct customs, traditions, and histories. The San were mainly hunter-gatherers in the past but, today, many have diversified livelihoods. Over 80% of the San have been dispossessed of their ancestral lands and resources, and they are now some of the poorest and most marginalised peoples in the country. The Ovatjimba and Ovatue (Ovatuwa) are largely pastoral people, formerly also relying on hunting and gathering, and who reside in the semi-arid and mountainous north-west of Namibia (Kunene Region). Together, they number some 27,810, representing 1.03% of Namibia’s total population.
The Namibian government prefers to use the term “marginalised communities” when referring to the San, Otavue and Ovatjimba, support for whom falls under the Office of the President in the Division of Marginalised Communities (DMC). The Constitution of Namibia prohibits discrimination on the grounds of ethnic or tribal affiliation but does not specifically recognise the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Namibia voted in favour of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) when it was adopted in 2007 but has not ratified ILO Convention No. 169. Namibia is a signatory to several other binding international agreements that affirm the norms represented in UNDRIP, such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Namibia provided a mid-term report to the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of Namibia in 2021.
COVID-19 and Indigenous Peoples in Namibia
There were a number of important events affecting Indigenous and marginalised peoples in Namibia in 2021. The most important of these was the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 led to a series of lockdowns in the country in 2021 that reduced the spread of the disease but which also affected livelihoods, employment, incomes, and tourism in Namibia. It led to a decline in income and employment and a reduction in well-being for Namibians, including those who self-identify as Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous women, in particular, were affected by COVID-19 since they are the main caregivers for people who are ill, and their livelihoods were affected by the downturn in tourism. The Government of Namibia and NGOs mounted food and water assistance efforts for marginalised communities affected by COVID-19. Information was provided in mother-tongue languages on strategies for coping with the coronavirus, including mask-wearing, social distancing, and hand washing, as seen, for example among Ju/’hoansi in Nyae Nyae,!Kung in N≠a Jaqna, Khwe in Bwabwata National Park and in the Kunene Region among Ovahimba, Ovatjimba, Ovazemba and Ovatue communities.[1] The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) offered vaccine outreach, testing and, where required, quarantine facilities to Indigenous Peoples.
The budget speeches of the Minister of Finance, Ipumbu Shiimi, on 17 March 2021 and 3 November 2021 contained revised figures for Namibia’s annual budget, showing new and sizeable expenditure related to the coronavirus pandemic.[2] The numbers of tourists visiting Namibia in 2021 declined by approximately 40% in comparison to the previous year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this had a direct impact on community tourism revenues and an indirect impact due to the large drop in income across the sector.
Challenges facing Indigenous women and youth
Various women’s organisations in Namibia, including the Namibian Women’s Association (NAWA) and the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare (MGEPESW) have been pressing for greater recognition of women’s rights, including the rights of women to land and to protection from exploitation and domestic abuse. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, rape, domestic abuse, and child abuse have increased substantially. The Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) and other organisations, including the Division of Marginalised Communities in the Office of the Vice-President, are calling for greater attention to be paid to the issues faced by Indigenous and minority women and children, including issues surrounding abuse and discrimination. Indigenous and minority women –and women in general– had difficulties in gaining access to land in Namibia in 2021.[3]
Women and youth are playing increasingly important roles in the Indigenous movement in Namibia, as can be seen in the make-up of organisations seeking to promote Indigenous and minority rights.
Significant attention was paid in the country to gender mainstreaming in government policies and programmes in 2021, including those related to refugees and immigrants. These are especially important given the high percentage of women that make up refugee populations, as can be seen for example in the Osire Refugee Camp south of Otjiwarongo.
Namibia has also made particular efforts to ensure gender mainstreaming for the Green Climate Fund and to ensure that gender issues are incorporated into international conventions and legislation on climate change.[4]
The Red Cross and Red Crescent Society, UNICEF, the Kalahari Peoples Fund (KPF) and other agencies in Namibia continued to push to ensure availability of information on COVID-19 throughout 2021, together with masks, soap, and vaccinations for Indigenous and minority communities and others in Namibia. Some of this information was targeted specifically at Indigenous women. Indigenous women and youth in Namibia were pleased to have information available to them on the experiences of Indigenous communities in other parts of the world with COVID-19 from whom they could learn lessons.[5] This was also true for ≠Aonin (Topnaar) Nama pastoralists who have inhabited the Kuiseb River and Gobabeb region for generations.[6] There was particular interest in the impacts, risk factors, and mortality rate of COVID-19 among Native Americans[7] as compared to the San and ≠Aonin, who appear to have lower mortality rates than Native Americans.
An Amnesty International report in October 2021[8] accused Namibian healthcare provision for Ju/’hoan and !Kung women San, particularly with regard to tuberculosis, of being discriminatory. It appears that San women are seeking health assistance for TB at lower rates than men. While the government was initially critical of the report’s findings, the Executive Director of the MoHSS attended the report’s virtual launch and said the ministry would engage with Amnesty and the report’s findings.[9]
Overall, Indigenous women and children were worse off in 2021 than they had been in previous years but they were hoping that 2022 would see trends toward more positive change in their well-being.
Policy and economy issues
The land reform issues raised at Namibia’s Second National Conference on Land Reform held in October 2018 were examined at the national and local levels in 2021, some of which involved Indigenous and minority peoples ancestral land claims.[10] These discussions revolved around the rights of Indigenous, minority, and marginalised communities to land, particularly in areas that belonged traditionally to specific groups.
Namibia participated in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) meetings of the Human Rights Council in 2021.[11] Some of the issues raised at the UPR meetings included efforts by the Government of Namibia to address poverty, marginalisation, and the political participation of Indigenous People and marginalised communities. Namibian government representatives and NGOs attended the 20th annual meeting of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) in April 2021 during which statements were made about problems facing Indigenous Peoples in Namibia and the government’s efforts to address them.[12]
The main legislation drawn up in relation to marginalised communities, a White Paper written originally in 2018, had not been approved by the Namibian Cabinet as of the end of 2021. There is currently no roadmap or timeline as to when this paper may be approved.
Namibia made progress in the development of policies regarding access and benefit-sharing agreements involving genetic resources related to the Nagoya Protocol in 2021.[13] Indigenous plant products such as Devil’s Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) were exploited by Indigenous and minority communities, generating as much as N$1 million per communal conservancy, a significant portion of those funds going to Indigenous and minority women.[14] The presence of fenced-off communal land was seen as a major problem by Indigenous and minority women since it limited their access to high-value plant resources.
The gardening projects of Khwe in Bwabwata National Park contributed to the food self-sufficiency of local community members.[15]
Local attitudes to the benefits of trophy hunting in Bwabwata varied but, in general, Khwe and Mbukushu living in the park wanted to see more benefit sharing by the companies operating in Namibia.[16]
Namibia’s legal cases involving Indigenous communities
In terms of the various legal cases filed by San communities, the appeal of the Hai//om collective action case[17] was heard by the High Court in November 2021, although no ruling had been made by the end of the year. The appeal in the Nyae Nyae illegal grazing civil case continued to await hearing as of the end of 2021, and no ruling has as yet been made in the long-standing parallel criminal case in the Tsumkwe magistrate court.
Illegal grazing and fencing continued in the N≠a Jaqna Conservancy (NJC) in 2021 despite a previous successful ruling in the High Court, much to the chagrin of local residents.[18] Fencing off of communal land in Namibia continued to be a major issue in 2021.[19] One impact of the fences is that they designate areas that are off-limits to Indigenous women hoping to obtain wild plants, firewood, and other resources within the enclosed areas. Indigenous women are at risk of mistreatment if they enter the fenced-off areas in search of wild resources. Specific complaints were made by !Kung and Vasekele San women who wrote to the N≠a Jaqna Conservancy Management Committee.[20]
In May 2021, Germany acknowledged and apologised for the 1904-1908 genocide in what was then German South West Africa (now the Republic of Namibia). The German colonial government killed 80,000 Herero and Nama people during the 1904-1908 genocide, the first in the 20th century. Some representatives of the Herero and Nama people argued that they were not consulted sufficiently in the negotiations between Germany and the Namibia government. They also argued that the US$1.34 billion that Germany has committed for social development projects in Namibia is not the same as paying reparations directly to the families of those killed.[21]
Oil exploration and its implications in Namibia
Particular concerns over oil and gas exploration by a Canadian oil company, Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica), were raised in 2021. The company was employing fracking (hydraulic fracturing) techniques in the region north of Khaudum National Park in the Kavango West and East Regions.[22] Indigenous and other local people in the area expressed their worries about potential declines in the water table and loss of valuable wildlife and wild plant products as a result of the oil drilling operations. The company argued that its operations would benefit local people but the employment figures for local community members, especially Indigenous women, revealed that it was mainly men who were being employed, and that the numbers were far fewer than had been promised.[23] While many Indigenous Peoples and local communities in Namibia and within the drilling area voiced their concerns, some community representatives publicly supported the project.
Meanwhile, exploration activities were proceeding in the East Kavango Region of Namibia: two test wells were drilled and public consultations were undertaken, although they were roundly criticised.[24] ReconAfrica has engaged in an enthusiastic advertising campaign to stockholders with slogans calling it “an opportunity worth millions.”[25]
In May 2021, an anonymous whistle-blower sent a report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and to the British Columbia Security Commission alleging that “to drive up stock prices, ReconAfrica has violated securities laws by failing to disclose crucial information about its plans to look for oil and gas deposits.”[26] The whistle-blower shared the report with National Geographic, which published a detailed article in its May 21st issue, receiving international publicity and social media campaigns to resist the Okavango drilling programme.[27] This was followed by the announcement that a class action suit had been lodged with the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District in the United States.
In October 2021, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Leonardo di Caprio, Forest Whitaker and other celebrities joined local Indigenous and environmental activists in calling for an immediate moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Okavango River Basin. Prince Harry and Reinhold Mangundu, a Namibian activist, wrote in an article published in the Washington Post: “Drilling is an outdated gamble that reaps disastrous consequences for many, and incredible riches for the powerful few”, asking readers to join them in resisting the drilling in the Okavango River Basin.[28]
In November 2021, the Namibian parliamentary standing committee on natural resources criticised the Kavango East communal land board and ReconAfrica for its lack of a leasehold permit in the area of drilling.[29] Questions over the extent of any oil reserves and the possible use of fracking if extraction moves forward remained unanswered as of the end of 2021.
Indigenous and marginalised communities’ activism increased in 2021, particularly in the face of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the questions raised about Indigenous Peoples’ land and resource rights in the discussions on the impacts of the land reform and resettlement efforts in various parts of the country.
Robert K. Hitchcock is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. He is also a member of the Board of the Kalahari Peoples Fund.
Ben Begbie-Clench is a freelance consultant who has done extensive work on San issues in Southern Africa, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
This article is part of the 36th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. Find The Indigenous World 2022 in full here
Notes and references
[1] Kalahari Peoples Fund Year-end Report, 2021. Beaufort, South Carolina: KPF.
[2] Shiimi, Ipumbu. 2021a. FY2021/22 Budget Statement, “Boosting Resilience and Recovery”. Windhoek: Government of Namibia, March 18, 2021.I. Shiimi, Ipumbu. 2021b. FY2021/22 Mid-Year Budget Policy Speech, Windhoek: Government of Namibia, November 3, 2021.
[3] Mwetulundila, Paulus. “Gender Perspectives in Namibia’s Communal Land: Exploring Women’s Hindrances to Equitable Land Ownership.” Journal of Asian and African Studies, June 2021. doi:10.1177/00219096211020486
[4] Angula, Margaret Ndapewa, Immaculate Mogotsi, Selma Lendelvo, Karl Mutani Aribeb, Aina-Maria Iteta, and Jessica P. R. Thorn. “Strengthening Gender Responsiveness of the Green Climate Fund Ecosystem-Based Adaptation Programme in Namibia.” Sustainability 2021, 13, 10162. doi.org/10.3390/su131810162
[5] Balvedi Pimentel, Gabriela and Maria Victoria Cabrera Ormaza. “The impact of COVID-19 on indigenous communities: Insights from the Indigenous Navigator.” Copenhagen: The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) and Geneva: The International Labour Organization (ILO), 2021.
[6] S. Sullivan, personal communication, 2021.
[7] Leggatt-Barr, Katherine, Fumiya Uchikoshi and Noreen Goldman.” COVID-19 risk factors and mortality among Native Americans.” Demographic Research 45 (2021):1185-1218. https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol45/39/default.htm
[8] Amnesty International. “Namibia: Discrimination deprives Indigenous San people of the right to health as TB poses serious risk to their lives.” Amnesty International, October 6, 2021. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/10/namibia-discrimination-deprives-indigenous-san-people-of-the-right-to-health-as-tb-poses-serious-risk-to-their-lives/. Amnesty International. ‘“We don’t feel well-treated”: Tuberculosis and the Indigenous San Peoples of Namibia.’ London: Amnesty International, 2021. https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/AFR4247842021ENGLISH.pdf
[9] Windhoek Express (WE). “Grim Amnesty report attracts government attention.” Windhoek Express, October 7, 2021. https://www.we.com.na/news/grim-amnesty-report-attracts-government-attention2021-10-07
[10] Odendaal, Willem. and Paul Hebinck (2021). “We Want Our Land Back…..’’ A Socio-legal Analysis of the Etosha Ancestral Land Claim. In Land Tenure Challenges in Africa: Confronting the Land Governance Deficit, Hormon Chitonge and Ross Harvey, eds., pp. 267-285. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021.Odendaal, Willem. and Paul Hebinck). “A Socio-legal Analysis of the Complexity of Litigating Ancestral Land Rights. In Land Tenure Challenges in Africa: Confronting the Land Governance Deficit. Hormon Chitonge and Ross Harrvey, eds., pp. 247-265. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
[11] United Nations. Human Rights Council. National report submitted in accordance with paragraph 5 of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 16/21 : [Universal Periodic Review] : Namibia. 2021. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3904381
[12] Reports from the UNPFII Twentieth Session: 19-30 April 2021, Namibia. https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/unpfii-sessions-2/unpfii-20th-session.html
[13] J. Hazam and J. Mendelsohn, personal communications, 2021.
[14] Wiessner, P. Traditions and Transition Fund Annual Report 2021. Salt Lake City: Traditions and Transitions Fund, 2021. Selma Lendelvo, Dave Cole, Wendy Viall, personal communications, 2021.
[15] Heim, Anita.”Food Environment Research among an Indigenous Community in Namibia – A New Approach to Explore Food Security of Rural People in Developing Countries.” Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition 16 (2021): 809-828. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19320248.2019.1649780
[16] Thomsen, Jennifer Marie, Selma Lendelvo, Katherine Coe and Melanie Rispel. “Community perspectives of empowerment from trophy hunting tourism in Namibia’s Bwabwata National Park.” Journal of Sustainable Tourism 30 (2021): 223-239. DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2021.1874394
[17] Odendaal, Willem and Paul Hebinck. “We Want Our Land Back…..’’ A Socio-legal Analysis of the Etosha Ancestral Land Claim. In Land Tenure Challenges in Africa: Confronting the Land Governance Deficit, Hormon Chitonge and Ross Harvey, eds.,267-285. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021.
[18] Data from the N≠a Jaqna Conservancy and the M’kata and N≠a Jaqna Conservancy Forest Management Committees, 10 December 2021.
[19]Van Der Wulp, Christa. and Paul Hebinck. “Fighting fences and land grabbers in the struggle for the commons in Na Jaqna, Namibia.” African Affairs 120 (2021): 417–443.
[20] N≠a Jaqna Conservancy Management Committee personal communications, 2021.
[21] Human Rights Watch. “World Report 2022: Events of 2021.” (2022): 276. New York: Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022
[22] Stanford-Xosei, Esther . “ReconAfrica; Ecocide in the Kavango Basin.” Stop Ecocide Foundation, October 7, 2021. https://www.stopecocide.earth/guest-blog/reconafrica-ecocide-in-the-kavango-basin. Barbee, Jeffrey and Lara Neme. “Oil Company Accused of drilling in African Wildlife Reserve, offering Jobs for Silence.” National Geographic Wildlife Watch,December 13, 2021.
[23] Data from the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF), the Nyae Nyae Development Foundation of Namibia (NNDFN), Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC), and the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia (DRFN), December 2021.
[24] Tan, Jim. “Growing concern over Okavango oil exploration as community alleges shutout.” Mongabay, March 22, 2021. https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/growing-concern-over-okavango-oil-exploration-as-community-alleges-shutout/
[25] Neme, Laurel and Jeffrey Barbee. “Oil exploration company in Okavango wilderness misled investors, complaint to SEC says.” National Geographic, May 21, 2021. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/oil-exploration-company-in-okavango-wilderness-misled-investors-sec-complaint-says. Viceroy Research Group. “ReconAfrica–No Oil? Pump Stock.” Twitter, 24 June 2021. https://twitter.com/viceroyresearch/status/1408130622145515521
McGee, Niall. “’Phenomenal riches’: Inside ReconAfrica’s aggressive stock promotion campaign.” The Globe and Mail, June 20, 2021. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-an-exceptional-play-inside-reconafricas-stock-promotion-campaign/
[26] Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2021.
[27] Barbee, Jeffrey and Laurel Nemen. “Oil company accused of drilling in African wildlife reserve, offering jobs for silence.” National Geographic, December 13, 2021. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/oil-company-reconafrica-accused-of-drilling-in-african-wildlife-reserve
[28] Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry and Reinhold Mangundu.) “Opinion: Protect the Okavango River Basin from corporate drilling.” Washington Post, October 14, 2021
[29] Shipepo, T . “ReconAfrica operated without land certificate.” The Namibian, November 24, 2021. https://www.namibian.com.na/6215654/archive-read/ReconAfrica-operated-without-land-certificate
