Gunmen terrorise Spitzkoppe campers

Two families with children were robbed at gunpoint at Spitzkoppe Community Rest Camp in the early hours of Saturday, 27 June.

Occupants of a rooftop tent at a campsite were woken at 03:00 by armed men who demanded money and car keys. No injuries were reported.

The Namibian Police had not confirmed the incident at the time of publication, but according to the manager of a neighbouring camp, a large group of police officers were in the area investigating.

The attack is the second at the same campsite within a month. On the night of 26 May, criminals broke vehicle windows, looted cash and electronics, and attempted to enter tents while guests slept.

Sonja Mauha, manager of the neighbouring Spitzkoppe Tented Camp – separated from the rest camp by a shared fence line, approximately five minutes apart – confirmed no one was hospitalised during the armed robbery.

She was unable to confirm the number of families involved, as rest camp manager Thron Gawub was still engaged with police at the time of a call on Sunday. He did not take any calls at the time.

Mauha confirmed it was the second incident at the same camp and suggested that locally based monitors would be more effective than outside security personnel.

"It must be someone local, because they can perhaps identify who is from here and who is not – in the village, they know each other," she said.

She added that a police station for the Spitzkoppe area is expected to be opened soon.

Rising fears

The June attack came nearly a month after Erongo governor Natalia /Goagoses issued assurances following the May incident. At a media briefing, she described that attack as a "criminal and disgraceful act" but characterised it as isolated, telling tourists: "Please, these are isolated incidents."

She warned that such crimes threatened Namibia's tourism reputation.

"Tourism is a cornerstone of Erongo's economy, and such criminal behaviour undermines years of effort to build trust and confidence among international travellers," she said.

Erongo Regional Police Commissioner Nikolaus Kupembona, speaking at the same briefing, urged tourism operators to improve security cooperation with police.

"If you feel that you don't have enough security measures in place, please inform us so that we can ensure that we deploy our members accordingly in terms of crime prevention," he said.

Social media posts in tourism groups referenced both the May knife incident and the June gun attack, with prospective visitors openly questioning the safety of the campsite.

Spitzkoppe Tented Camp, in a statement issued after the robbery, said authorities believe the perpetrators "come from outside the Spitzkoppe community to commit crimes before leaving the area again". The camp condemned the attacks and said it remains committed to working with police and the local community. "These criminal incidents threaten the livelihoods of local communities, tourism businesses, and Namibia's reputation as a world-class travel destination," the statement read.