Sam !Khubis: The pain, the anguish and the promise

They came from far and they came in big numbers, parents and children, all together, to remember the Sam !Khubis vow, taken 100 years after the words were said to God. They came to sing hymns and praise the God that had miraculously saved their forefathers from certain death at the hands of the vicious Imperialist German army. Many painful stories have been told of what happened 100 years ago, including that the baby that was shot dead while breastfeeding. Young mothers died sheilding their babies they carried on their backs. The Sam !Khubis covenant was a vow to thank God for saving their forefathers from near extermination at the hands of the German colonisers. The covenant was preceded by the battle of Sam !Khubis, which took place in the !Khubis mountains, southwest of Rehoboth and en route to Klein-Aub. The prodigal son Speaking with a touch of melancholy, German-born Manfred Seifert stretched out his arms to his newfound cousins he discovered at the celebrations, some who bear an uncanny resemblance to him. Seifert explained that his grandmother was Johanna Sussana Mouton, a Baster girl who shortly after the Sam !Khubis battle married his grandfather Gustav Wahl. Seifert can hardly contain his excitement as he relates how astounded he is to find relatives who resemble his children. “I also found another relative whose son looked exactly like one of my twin sons,” said Seifert, He says his grandmother and grandfather owned Tsumis farm, now a government agricultural college, but moved to Germany a few years later in search of better medical care for some of their nine children. All nine children were born in Rehoboth. Their eldest son Otto Wahl remained behind, but it is believed that he moved to South Africa a few years later. Seifert said he was told about his African connections by his parents, but he could only look for his African relatives after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 “My mom always wrote letters to the church, but there was no response. I eventually placed an advertisement in the Algemeine Zeitung nine years ago,” he said. Just when he was about to give up hope, he received a call from Dr Cornelia Limpricht who told him: “I do not know much about your family, but I can tell you something about Tsumis.” “It is such a strange feeling, Namibia always seemed like planets away,” said Seifert when asked how he felt being in the land of his ancestors. Reconciliation Two years ago, German-born Britta Wagner broke down in tears after she heard about the bloody history endured by the Baster people. " I am very ashamed of what my people did to your people, I want to apologise on behalf of my people for what my people did,” she said. This year she returned to wash the feet of those whose grandparents were wronged by her ancestors. Closure When the about 90 families from De Tuine in the Northern Cape, settled in Rehoboth, they were accompanied by a missionary, Friederich Heidmann. In desperate times, when they were pursued by their enemies, Heidmann served as the community’s spiritual guide. It was therefore only fitting that his gravestone be placed at the very place where they needed him most - in the !Khubis mountains. Heidmann’s arrival was received by a guard of honour and a prayer under the huge tree at the Sam !Khubis battlefield. All this was preceded by a stern warning by the Pastor Heinz Mouton, who said that there is no leadership of note in the Rehoboth Baster community. Mouton said religious leaders must not conform to the world and must have a clean reputation. ”They must not indulge in alcohol or run after money,” he said. Mouton also scolded young men from the community, who fail to take responsibility for their children. “Stop defiling another man’s daughter. I always hear that the child’s father went to buy milk at the corner shop (without returning to look after his child). Stop living adulterous lives. There are too many children without fathers,” he said. He also urged wealthy community members to stop looking down on their poor brothers and sisters. “Look after your brother. Don’t be the only one up there who smells good. Think of your brother and sisters do not let them be hungry,” he pleaded. He also urged the community to teach their children proper values. “Teach them about the value of money and how to work with it. The first thing young men do with their first salary is to buy a Golf with mags. We need to teach them to be responsible. The covenant expects that of us,” he said. He urged the community to pray for their government and to send their daughters to be trained as nurses, in response the nursing shortage. “The covenant calls us to care for, and nurture each other, to maintain order,” he said. A statement read on belaf of the President said that he wishes to take the opportunity to convey his support to the Rehoboth community during the commemoration of the centenary celebrations of Sam !Khubis, in the spirit of One Namibia, One Nation. “Although the President would have loved to be in attendance at the event, due to the hostile tone expressed by some family members prior to the celebration, the Office of the President proceeded with other plans which means he is unable to attend the event,” the statement read. “However, it should be noted that no one can stop an elected President from travelling anywhere or attending any event within the borders of the Republic of Namibia. It is also important that our citizens differentiate between the President of the Republic of Namibia and the president of a political party.” The President thanked Jacky Britz, the chairman of the Sam !Khubis Festival Committee, for his statement rejecting the utterances by some members of the Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP) and expressed that he looked forward to meeting with members of the Rehoboth community “in order to engage in mature and progressive discussions”. !KHUBIS JEMIMA BEUKES