‘I WAS AFRAID OF SAMUEL, THEREFORE I CAME TO SEKGOMA’: HERERO REFUGEES AND PATRONAGE POLITICS IN NGAMILAND, BECHUANALAND PROTECTORATE, 1890–1914

Abstract

Writers dealing with the Herero of Botswana have tended mostly to deal with them as a single homogeneous whole. Concentrating on Ngamiland, this article outlines and discusses the arrival, at different times and for different reasons, of various groups of Herero into the territory. The article indicates that prior to the Herero–German war of 1904, the majority of Herero moved into Ngamiland on account of the activities of German colonizers and the Herero chief, Samuel Maharero. In Ngamiland, the Herero immigrants came to form a substantial source of support for the Batawana usurper, Sekgoma Letsholathebe. With the outbreak of the Herero–German war, Herero who had fled Namibia on earlier occasions now opposed the move of Samuel Maharero into Ngamiland, and found themselves supported by Sekgoma Letsholathebe. Following the deposition of Sekgoma in a coup, the position of Herero who had supported Sekgoma became increasingly tenuous and led to their move out of Ngamiland. Overall, the article presents a case study of the manner in which, in seeking to strengthen their positions within host communities, refugees of necessity come to be bound up in the internal politics of such communities.