Walvis Bay Rural constituency is a constituency in the

Erongo Region Erongo is one of the 14 regions of Namibia. The capital is Swakopmund. It is named after Mount Erongo, a well-known landmark in Namibia and in this area. Erongo contains the municipalities of Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Henties Bay and Omaruru, as ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. It comprises the rural area surrounding the constituency's district capital city of

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay (; ; ) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the List of cities in Namibia, second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The city covers an area of of land. The bay is a ...

, and additionally some streets on the outskirts of the city. It had a population of 26,916 in 2011, up from 16,293 in 2001. Walvis Bay Rural covers of land. the constituency had 25,746 registered voters. Walvis Bay Rural was created in 1998. Following a recommendation of the ''Second Delimitation Commission of Namibia'', and in preparation of the 1998 general election, the old Walvis Bay Constituency was split into Walvis Bay Urban and Walvis Bay Rural.

Inhabitants

Walvis Bay Rural constituency includes a string of settlements by the ǂAonin (Southern

Topnaar The Topnaar people (ǂAonin) are a clan of the Nama people in Namibia. Their settlements are all situated on the Kuiseb River in the Erongo Region of central Namibia, the largest one is Utuseb. History The Topnaars began settling in the area of W ...

) community, a subtribe of the

Nama people Nama (in older sources also called Namaqua) are an African ethnic group of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. They traditionally speak the Khoekhoe language, Nama language of the Khoe languages, Khoe-Kwadi language family, although many Nama ...

. These settlements are situated along the

Kuiseb River The Kuiseb River is an ephemeral river in western-central Namibia. Its source is in the Khomas Highland west of Windhoek. From there it flows westwards through the Namib-Naukluft National Park and the Namib desert to Walvis Bay. Several settlement ...

and include

Utuseb Utuseb is a small settlement in the Erongo Region in western central Namibia. It is situated in the Namib Desert, approximately from Walvis Bay on the banks of Kuiseb River. Utuseb has approximately 700 inhabitants and belongs to the Walvis Bay ...

and Rooibank.

Politics

Walvis Bay Rural is traditionally a stronghold of the

South West Africa People's Organization The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

(SWAPO) party. In the 2004 regional election SWAPO politician Johannes Nangolo received 4,426 of the 5,300 votes cast and became councillor. Councillor Nangolo (SWAPO) was re-elected in the 2010 regional elections with 3,804 votes. His closest challenger was Tjitekuru Joseph of the Rally for Democracy and Progress, who received 646 votes. Nangolo also won the 2015 regional elections with 3,928 votes. Runner-up and only challenger was Joan Valencia Izaaks of the

Democratic Turnhalle Alliance The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic Front ...

(DTA) who received 801 votes. The 2020 regional election was won by Florian Tegako Donatus of the

Independent Patriots for Change The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) is a political party in Namibia. It was founded by Panduleni Itula in August 2020. As an independent presidential candidate in the 2019 election, Itula won the best result of a losing candidate in a ...

(IPC, an opposition party formed in August 2020). He obtained 3,433 votes. The SWAPO candidate, Hilma Tonata Shikongo, came second with 2,318 votes, and Ambrosius Swartbooi of the

Landless People's Movement The Landless People's Movement is an independent social movement in South Africa. It consisted of rural people and people living in shack settlements in cities. The Landless People's Movement boycotted parliamentary elections and had a history ...

(LPM, an opposition party formed in 2016) came in third with 904 votes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walvis Bay Rural Constituency Constituencies of Erongo Region Walvis Bay States and territories established in 1998 1998 establishments in Namibia