Witvlei (the

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

word for white marsh) is a village in the Okarukambe Constituency in the

Omaheke Region Omaheke (the Otjiherero word for sandveld) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, the least populous region. Its capital is Gobabis. It lies in eastern Namibia on the border with Botswana and is the western extension of the Kalahari Desert ...

of central-eastern

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 is known for its meat production and had a population of 2,633 people in 2023.

Geography

Witvlei is situated on the B6 east of

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

on the way to

Gobabis Gobabis (, ) is a town in eastern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Omaheke Region, and the district capital of the Gobabis electoral constituency. Gobabis is in the heart of the cattle farming area. It had a population of 33,418 peop ...

. Witvlei receives an average of of

rainfall Rain is a form of precipitation where water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. ...

per year. In the 2010s drought, the lowest figure recorded was in the 2018/2019 rainy season.

History

The original name of the village in

Khoekhoegowab Khoekhoe or Khoikhoi ( ; , ), also known by the ethnic terms Nama ( ; ''Namagowab''), Damara (''ǂNūkhoegowab''), or Nama/Damara and formerly as Hottentot, is the most widespread of the non- Bantu languages of Southern Africa that make heavy ...

(Damara/Nama) is ǃUri ǃKhubus (''white fountain''). The settlement was the site of the ''Battle of Witvlei'' in the First Herero-Nama War in March 1864.

Maharero Maharero kaTjamuaha (Otjiherero: ''Maharero, son of Tjamuaha'', short: Maharero; 1820 – 7 October 1890) was one of the most powerful paramount chiefs of the Herero people in South-West Africa, today's Namibia. Early life Maharero, was ...

, with the help of the hunter Frederick Green (known among the

Ovaherero The Herero () are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. 178,987 Namibians identified as Ovaherero in the 2023 census. They speak Otjiherero, a Bantu language. Though the Herero primarily reside in Namibia, there are also sig ...

as Kerina), led a contingent of 1,400 Ovaherero from

Otjimbingwe Otjimbingwe (also: Otjimbingue) is a settlement in the Erongo Region of central Namibia. Otjimbingwe has approximately 8,000 inhabitants and belongs to the Karibib electoral constituency. Otjimbingwe was an important settlement in South West Afr ...

against the Orlam Afrikaners under Jan Jonker Afrikaner. Afrikaner's forces were defeated and they fled, although a number of other battles followed elsewhere.

Economy and infrastructure

Witvlei is known for its meat production. ''Witvlei Meat'' was inaugurated in August 2006 and was for several years the only significant employer and taxpayer in the village. The abattoir has a slaughter capacity of 27,000 cattle annually. Financial problems and arguments with Namibia's biggest meat producer MeatCo over the export quota to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

led to a closure of the abattoir in 2014. It was set to reopen in 2016 but remains closed . The ''Witvlei Street Kids Center'' was inaugurated in the village in 2001. The regional council donated an empty, un-serviced plot to the project in November 2004, and in December 2005 the center was built with money donated by the Suiderhof Dutch Reformed Church congregation and various individuals and companies. Two pre-fabricated houses were transported from Windhoek all the way to Witvlei.

Politics

Witvlei is governed by a village council that has five seats. The 2010 local authority election was won by

SWAPO 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 ...

which gained three seats. One seat each was won by the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) and the United Democratic Front (UDF). SWAPO also gained three seats (344 votes) in the 2015 local authority election. UDF and 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) won one seat each with 125 and 72 votes, respectively. SWAPO once again won the 2020 local authority election but lost majority control over the village council. It obtained 260 votes and gained two seats. The

Popular Democratic Movement 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 ...

(PDM), formerly DTA, was runner-up with 194 votes and also two seats. The remaining seat went to 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), a new party registered in 2018, which won 116 votes.

People

Most of the inhabitants of Witvlei are of Damara descent, but there are also

Ovambo Ovambo may refer to: *Ovambo language, Bantu language of Namibia **Ovambo people, Bantu people of Namibia *Ovamboland, former Bantustan in South West Africa (now Namibia) *Ovambo sparrowhawk The Ovambo or Ovampo sparrowhawk, also known as Hilge ...

Herero Herero may refer to: * Herero people, a people belonging to the Bantu group, with about 240,000 members alive today * Herero language, a language of the Bantu family (Niger-Congo group) * Herero and Nama genocide * Herero chat, a species of bird ...

, people from Kavango, a few Ovahimba, and many more inhabitants of mixed ethnicity.

References

{{Authority control Villages in Namibia Populated places in the Omaheke Region