Aroab is a village in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia . It had 2,651 inhabitants in 2023.
21-542: Aroab is situated about 170 kilometres (110 mi) south-east of Keetmanshoop on the edge of the Kalahari desert; the average annual rainfall is about 150–200 mm. Aroab is the district centre of the Keetmanshoop Rural electoral constituency. In 1900 Misters Blaauw and Oppermann, supposedly of German descent, traded Aroab and the surrounding area from an indigenous Nama tribe for sheep and rifles. A quarrel about
42-438: A government senior secondary school (grades 8-12) and a private school. There is also a Roman Catholic clinic that provides basic medical services, a post office, Police station, Village Council, a library and various churches (among others Dutch Reformed & Roman Catholic). Other businesses include a farmer's cooperative, general dealer , windpump repairs & engineering and a small abattoir and butchery. Although plagued by
63-449: A ground dam resulted in the two gentlemen splitting the land in two - Aroab and Streitdamm, the ranch adjoining Aroab to the west. The vast majority of income is generated on ranches in the surrounding area and stem from sheep, goat and cattle ranching for meat production purposes. The most common sheep breed ranched with is the Dorper , with Persian, Damara , Van Rooy, Karakul and others to
84-459: A high unemployment rate, Aroab is well-developed compared to other places in Namibia's south. The village is completely electrified, has no shacks , and all 500 households are connected to the water and sewerage system. The village further operates a public pool. Aroab is governed by a village council that currently has five seats. Willem Appollus , an Aroab native, represented Keetmanshoop Rural in
105-434: A lesser extent. Popular cattle breeds for this area are Nguni , Bonsmara , Brahman and various others to a lesser extent. Various sheep, cattle and goat stud breeders are registered in the area. During the months of May - Aug (winter) meat hunting takes place widely. Huntable species are Oryx (gemsbok), Springbok and Kudu . To a lesser extent trophy hunting is also available. Aroab is only reachable via gravel road -
126-466: Is an important center for the Karakul sheep farming community. Keetmanshoop is governed by a municipality council that currently has seven seats. In the 2010 local authority election , a total of 3,156 votes were cast in the city. SWAPO won with approximately 48% of the vote. Of the three other parties seeking votes in the election, Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) received approximately 35% of
147-563: Is named after Johann Keetman, a German industrialist and benefactor of the city. Before the colonial era, the settlement was known as ǂNuǂgoaes or Swartmodder , both meaning "Black Marsh" and indicating the presence of a spring in the area. The first white settler, Guilliam Visagie , arrived here in 1785. When in February 1850 the Kharoǃoan clan ( Keetmanshoop Nama ) split from the Red Nation ,
168-493: The 2010 local authority election with 260 votes. SWAPO finished in 2nd place with 211 votes, followed by the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP, an opposition party founded in 2007, 112 votes) and the CoD with 40 votes. The 2015 local authority election was narrowly won by SWAPO party which gained two seats (267 votes). The DTA finished second and also gained two seats (216 votes), and
189-547: The C16 170 km from Keetmanshoop and 35 km from the Klein Menasse / Rietfontein borderpost, the C11 182 km from Karasburg and 142 km from Koës . An unmanned gravel landing strip for light aircraft is situated northwest of the village. Aroab has surprisingly many schools for such a small place. There are government primary schools (grades 1-7), a Roman Catholic school,
210-515: The Early Permian of southern Africa and South America. The Rhenish Missionary Church was erected in 1895 and now also contains a museum. It was declared a historic monument in 1978 and is a well-known landmark. Its unique combination of Gothic architecture cast in African stone makes it one of the architectural masterpieces in the country and a popular tourist attraction. Other notable buildings are
231-715: The Rhenish Missionary Society, Johann Keetman [ de ] , who supported the mission financially, although he never actually visited the place himself. The town is situated near two quiver tree forests, one of them being a national monument and a major tourist attraction of Namibia. It is also close to the Giant's Playground, a natural geological feature formed about 180 million years ago that consists of dolerite rocks that look as if they were stacked by giants. Near Keetsmanshoop are notable localities for fossil Mesosaurus , an extinct genus of reptile from
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#1732854873086252-783: The Schützenhaus ( marksmen's club house , 1905–07), the railway station building (1908) and the Imperial Post Office (now the Keetmanshoop tourist information, erected in 1910). Also close to Keetmanshoop is the Naute Dam and the Neckertal Dam - largest dam in the country. The J. Stephanus Stadium is located in Keetmanshoop and is home to Fedics United F.C. , a football team in the Namibia Premier League . Keetmanshoop
273-565: The main subtribe of the Nama people , they settled permanently in the area. In 1860 the Rhenish Missionary Society founded a mission there to christianise the local Nama people . The first missionary, Johann Georg Schröder, arrived in Keetmanshoop on April 14, 1866, which is now marked as the founding date of Keetmanshoop. The mission station was named after the German trader and director of
294-418: The municipal council. SWAPO (1648 votes) gained two seats. Keetmanshoop has a hot desert climate ( Köppen climate classification BWh ), with long, very hot summers and cold winters. The annual average rainfall is only 159 mm (6 in). Keetmanshoop is one of the sunniest places year-round on the planet with a mean sunshine duration over 3,870 hours yearly or 10.7 sunny hours daily - well above 87% of
315-583: The party's deputy leader. The party has four seats in parliament , which are occupied by the Party's President, Bernadus Swartbooi , Mootu Utaara, Isaacks Edison and Seibeb Henry. The Landless People's Movement was formed after Bernadus Swartbooi , deputy minister of land reform, was fired by President Hage Geingob in December 2016 after refusing to apologise to then Land Reform Minister Utoni Nujoma , whom he accused of resettling people from other regions into
336-550: The remaining seat went to the RDP with 86 votes. In the 2020 local authority election "serious procedural errors" were discovered for the Aroab village council. Some voters had been handed ballot papers meant for Keetmanshoop . No initial result were announced, and the electoral court ordered a re-run. The re-run was conducted on 26 February 2021 and won by the newly formed Landless People's Movement (LPM). LPM gained 293 votes and two seats in
357-668: The south of the country ahead of the Nama . Swartbooi has been a vocal advocate of land restitution and restorative justice for landless Namibians who were dispossessed of their land, including indigenous communities. The party also favours LGBT rights , and it plans on addressing the issues of abortion and marijuana legalization. The party's youth wing is the LPM Youth and Student Command Element . In 2023, Keetmanshoop by-election, LPM candidate Petrus Labuschagne won by 1,270 votes to claim victory for Keetmanshoop Rural Constituency Regional Councilor. This article about
378-598: The time. The annual mean temperature is 21.1 °C (70.0 °F) with a mean annual high of 28.8 °C (83.8 °F) and a low of 13.3 °C (55.9 °F). The climate is characterized by sunshine and dryness as well as moderate heat all year long. Landless People%27s Movement (Namibia) The Landless People's Movement ( LPM ) is a political party in Namibia . It is led by former deputy minister of lands and resettlement Bernadus Swartbooi , who serves as its president and chief change campaigner, and Henny Seibeb ,
399-622: The village council, followed by SWAPO with two seats (236 votes). The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM, the new name of the DTA) obtained the remaining seat with 132 votes. 26°48′S 19°39′E / 26.800°S 19.650°E / -26.800; 19.650 Keetmanshoop Keetmanshoop is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia , lying on the Trans-Namib Railway from Windhoek to Upington in South Africa . It
420-576: The vote, followed by the Democratic Party of Namibia (DPN, 10%) and the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA, 7%). The 2015 local authority election was won by SWAPO by a much larger margin. SWAPO accumulated 2,337 votes and won five seats in the municipal council. DTA (538 votes) and RDP (186 votes) gained one seat each. The 2020 Namibian local authority election was won by LPM . LPM accumulated 3,619 votes and won five seats in
441-668: The ǁKaras Regional Council and the National Council of Namibia from 2004-2010. He also served on the Aroab Local Authority from 1998 to 2004. In the 2004 local authority elections the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) won the town council election with 276 votes. It gained two seats. Also two seats (242 votes) were obtained by the Congress of Democrats (CoD). SWAPO , the most successful party in all elections countrywide, came third with 185 votes and one seat. The DTA also won
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