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18-662: Berseba is situated 100 km (62 mi) north-west of Keetmanshoop near the Brukkaros Mountain , a famous tourist destination. It is the district capital of the Berseba electoral constituency . The first people to permanently settle at this place, then known under its Khoikhoi name ǃAutsawises , were a group of Oorlam herder clans from the Cape Province , driven across the Orange River by encroaching European settlers and

36-688: A biblically inspired name. In 1857 a church was built. Since the establishment of the chieftainship of the Berseba Oorlam it has been held by the Goliath and Isaak clans who often were in dispute about the succession. In the 1960s the two clans split over the leadership issue and only reunited in April 2010. Today, Kaptein Johannes Isaak is the traditional leader of the ǀHai-ǀkhaua. The first diamond in Namibia

54-533: A few local authorities in Namibia where an opposition party obtained more votes for the village council than SWAPO when the DTA defeated SWAPO 221 votes to 200. No other party participated in the election for the Berseba Village Council. The 2015 local authority election was narrowly won by SWAPO party which gained three seats (266 votes). The DTA finished second and gained the remaining two seats (200 votes). In

72-685: 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 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

90-486: 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 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

108-461: 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 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

126-528: 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 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

144-549: 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 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. Guilliam Visagie Guilliam Visagie (born about 1751; still alive in 1793)

162-643: 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 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 ,

180-564: The 2020 local authority election the Landless People's Movement (LPM, a new party registered in 2018) won with 278 votes and gained two seats. SWAPO was the runner-up with 211 votes and also two sets. The remaining council seat went to the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM, the new name of the DTA since 2017) with 104 votes. Keetmanshoop Keetmanshoop is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia , lying on

198-518: The Dutch East India Company , he and his wife moved north of the Orange River . In 1785, Guilliam and his wife Elsabe Visagie settled in the area of today's Keetmanshoop , then named ǂNuǂgoaes . Visagie translated the name as Modderfontein , 'Mud Spring', becoming the first European to permanently settle in Namibia. The translation later changed to Swartmodder , 'Black Mud'. Visagie farmed and traded firearms to

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216-582: The Trans-Namib Railway from Windhoek to Upington in South Africa . It 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

234-507: The Brukkaros tourist site (D3904). Berseba is governed by a village council that has five seats. In the 2004 local authority elections SWAPO gained three council seats and obtained 260 votes. One seat each was obtained by the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) and the Congress of Democrats (CoD) with 99 and 91 votes, respectively. In the 2010 local authority election Berseba was one of

252-640: The Kharoǃoan clan ( Keetmanshoop Nama ) split from the Red Nation , 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

270-424: The law enforcement of the Dutch East India Company . They arrived in the area of Berseba in 1812. In 1850 their patriarch Paul Goliath established himself as independent leader of this community that subsequently became known as the "Berseba Oorlam" ( Khoekhoe : ǀHai-ǀkhaua ). The foundation of Berseba is recorded on 17 October 1850 when Rhenish Missionary Samuel Hahn founded the missionary station and gave it

288-621: Was a fugitive from the Dutch Cape Colony who fled to southern Namibia in about 1786. He is considered to have been the first person of European ancestry to have settled in the country. Visagie was born about 1751 in the Dutch Cape Colony, likely to parents of Huguenot descent. He became a farmer in the area near the Olifants River . In 1780, he was found guilty of killing a Nama and wounding two others. To escape punishment by

306-610: Was found in this area in 1898, and oil explorations were conducted in 1900 and 1929, though neither led to substantial industrial development. The settlement is riddled with poverty, substance abuse, and crime. It features a secondary school, the Ecumenical Community School , which was declared "unfit to serve as an educational institution" in 2010 and has since been abandoned. Berseba is connected by road to Tses (MR98), Bethanie (D3901 and D3905), Asab (D3903), Helmeringhausen (D554) and Keetmanshoop (D531), as well as to

324-566: Was named after the German trader and director of 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,

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