Berseba

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title: "Berseba" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["villages-in-namibia", "populated-places-in-the-ǁkaras-region", "berseba-constituency", "1850-establishments-in-south-west-africa"] topic_path: "general/villages-in-namibia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berseba" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
nameBerseba
native_nameǃAutsawises
nicknameThe smile on the face of Brukkaros
settlement_typeVillage
image_skylineKirche in Berseba.jpg
imagesize250px
image_captionLutheran church in Berseba during German colonial times
pushpin_mapNamibia
pushpin_label_positionbottom
pushpin_mapsize250
pushpin_map_captionLocation in Namibia
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameNamibia
subdivision_type1Region
subdivision_name1ǁKaras Region
subdivision_type2Constituency
subdivision_name2Berseba Constituency
leader_title1
established_title
unit_prefImperial
area_total_km2
area_land_km2
population_footnotes
population_total992
population_as_of2023
timezoneSAST
utc_offset+2
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
elevation_m926
elevation_ft3041
blank_name_sec1Climate
blank_info_sec1BWh
postal_code_type
::

::callout[type=note] a settlement in Namibia ::

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Berseba () is a village in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It is situated near the Brukkaros Mountain, a famous tourist destination. Berseba had 992 inhabitants in 2023.

Geography

Berseba is situated 100 km north-west of Keetmanshoop near the Brukkaros Mountain, a famous tourist destination. It is the district capital of the Berseba electoral constituency.

History

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 the law enforcement of the Dutch East India Company. They arrived in the area of Berseba in 1812.{{cite web |url = http://www.karasrc.com/people/people.htm |title = Karas Region Namibia, Kara's People |publisher = Karas Regional Council |accessdate = 26 December 2018 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20081120142331/http://www.karasrc.com/people/people.htm |archivedate = 20 November 2008

The foundation of Berseba is recorded on 17 October 1850 when Rhenish Missionary Samuel Hahn founded the missionary station and gave it a biblically inspired name. In 1857 a church was built.{{cite web |url=http://www.karasrc.com/tourism/berseba/berseba.htm |title=Karas Region Namibia, Berseba |publisher=Karas Regional Council |accessdate=14 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229133834/http://www.karasrc.com/tourism/berseba/berseba.htm |archivedate=29 February 2012

People

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.klausdierks.com/Biographies/Biographies_G.htm |last=Dierks |first=Klaus |authorlink=Klaus Dierks |title=Biographies of Namibian Personalities, Goliath entries |accessdate=24 June 2010}} In the 1960s the two clans split over the leadership issue and only reunited in April 2010. , Kaptein Johannes Isaak is the traditional leader of the ǀHai-ǀkhaua.{{cite news |last=Cloete |first=Luqman |newspaper=The Namibian |url=http://www.namibian.com.na/index.php?id=28&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=68527&no_cache=1 |title=Goliath splinter faction defends Boois |date=3 June 2010}}

Development and Infrastructure

The first diamond in Namibia was found in this area in 1898,{{cite web |url=https://www.klausdierks.com/Chronology/54.htm |last=Dierks |first=Klaus |authorlink=Klaus Dierks |title=Chronology of Namibian History, 1898 |accessdate=11 April 2011}} and oil explorations were conducted in 1900{{cite web |url=https://www.klausdierks.com/Chronology/57.htm |last=Dierks |first=Klaus |authorlink=Klaus Dierks |title=Chronology of Namibian History, 1900 |accessdate=11 April 2011}} and 1929,{{cite web |url=https://www.klausdierks.com/Chronology/84.htm |last=Dierks |first=Klaus |authorlink=Klaus Dierks |title=Chronology of Namibian History, 1929 |accessdate=11 April 2011}} 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.{{cite news |url=http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=11946 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130221095827/http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=11946 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=21 February 2013 |title=Governor lambastes learners, teachers |last=Rhodes |first=Fifi |newspaper=New Era |date=13 July 2010

Berseba is connected by road to Tses (MR98), Bethanie (D3901 and D3905), Asab (D3903), Helmeringhausen (D554) and Keetmanshoop (D531), as well as to the Brukkaros tourist site (D3904).

Politics

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 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 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.

References

References

  2. "4.5 Population by town and census years (2011 and 2023)". [[Namibia Statistics Agency]].
  3. (2015). "Know Your Local Authority". Institute for Public Policy Research.
  4. (31 December 2005). "14 May 2004 Local Authority Elections in Namibia". African Elections Database.
  5. [http://www.ecn.na/results/2010/Press_Release_Local_Authority_-_Karas-Berseba.pdf Local Authority results 2010] {{webarchive. link. (July 17, 2011 Electoral Commission of Namibia)
  6. (28 November 2015). "Local elections results". [[Electoral Commission of Namibia]].
  7. (29 November 2020). "2020 Local Authority Elections Results and Allocation of Seats". [[Electoral Commission of Namibia]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

villages-in-namibiapopulated-places-in-the-ǁkaras-regionberseba-constituency1850-establishments-in-south-west-africa