How the Nama Lost Their Land to the Boers in Namibia

When present day land reform issues are discussed, Boers always criticize any government that proposes land expropriation without compensation. Therefore, it is worth exploring how they got the land in the safe place. In present day Namibia, the Nama unjustly lost their land to South African Boers in the 1930s.

After Germany lost World War I, they were forced to give up Namibia as a colony. Thereafter, Namibia (South West Africa) became a League of Nations territory administered by South Africa. The territory was governed the same as the rest of South Africa. Any resistance against the government was violently put down. In 1922, a Nama group tried to revolt against the levying of a dog tax. Many of the Nam had already lost some of their land to the Germans and imposition of another tax made the situation more complicated for them. As soon as the government became aware of the revolt, they sent a police force to squash the movement and bombed the village.

To add insult to injury, the South African government then provided funds for South African farmers to purchase farms in South West Africa for cheap and additional funds for livestock and equipment. As a result, by 1935, there were approximately 32,000 white settlers in South West Africa (Namibia) who owned more than a third of the most productive land. The rest of the country was mostly desert which was not useful for agriculture. Most of the native Africans had been forced onto reserves that could not be used for farming but were still required to pay silly taxes like dog tax. As a result, many Africans were forced to work for white farmers in order to afford taxes.

The land currently occupied by white farmers must be returned to the rightful owners without compensation. One cannot be compensated for purchasing stolen property.