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Oct 2019: Some 500 refugees decamp in the Methodist Church, Green Market Square, Cape Town. Xenophobia, hostility, officialdom (and politicians) dragging their heels to sort out residence and work permits and ever fewer jobs have driven these people first to the Cape Town UNHCR offices and when driven out by the SA police this church offered refuge. But this is unsustainable. The refugees want to be taken to third countries - not a likely option when the entire world is shutting its doors to the poor and desperate. I went to see, offered help within my means, but it's no even a drop in the ocean. All decent and well-intended Cape Town residents should make the journey to this church, just to show caring and support.
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Happy and beautiful days, autumn, halloween and (baking) apple pie, visiting Zindzi, Jeremy and grandchildren Jude and Aya, October 2019.
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Sunset from Berkley across the Bay area when visiting Frank Hirtz and Diane Wolf
Sunrise over False Bay, September 2019.
Horst's Newsletter 41. October 2019
Below text and images expand on this Newsletter |
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Above right: In Germany they call them Stolpersteine - a stone that stands out so you stumble each time you leave home or return. This is to remind you that an atrocity was once committed at this place when people, mostly Jewish people, were evicted from hundreds of thousands of homes to be taken to their death in concentration camps. Hundreds of thousands of South Africans were also once forcibly evicted from their homes because of their race or the colour of their skin. They were not killed but they lost home and income, and designated second class citizens. In Simon's Town, South Africa, we have started something we call wag 'n bietjie, after a thorn bush makes you move backward before you can be freed to move forward again. The intention is to remind those that pass that race discrimination once took place wherever a wag 'n bietjie memorial sign is erected. Read more in the PDF file above. |
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Above: Former Simon's Town residents at this years reminder of their forced removal 50 years ago. Top right: holding up the names of the streets from where they were evicted. The other images are of the benches with mosaic inlays that require City approval before they are located on the streets they once lived in.
Above: Carlos Amorales was born and lives in Mexico. He created this Art Wall in the entrance to the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum.
2. Robben Island and the call for recognition of David Stuurman. The issue at stake is contained in the body of my Newsletter above.
My early morning walk while at a conference on Robben Island, April 2019, remembering 400 years of pain inflicted.
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Re-imagining Robben Island: A prison experience; Rev Ivan Abrahams 'shackled' at the wrist to myself; marched in a 'span' from the harbour, past the prison to the lime quarry.
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Above is the only reference I found on Robben Island to the International Defence and Aid Fund. IDAF provided the defence costs for the majority of those imprisoned here from the 1960's to 1990. Had they not been defended many more would have been sentenced to death.
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For further context go to my Newsletters and see Newsletter 21, A foot-soldier remembers the Mandela family, written in December 2013, shortly after Nelson Mandela passed away.
Disturbing as this book may be, it cannot be ignored. Truth, Lies and Alibi’s by Fred Bridgland is published by Tafelberg, Cape Town. ISBN: 978-0-624-0-8425-9 Epub: 978-o-624-0-8426-6 Mobi: 978-0-624-0-8427-3 |
4. International Mandela Day in Vienna, 18 July 2019
TOPNEWS, SÜDAFRIKA IN ÖSTERREICH
18. Juli 2019, reprinted on the SA Embassy Website, Austria.
NELSON MANDELA DAY, VIENNA, NELSON MANDELA PLATZ, 18 JULY 2019
[Ansprache war in Deutsch gehalten - siehe Text unten]
18. Juli 2019, reprinted on the SA Embassy Website, Austria.
NELSON MANDELA DAY, VIENNA, NELSON MANDELA PLATZ, 18 JULY 2019
[Ansprache war in Deutsch gehalten - siehe Text unten]
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Wien, Mandela Tag, 18.7.2019. Horst Kleinschmidt. (See English version below)
Nelson Mandela hätte sich gefreut zu wissen, daß es 2019 in Österreich Menschen wie Euch gibt, die immer noch wissen, was Solidarität heißt und ist. Er hätte sich gefreut zu wissen, daß es Menschen gibt, die sich für die Verteidigung von Demokratie, Freiheit, Menschenwürde und Gleichheit engagieren – und das auch international. Weltweit sind viele Demokratien heute wieder in Gefahr. Um offene und gerechte Gesellschaften zu verteidigen, müssen wir für soziale und wirtschaftliche Gleichheit aufstehen und gegen Rassismus und alle Formen von Vorurteilen. Wir müssen viel besser die Verbindung zur Rüstungsindustrie verstehen, die Kriege – und heute noch mehr, nämlich Stellvertreterkriege – schürt. Zum Beispiel, wenn die deutsche Rheinmetall in Südafrika – nicht weit von dort, wo ich in Kapstadt wohne – jene Bomben baut, die dann nach Saudi-Arabien exportiert werden, um den Jemen zu bombardieren. Abgesehen davon, daß dieser und andere Kriege Menschen töten, sind sie auch eine Ursache für die anhaltenden Flüchtlingsströme. Nelson Mandela würde uns heute daran erinnern, daß auch unsere junge südafrikanische Demokratie von innen her bedroht ist, daß korrupte Politiker und Geschäftsleute die Demokratie, derer wir uns seit 25 Jahren erfreuen, ausgehöhlt haben. Unsere Demokratie wurde untergraben, die Stabilität unseres Landes bedroht. Etliche Jahre von diesen 25 haben wir verloren und sind wir zurückgefallen, weil der damalige Präsident Zuma und Co. mit in- wie ausländischen Verbündeten, mit weißen wie schwarzen Landsleuten den Spielraum für Transparenz, Fairness und angemessenes Verhalten eingeengt und dadurch unsere offene demokratische Gesellschaft untergraben haben. Wir hoffen und glauben, daß diesem Versuch jetzt ein Ende gemacht wird. Die drei Untersuchungsausschüsse, Präsident Cyril Ramaphosa selbst und die bemerkenswert unabhängige Gerichtsbarkeit haben die Bremse gezogen, damit Südafrika nicht in die Kategorie eines „failed state“ fällt. Wir sind voller Hoffnung, daß eine neue Basis geschaffen worden ist, um gegen die vielen Widersprüchlichkeiten in unserem Land zu arbeiten. Unsere Aufgabe ist groß: Wir können nicht das Land mit der größten sozialen Ungleichheit der Welt bleiben. Wir können nicht mit einem verfehlten Erziehungssystems weitermachen, das wir unseren jungen Menschen aufgezwungen haben. Wir müssen und können Grund und Boden nach offenen und demokratischen Prinzipien umverteilen. Wir müssen unsere Städte erneuern, die noch immer nach Schwarz/Arm und Weiß/Reich getrennt bzw. durch Rasse und Klasse strukturiert sind. Wir begrüßen die Ankündigung unserer Staatsanwaltschaft, die fast 300 Verfahren, die ihr vor fast zwanzig Jahren von der Wahrheits- und Versöhnungskommission übergeben wurden, wiederaufzurollen. Das ist wichtig. Das Leid und die Gebrochenheit, die von der Apartheid erzeugt wurden, können nicht aufgearbeitet werden, wenn es hier nicht zu Anklagen kommt – wenn Verbrechen nicht bestraft und öffentlich gemacht werden. Daher fordere ich Euch am heutigen Tag auf, bei all Eurem Eintreten gegen ungünstige Tendenzen in Eurem eigenen Land uns nicht zu vergessen. Fahrt fort, uns in Solidarität, auch mit Kritik wenn erforderlich, zu begleiten. Unsere Tage des Aufschwungs und des Erfolgs werden wiederkehren. Bleibt dran! Das ist ein nobles Unterfangen: Bildung, um Aufmerksamkeit hervorzubringen. Ihr macht genau das Richtige. Die Welt, in der wir leben, braucht internationale Solidarität. Wir brauchen Euch – und ich bin sicher, daß Ihr uns in gleicher Weise braucht! uns in gleicher Weise braucht! |
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5. Fires in Masiphumelele, 2019
Fires ravage Masi several times each year. The only way to prevent these from happening is to allocate City owned land to the exceptionally overcrowded conditions.
6. Kritisches Christentum. On smuggling copies into SA during the 1980's
| Kritisches Christentum (Austria).pdf |
Below: Perspektiven is a Windhoek religious-based publication. This edition speaks to white inhabitants and deals with colonial history.
My article appears in English
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| One family's quest to confront its own past in a racially divided society. In Perspektiven, Windhoek, mid 2019.pdf |
8. Ghaub, game lodge with Kleinschmidt family history
| Welcome to Ghaub1.pdf |
9. Below: A study-series on colonialism and racism, appeared in Berlin recently. This edition deals extensively with our family - the Schmelens, Baumanns, Kleinschmidts and Hegners. Ursula Trüper is the author of piece on our family. (full text to be uploaded later)
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11. Franco worked closely with us at the CI. His art and wit helped us make strong and challenging points. Here is an extract of his memoire with images he created for us. |
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| Franco Frescuras greatest hits 2.jpeg.pdf |
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MEMORIES OF RAIN. This DVD is also available in English. It is about two former MK members and their reflections post the struggle years. I can arrange for you to purchase a copy.
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| Security Police (SB) file on myself from 1968-1975. |
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My Filofax organiser that the story opposite talks about.
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| In Newsletter 37 I dealt with Restitution and that the 2018 Conference on the subject would lead to a Charter that is open to discussion. Here it is, titled 'A complex Hope'. |
See new entry under Social Commentary dealing with national Reconciliation Day on 16 December 2018
| Newsletter 38 Remembering Cedric Mayson at the Fort Prison, recalling my own jailers and more |
Newsletter 38, December 2018.
Dear friends,
Herewith my latest offering. I hope it adds depth and dimension to the quest for egalité and real democracy.
This Newsletter can be viewed on my website (no charges or passwords required). www.horstkleinschmidt.co.za. Images too large to include here, can also be viewed on the website.
My best wishes for the festive season and the coming year!
Yours,
Horst
The contents:
1. New noon-gun to be heard over Johannesburg, unfinished business and recalling my jailers.
2. Where we live: St James, Simonstown, Ocean View and Masiphumelele.
3. Bombs on Yemen manufactured near us.
4. Autumn leaves falling; the passing of Rev Chris Wessels, Paddy Kearney, Mendi Msimang and Alex Boraine.
5. ‘The making of a dissident Afrikaner’, Ruhan Fourie on Beyers Naudé (Huffington Post).
6. Fake News and the supposed slaying of white farmers.
Dear friends,
Herewith my latest offering. I hope it adds depth and dimension to the quest for egalité and real democracy.
This Newsletter can be viewed on my website (no charges or passwords required). www.horstkleinschmidt.co.za. Images too large to include here, can also be viewed on the website.
My best wishes for the festive season and the coming year!
Yours,
Horst
The contents:
1. New noon-gun to be heard over Johannesburg, unfinished business and recalling my jailers.
2. Where we live: St James, Simonstown, Ocean View and Masiphumelele.
3. Bombs on Yemen manufactured near us.
4. Autumn leaves falling; the passing of Rev Chris Wessels, Paddy Kearney, Mendi Msimang and Alex Boraine.
5. ‘The making of a dissident Afrikaner’, Ruhan Fourie on Beyers Naudé (Huffington Post).
6. Fake News and the supposed slaying of white farmers.
The Fort Prison - memories, reminders, never again.
Installation of new exhibition includes Cedric Mayson
Prison cells at The Fort Prison, Hospital Hill, Johannesburg. At different times Nelson Mandela, Robert Sobukwe, Joe Slovo, Baruch Hirson, and in the early 1980's Cedric Mayson, Rob Adam, Alan Fine and others were held here. The cells are now part of the museum.
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The noon gun that will sound over Johannesburg each day to remind all that the struggle for democracy was hard won.
Penelope, wife of Cedric Mayson at the cells on 5 Dec 2018. After Cedric's detention he was an awaiting trial prisoner and she visited him here with her children
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Once Cedric was an awaiting trial prisoner he was allowed to conduct services that other prisoners were allowed to attend.
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Heritage Day, Simonstown - 24 September 2018
With other speakers and musical contributions I addressed the 50 year remembrance in St Francis Church. My appeal was to the current Simonstown residents to mark the forced evictions in a way that is akin to Stolpersteine in Germany.
| HK appeal in 2018 to the residents of Simonstown. |
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Newsletter 37 - Restitution - September 2018
My Newsletter 37 (September 2018 pdf file below) looks at the delay or resistance to restitution in post apartheid South Africa. Matters promised in the Constitution (Bill of Rights) or raised but not resolved by the TRC remain outstanding. The ruling ANC is to blame for the shrill expropriation without compensation debate that now engulfs us. It is the ANC Government who failed to act despite having the tools it was given in terms of the Constitution. The ANC's mega failure will haunt us for a long time. It now promises to do more. But will it? Has it the capacity to do the job? Will it retain the confidence of its supporters? The ANC's failure has provided the facist-leaning EFF with a platform which in turn, has spawned new far right white racism represented by AfriForum. Both use racial and racist language instead of class as the basis for analyses. The ANC once espoused non-racialism but has mostly forgotten this base of its policy.
The hopeless and disastrous Zuma years are coming home to roost. The judge Zondo enquiry into 'state capture' provide us with shock and disbelief each day a new witness testifies. Zuma, his son Duduzane, the Gupta brothers and a league of crooked politicians and civil servants are not in the dock. Will they eventually be charged? The treasury and State Owned Enterprises coffers they looted will impede getting out of the recession we are now in once more. Real unemployment is probably at around 40%, sixteen million monthly grant recipients cannot expect a reliant or competent service to receive their monthly payments, our financial barons consider it their right to withhold billions in accumulated profits before they invest again (on their terms), our education system is failing terribly (reading with comprehension and math rank us bottom in the world) and the gulf between rich and poor keeps growing without a plan to arrest, let alone reverse our fall into the abyss. Add to this the low-level civil war that erupts each day throughout the country in the form of tyre burning and demonstrations at any number of places.
Defeated? No. We need cool heads to talk. The shift of the debate toward the real meaning of restitution must be taken seriously.
My Newsletter looks at restitution. I also focus on restorative justice in Namibia, with lessons for us. I provide a number of internet links to quality debates and analyses. In the attached Newsletter I deal with:
1. Restitution discussed between Lukhanyo Calata (son of slain anti-apartheid fighter Fort Calata) and Wilhelm Verwoerd (grandson of apartheid’s architect, HF Verwoerd)
2. The current Namibia and Germany debate and the failure of, but also pressure on, Germany to say ’sorry’ to the Nama and Herero genocide descendants.
3. The Achmed Timol initiative and their quest to bring to justice those who perpetrated human rights crimes.
4. The debate on expropriation of land without compensation - a collection of pieces that helps one to navigate understanding of what is being said.
5. Masiphumele and the continued spacial apartheid in our cities. The focus is on urban land and services.
Please visit my website for more entries and images, not possible to add in an email.
As always I look forward to hearing from you, in agreement or in opposition.
The hopeless and disastrous Zuma years are coming home to roost. The judge Zondo enquiry into 'state capture' provide us with shock and disbelief each day a new witness testifies. Zuma, his son Duduzane, the Gupta brothers and a league of crooked politicians and civil servants are not in the dock. Will they eventually be charged? The treasury and State Owned Enterprises coffers they looted will impede getting out of the recession we are now in once more. Real unemployment is probably at around 40%, sixteen million monthly grant recipients cannot expect a reliant or competent service to receive their monthly payments, our financial barons consider it their right to withhold billions in accumulated profits before they invest again (on their terms), our education system is failing terribly (reading with comprehension and math rank us bottom in the world) and the gulf between rich and poor keeps growing without a plan to arrest, let alone reverse our fall into the abyss. Add to this the low-level civil war that erupts each day throughout the country in the form of tyre burning and demonstrations at any number of places.
Defeated? No. We need cool heads to talk. The shift of the debate toward the real meaning of restitution must be taken seriously.
My Newsletter looks at restitution. I also focus on restorative justice in Namibia, with lessons for us. I provide a number of internet links to quality debates and analyses. In the attached Newsletter I deal with:
1. Restitution discussed between Lukhanyo Calata (son of slain anti-apartheid fighter Fort Calata) and Wilhelm Verwoerd (grandson of apartheid’s architect, HF Verwoerd)
2. The current Namibia and Germany debate and the failure of, but also pressure on, Germany to say ’sorry’ to the Nama and Herero genocide descendants.
3. The Achmed Timol initiative and their quest to bring to justice those who perpetrated human rights crimes.
4. The debate on expropriation of land without compensation - a collection of pieces that helps one to navigate understanding of what is being said.
5. Masiphumele and the continued spacial apartheid in our cities. The focus is on urban land and services.
Please visit my website for more entries and images, not possible to add in an email.
As always I look forward to hearing from you, in agreement or in opposition.
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50 years ago 600 families were forcibly evicted from Simonstown because of their 'race'. We shall remember with them this Heritage Day (24 September 2018) their immense loss. The loss of material and social being impacts to this very day those apartheid victimised. The white community is still ignoring the history they came from. Restitution demands that they stop looking the other way.
Family wedding in Namibia. Can anyone help putting names to those below, from left to right?
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Tshepo Moletsane flanked by Rose Milbank and Horst Kleinschmidt outside the City of Cape Town Sub-Council offices with the poster Where is the Masi Plan? Holding two such posters in silence in silence during the Sub-Council meeting was deemed a demonstration and Rose and Horst were evicted by Law Enforcement officers. Read the full story in Newsletter 37. |
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1972: A whites only election in South Africa. We, members of the Christian Institute put up one candidate in the white working-class constituency of Von Brandis in Johannesburg. Our objective: challenge white attitudes. Election rules meant we could state openly what otherwise attracted the attention of the Security Police. We retained our deposit! Many of the pensioners, living here were retired miners, former members of the SA Labour Party.
On 12 July 2018, Christine hosted a launch at her studio and gallery of Omar Badsha's acclaimed photographic memory of South Africa
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Below:
Heady days in 1990, outside the offices of the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa (IDAF). Nelson Mandela was released and with his wife Winnie visited London. Winnie wanted to visit IDAF because of long-standing support we had provided her through our programme that sent postal orders to those persecuted and those whose spouses were in jail. She also wanted to see me who was the legal guardian of her children in 1974 before being exiled in 1976. She had named our daughter Zindzi, born in December 1974, shortly after Winnie was released from serving imprisonment for breaking her banning order. A short while later we decided we could not provide funds for the legal costs when Winnie was charged in relation to the 'Stompie' trial.
On the far right, Sister Bernard Ncube, prominent resistance fighter. I the middle Winnie Mandela outside the IDAF offices at 64 Essex Road, Islington. To her left, Horst Kleinschmidt, Director of IDAF from 1982 - 1991.
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IDAF staff outside IDAF offices in 1990. From left to right are George Tobias, behind him Thembe Luxomo, Harlene Jassat, Ramni Dinat, Winnie Mandela on her first visit abroad visiting IDAF, and Horst Kleinschmidt, right. In front Barry Feinberg
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From left to right: Themba Luxomo, IDAF Treasurer, then Harlene Jassat, from the prisoner support section, then Winnie, Horst and Eleanor Khanyile.
Our history: In June 1990 people of the Black Consciousness Movement met in Harare, Zimbabwe. The event was organised by the
Programme to Combat Racism of the World Council of Churches
“An attempt at producing an analytical, reflective understanding of an important part in the history of South Africa. Steve Biko and the black consciousness movement have a major bearing on the subsequent events in South Africa up to today” – The words of Barney Pityana, in June 1990 then a director of the World Council of Churches Programme to Combat Racism. Above delegates attended at the Sheraton Hotel in Harare.
Amongst those present: Back row, 2nd from left: Lindelwe Mabandla, 3rd Cedric mayson, 5th Wally Serote, 7th Cosmas Desmond, 8th Barney Pityana, 10th David Russell.
Standing in front of them: In red striped shirt: Sipho Pityana, in beige jersey Saki Macozoma and in yellow shirt Neville Curtis.
Front row: 5th Mampela Ramphele and far right Francis Wilson. Who can identify the others?
Amongst those present: Back row, 2nd from left: Lindelwe Mabandla, 3rd Cedric mayson, 5th Wally Serote, 7th Cosmas Desmond, 8th Barney Pityana, 10th David Russell.
Standing in front of them: In red striped shirt: Sipho Pityana, in beige jersey Saki Macozoma and in yellow shirt Neville Curtis.
Front row: 5th Mampela Ramphele and far right Francis Wilson. Who can identify the others?
Institute for Healing of Memories
On 16 April 2018 Christine and I hosted Fr Michael Lapsley and his colleague Fatima Swartz at our home. A group of us wanted to know more about the work of the Institute for Healing of Memories. There are many remedies our country is need of and one of them is the trauma discrimination and hatred our past left us with.
Please visit their website www.healing-memories.org. We encourage you to consider funding the Institute with individual monthly donations, as we now do. Their work must go on! |
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| Newsletter 36: After Zuma; the rise of Ramaphosa and the passing of Winnie Mandela. |
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On 21 December 1979, our daughter Zindzi was five years old. A week earlier, on 13 December, her mother Ilona started a two month prison sentence for refusing to make a statement to the Special Branch about Winnie. Ilona's closest friend, Jackie Bosman served three months for the same act of defiance. I, as Zindzi's father was in exile since April 1976 and by 1979 deeply involved in ANC work. If I were to return to South Africa, I would stand trial, charged with complicity in the Tokyo Sexwale and 11 others trial, and in the impending trial against Cedric Mayson. I pay tribute to Janie Aronson, Ilona's mother and to Karel Tip, the man Ilona had married, for standing in for the parents my daughter did not have - then and at other times. And I thank Zindzi, named by Winnie Mandela after her own youngest daughter, for her love and forgiveness of her parents, who chose the struggle over the warmth and protection of a home she desired and deserved. |
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Christine's new Studio and Gallery in bohemian Kalk Bay
Translating the Bible into Namaqua in 1831. Events and consequences that haunted the Schmelen-Kleinschmidt family for the ensuing century. Two talks delivered in March 2018, to audiences in Windhoek and Swakopmund, one in English the other in German (see both talks below).
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Listen to and watch this beautiful lullaby in Khoekhoegowab, language of the Nama and Damara speaking communities in Namibia.
https://www.facebook.com/daveguy061/videos/g.1501101606840495/1854389761239310/?type=2&ifg=1
https://www.facebook.com/daveguy061/videos/g.1501101606840495/1854389761239310/?type=2&ifg=1
The extraordinary story of Hendrik Witbooi, told by Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetzee
https://martinplaut.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/the-extraordinary-story-of-hendrik-witbooi-told-by-nobel-prize-winner-j-m-coetzee/
https://martinplaut.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/the-extraordinary-story-of-hendrik-witbooi-told-by-nobel-prize-winner-j-m-coetzee/
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Berlin-Postkolonial is a public initiative in Germany. They have at last been able to get Street Names from the colonial era replaced Africans who fought for freedom. One person to have a street named after him is Cornelius Frederick - an ancestor of Chief David Frederick. See, in German:
Web: http://www.berlin-postkolonial.de/cms/index.php/9-news/kurzmeldungen/131-12-4-pressemitteilung
Web: http://www.berlin-postkolonial.de/cms/index.php/9-news/kurzmeldungen/131-12-4-pressemitteilung
Christine's portrayal of South Africa's poet laureate Keorapetse
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Chief David Frederick of the !Aman has died (1933-2018)
KEETMANSHOOP, 12 JAN (NAMPA) – Chief David Frederick of the !Aman Traditional Authority of Bethanie has died.
The Nama clan chief, widely respected by many in the south of Namibia and beyond for his firm leadership and humility, died at the Keetmanshoop State Hospital Friday afternoon.
Governor of the //Kharas Region, Lucia Basson, confirmed the passing of Frederick, telling Nampa Friday evening that the chief died at 16h50.
Basson, who spent the afternoon at the hospital before and after Frederick’s death, said he was surrounded by many of his family members.
“I was with his family at the hospital, his room was full,” she said.
Frederick died after a long illness.
“He has been sickly since 2014, but he was a strong man, his heart and mind was strong and many times, we forgot that he was unwell,” Basson said.
She described Frederick as a unifier and peacemaker.
“He just wanted the whole Nama clans to be united and to live in peace. From what I was told, he called all his children and sat with them on Sunday, telling them to remain together and to live in peace with one another,” the governor said.
Frederick’s death is a huge loss in many ways, she said, more so as he was a great historian.
“Oupab [Grandpa] was good for us all and he knew everything about Nama history and our country’s history.”
Frederick often highlighted the plight of the southern people and was vocal about land matters and the genocide.
Chief Frederick, alongside OvaHerero Chief Vekuii Rukoro, was a plaintiff in a matter filed in a U.S. court seeking reparations from Germany and demanding the inclusion of the affected communities in official genocide talks.
He was 85 years old and leaves behind 17 children and his wife, Anna.
(NAMPA)
The Nama clan chief, widely respected by many in the south of Namibia and beyond for his firm leadership and humility, died at the Keetmanshoop State Hospital Friday afternoon.
Governor of the //Kharas Region, Lucia Basson, confirmed the passing of Frederick, telling Nampa Friday evening that the chief died at 16h50.
Basson, who spent the afternoon at the hospital before and after Frederick’s death, said he was surrounded by many of his family members.
“I was with his family at the hospital, his room was full,” she said.
Frederick died after a long illness.
“He has been sickly since 2014, but he was a strong man, his heart and mind was strong and many times, we forgot that he was unwell,” Basson said.
She described Frederick as a unifier and peacemaker.
“He just wanted the whole Nama clans to be united and to live in peace. From what I was told, he called all his children and sat with them on Sunday, telling them to remain together and to live in peace with one another,” the governor said.
Frederick’s death is a huge loss in many ways, she said, more so as he was a great historian.
“Oupab [Grandpa] was good for us all and he knew everything about Nama history and our country’s history.”
Frederick often highlighted the plight of the southern people and was vocal about land matters and the genocide.
Chief Frederick, alongside OvaHerero Chief Vekuii Rukoro, was a plaintiff in a matter filed in a U.S. court seeking reparations from Germany and demanding the inclusion of the affected communities in official genocide talks.
He was 85 years old and leaves behind 17 children and his wife, Anna.
(NAMPA)
I met Chief David Frederick every time I passed Bathanie on my way to Windhoek or Swakopmund. I first visited him some 15 years ago. His Traditional Authority office, a five minute walk from the Schmelen house was where he first sat me down and said: let me give you a history lesson about what happened to my people. I was taken aback by the detail of what I heard and by his incredible recall. It was one of the most impressive encounters I ever had. He told the story of the oppressed and vanquished from the side of those it German might was done to. This was not book knowledge or an outsiders interpretation. He was not angry or emotional. His call for an apology and reparations crisply clear.
I asked where I could read about it - from his perspective. He told me a book was in the making. Because, he said, the young generation will not remember everything the way it was. I later read the diaries of members of the Geman Schutztruppe, partly to see if they verified dates, places and battles Chief David mentioned. And yes, his recall was amazingly accurate. The letters by one von Schauroth particularly interested me. He wrote to his father in Berlin, complaining that he never got th promotion he was after. It affords an insight of someone who is unhappy with his officers. In his letters to his father he refers to the Nama opponent as "honourable" on several occasions. Why? He says, because they properly declared war on us. They came by horse with a white flag and a letter to state they were now at war with Germany. And elsewhere he repeats this respect for the Nama. German troops suffered a succession of defeats by the nimble Nama guerilla fighters, von Schauroth expresses great respect ofr their treatment of the German troops they killed. He says, they returned to the place of battle after a victory to bury the fallen Germans. And he adds: And they always ensured the man with the highest rank got the best grave.
Chief David Frederick is the direct descendent from these freedom fighters. They are still not afforded the recognition they deserve. And Germany is still dragging its heals, refusing to do what is right. To make this point, read below recent article:
https://theconversation.com/genocide-negotiations-between-germany-and-namibia-hit-stumbling-blocks-89697
https://theconversation.com/genocide-negotiations-between-germany-and-namibia-hit-stumbling-blocks-89697
May he be remembered as a proud man whose quest for justice has yet to be fulfilled.
I asked where I could read about it - from his perspective. He told me a book was in the making. Because, he said, the young generation will not remember everything the way it was. I later read the diaries of members of the Geman Schutztruppe, partly to see if they verified dates, places and battles Chief David mentioned. And yes, his recall was amazingly accurate. The letters by one von Schauroth particularly interested me. He wrote to his father in Berlin, complaining that he never got th promotion he was after. It affords an insight of someone who is unhappy with his officers. In his letters to his father he refers to the Nama opponent as "honourable" on several occasions. Why? He says, because they properly declared war on us. They came by horse with a white flag and a letter to state they were now at war with Germany. And elsewhere he repeats this respect for the Nama. German troops suffered a succession of defeats by the nimble Nama guerilla fighters, von Schauroth expresses great respect ofr their treatment of the German troops they killed. He says, they returned to the place of battle after a victory to bury the fallen Germans. And he adds: And they always ensured the man with the highest rank got the best grave.
Chief David Frederick is the direct descendent from these freedom fighters. They are still not afforded the recognition they deserve. And Germany is still dragging its heals, refusing to do what is right. To make this point, read below recent article:
https://theconversation.com/genocide-negotiations-between-germany-and-namibia-hit-stumbling-blocks-89697
https://theconversation.com/genocide-negotiations-between-germany-and-namibia-hit-stumbling-blocks-89697
May he be remembered as a proud man whose quest for justice has yet to be fulfilled.
Harvesting water from our roof in 4x1000 litre drums
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The 2018 Water rises in Cape Town. We now have four of these 1000 litre tanks around the house, to harvest every drop of rain from our roof. Each down-pipe from the roof is connected to a tank. We manage all our domestic needs and watering the garden from here. The only time we use municipal water is to shower (2 minutes max) and for cooking purposes. To wash dishes we heat water collected from outside, as can be seen on this picture.
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Newsletter 35, January 2018
Dear friends and relations,
It gives me pleasure to send you my latest Newsletter, number 35. This is also available on my website www.horstkleinschmidt.co.za. There are several items on the cover page of the website not included in the below attachment, the reason being, to keep below attachment to a manageable size.
Newsletter 35 covers:
- Views on the newly elected ANC leader.
- My contact with Jacob Zuma in exile and thereafter.
- The identification of the father of our Khoi ancestor Zara Schmelen on a colonial drawing.
- An small effort to improve the access conditions at the Schmelen House in Bethanie.
- Bringing closure to a family rift concerning over the sale of the diary of Missionary Kleinschmidt.
- Eberhard Kleinschmidt in a poem says: The wrong committed against the Nama and Herero people, is a wrong committed against our family. His woe is to the German government.
Additionally on the website:
- After 124 years another family bridges the racial divide in Namibia.
- ‘Der Stimme der Genade Gehör schenken - Zur Rolle der Rheinischen Missiongesellschaft bei der Errichtung von Konzentrationslagern in Namibia 1905 -1907'. - Hans-Martin Milk. Announcement of a new book.
- ‘Between the Worlds. German Missionaries and the Transition from Mission to Bantu Education in South Africa’ - Linda Chisholm. Announcement of a new book.
- Photos when scattering the ashes of my sister Heidi in the Namib in November 2017.
- Photos of a toast to my mother - she is now commemorated on a gravestone in Swakopmund - November 2017.
- Photo’s of the trip and visit by cousin Otto and Manda Uirab to Cape Town.
As always, please write and engage me in conversation.
Best wishes for the year ahead!
Yours,
Horst.
It gives me pleasure to send you my latest Newsletter, number 35. This is also available on my website www.horstkleinschmidt.co.za. There are several items on the cover page of the website not included in the below attachment, the reason being, to keep below attachment to a manageable size.
Newsletter 35 covers:
- Views on the newly elected ANC leader.
- My contact with Jacob Zuma in exile and thereafter.
- The identification of the father of our Khoi ancestor Zara Schmelen on a colonial drawing.
- An small effort to improve the access conditions at the Schmelen House in Bethanie.
- Bringing closure to a family rift concerning over the sale of the diary of Missionary Kleinschmidt.
- Eberhard Kleinschmidt in a poem says: The wrong committed against the Nama and Herero people, is a wrong committed against our family. His woe is to the German government.
Additionally on the website:
- After 124 years another family bridges the racial divide in Namibia.
- ‘Der Stimme der Genade Gehör schenken - Zur Rolle der Rheinischen Missiongesellschaft bei der Errichtung von Konzentrationslagern in Namibia 1905 -1907'. - Hans-Martin Milk. Announcement of a new book.
- ‘Between the Worlds. German Missionaries and the Transition from Mission to Bantu Education in South Africa’ - Linda Chisholm. Announcement of a new book.
- Photos when scattering the ashes of my sister Heidi in the Namib in November 2017.
- Photos of a toast to my mother - she is now commemorated on a gravestone in Swakopmund - November 2017.
- Photo’s of the trip and visit by cousin Otto and Manda Uirab to Cape Town.
As always, please write and engage me in conversation.
Best wishes for the year ahead!
Yours,
Horst.
Errata: I state in my Newsletter that Jacob Zuma entered South Africa as part of the underground operation Vula. I have been corrected. He did not enter South Africa. I am told that otherwise my analyses of that time is correct.
Errata: My presentation to Cabinet at Tuinhuis was not in 1995, but in 2005. Above post and the one under Newsletters has been corrected.
Errata: My presentation to Cabinet at Tuinhuis was not in 1995, but in 2005. Above post and the one under Newsletters has been corrected.
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Another Namibian family celebrate unity across the racial divide
Hans-Martin Milk:
Der Stimme der Gnade Gehör schenken
Zur Rolle der Rheinischen Missionsgesellschaft
bei der Errichtung von Konzentrationslagern
in Namibia – 1905 bis 1907
[Berliner Beiträge zur Missionsgeschichte 20. Berlin: Wichern-Verlag 2016. ISBN 978-3-88981-430-2
(36 Seiten)]
>> zur Besprechung
Friend and fellow activist Ben Khumalo-Seegelken brought this to my attention.
Der Stimme der Gnade Gehör schenken
Zur Rolle der Rheinischen Missionsgesellschaft
bei der Errichtung von Konzentrationslagern
in Namibia – 1905 bis 1907
[Berliner Beiträge zur Missionsgeschichte 20. Berlin: Wichern-Verlag 2016. ISBN 978-3-88981-430-2
(36 Seiten)]
>> zur Besprechung
Friend and fellow activist Ben Khumalo-Seegelken brought this to my attention.
Linda Chisholm: BETWEEN THE WORLDS. German Missionaries and the Transition from Mission to Bantu Education in South Africa
South Africa’s educational history is to this day informed by networks of people and ideas, crossing geographic and racial boundaries.
The colonial legacy has inevitably involved cultural mixing and hybridization – with, paradoxically, parallel pleas for purity. Chisholm explores how these ideas found expression in colliding and coalescing worlds, one African, the other European, caught between mission and apartheid-education.… continue here / qhubeka lapha
Kind regards
Ben Khumalo-Seegelken
http://www.benkhumalo-seegelken.de/
Christine thriving, at the Blue Planet studio
We had a re-launch of Anita Marshall's book at our home in late 2017. It is self published. Its title is Soul Rebel, a moving story of her childhood as a victim of forced removals leading to political engagement and military training. Honesty and courage are one hallmark of her writing. From left to right: Christine Crowley, Nkosi Maswati, Melanie Steyn, HK, Di Oliver, Ruth Gerhard, Anita Marshall (in white top), Pete Smith (his wife Jane was taking the photo, Rachel Williams, Dieter Gerhard and Tshepo Moletsane.
René Lescoute reported on in Newsletter 34. A follow-up article.
The story of René Lescoute was covered in my Newsletter 33 (below). Since then an article on his life appeared and can be read on
https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/courageous-capetonian-stood-up-to-nazis-11493802
https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/courageous-capetonian-stood-up-to-nazis-11493802
Newsletter 34. October 2017
| They said my g-g-g grandmother did not exist. |
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List of Enemies of the apartheid state.
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Auf Deutsch zu lesen: Unter der Spalte 'Zarah and Hinrich Schmelen 200th Anniversary', gibt es jetzt drei Deutsche Beiträge zu dem Familientreffen im September 2014. Einer erscheint in dem Österreichischen Magazin INDABA, in der 85/15 Ausgabe (http://www.sadocc.at), die zwei anderen erscheinen in 'In die Welt - Für die Welt', in der 1/2015 und 2/2015 Ausgabe (http://www.vemission.org)
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