The parliamentary standing committee on human resources and community development is consulting with communities in the Hardap and //Kharas regions to erect a shrine for kaptein Hendrik !Anseb Witbooi in Vaalgras.
The consultations will take place until next week.
The standing committee will pay courtesy calls to the Hardap and //Kharas regional governors Solomon April and Aletha Frederick, respectively.
It will also consult with the Witbooi Royal House at Gibeon in the Hardap region and the Vaalgras Traditional Authority in the //Kharas region and with the Nama Traditional Leaders Association, in addition to members of the public.
The consultations follow a motion tabled by Popular Democratic Movement president McHenry Venaani last year, seeking to erect a shrine in honour of the late Witbooi.
Venaani said the erection of a lighting shrine would not only serve as a perpetual beacon for Namibians, but it would also improve the area’s economic well-being.
“This could bring in investment and tourism revenue to Vaalgras, driving local economic development. The shrine could serve as an educational hub where social justice principles are not just celebrated but also critically examined and reconstructed,” said Venaani.
Witbooi was a chief of the |Khowesin people, a sub-tribe of the Khoikhoi.
He led the Nama people during their revolts against the German colonial empire.
He was killed on 29 October 1905 by a single gunshot wound from the Germans on the northern plains of Vaalgras in the //Kharas region.
Witbooi is regarded as one of the national heroes of Namibia, and his face is portrayed on the obverse of all N$50, N$100 and N$200 Namibian dollar banknotes.
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