Aukeigas formed part of the reserve system developed by South African authorities after the Second World War. That system increasingly treated reserves as ethnically defined administrative units and created tribal funds and councils intended to regulate African communities. Aukeigas was located near Windhoek and was associated with Damara political opposition to the administration’s policy.

In 1958, the reserve was closed despite opposition from Fakkel, a Damara organisation whose name meant “torch”. The remaining inhabitants were sent to the barren territory of Sorris-Sorris. The closure illustrates how reserve administration operated not simply through ethnic classification but also through the physical relocation of communities.

After the removal of its inhabitants, Aukeigas became the Daan Viljoen game reserve. The change of use from a residential reserve to a game reserve forms part of the broader pattern of spatial segregation and state control described for Namibia during the 1950s.