Etosha Game Reserve was the site of a forced eviction in 1954, when approximately two hundred Haiǁom were removed. Most of those expelled, like much of the Haiǁom population living outside the reserve, subsequently became farm labourers. The episode illustrates the intersection of conservation, reserve administration and racialised labour policy in apartheid-era Namibia.
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The Story
The Etosha game reserve appears in the history of 1950s Namibia as a site of forced removal. In 1954, the South African administration evicted around two hundred Haiǁom from the reserve. The action formed part of a wider pattern in which African communities were displaced from controlled spaces and redirected toward dependent labour.
The consequences extended beyond the people directly expelled. The page states that most of the evicted Haiǁom, like the majority of the Haiǁom population outside the reserve, became farm labourers. Their displacement therefore connected the management of a game reserve with the wider labour system that supplied workers to white-owned farms.
The episode also illustrates the uneven geography of apartheid in Namibia. Control was exercised through reserves, towns, farms and administrative boundaries, while the possibilities for African residence and movement were narrowed by permits, pass requirements and forced relocation.
Etosha Game Reserve was the site of a forced eviction in 1954, when approximately two hundred Haiǁom were removed. Most of those expelled, like much of the Haiǁom population living outside the reserve, subsequently became farm labourers. The episode illustrates the intersection of conservation, reserve administration and racialised labour policy in apartheid-era Namibia.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Etosha game reserve appears in the history of 1950s Namibia as a site of forced removal. In 1954, the South African administration evicted around two hundred Haiǁom from the reserve. The action formed part of a wider pattern in which African communities were displaced from controlled spaces and redirected toward dependent labour.
The consequences extended beyond the people directly expelled. The page states that most of the evicted Haiǁom, like the majority of the Haiǁom population outside the reserve, became farm labourers. Their displacement therefore connected the management of a game reserve with the wider labour system that supplied workers to white-owned farms.
The episode also illustrates the uneven geography of apartheid in Namibia. Control was exercised through reserves, towns, farms and administrative boundaries, while the possibilities for African residence and movement were narrowed by permits, pass requirements and forced relocation.
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