Basters

The Basters (also known as Baasters, Rehobothers, or Rehoboth Basters) are a <a href="/facts/Southern_Africa/Ak6C1vgf">Southern African</a> ethnic group descended from <a href="/facts/Cape_Coloureds/lF1w988b">Cape Coloureds</a> and <a href="/facts/Nama_people/UfXLFHWa">Nama</a> of <a href="/facts/Khoisan/NNEQF8qQ">Khoisan</a> origin. Since the second half of the 19th century, the Rehoboth Baster community has been concentrated in central <a href="/facts/Namibia/ahXuaypy">Namibia</a>, in and around the town of <a href="/facts/Rehoboth%2c_Namibia/Dt8o01NJ">Rehoboth</a>. Basters are closely related to <a href="/facts/Afrikaners/MNKWNlDV">Afrikaners</a>, Cape Coloureds, and <a href="/facts/Griqua_people/Xk04zMdB">Griquas</a> of <a href="/facts/South_Africa/vvXQpLgq">South Africa</a> and <a href="/facts/Namibia/ahXuaypy">Namibia</a>, with whom they share a largely <a href="/facts/Afrikaner_culture/MNKWNlDV">Afrikaner</a>-influenced culture and <a href="/facts/Afrikaans/jYqEPHmA">Afrikaans language</a>. Other groups of similar mixed ethnic origin, living chiefly in the Northern Cape, also refer to themselves as Basters.
The name Baster is derived from "bastaard", the Dutch word for "<a href="/facts/Legitimacy_(family_law)/kjNdlPeC">bastard</a>" or "mongrel". While some people consider this term demeaning, the Basters <a href="/facts/Reappropriation/tUdtMAdq">reappropriated</a> it as an <a href="/facts/Ethnonym/fEFU3fYr">ethnonym</a>, in spite of the negative connotation. Their 7th Kaptein is Jacky Britz, elected in 2021; he has no official status under the Namibian constitution. The Chief's Council of Rehoboth was replaced with a local town council under the new government.
45,629 Namibians identified as Basters in the 2023 Census. Survival of the Baster culture and identity have been called into question in modern Namibia. Modern Namibia's politics and public life are largely dominated by the ethnic <a href="/facts/Ovambo_people/xsFT64T0">Ovambo</a> and their culture. Baster politicians and activists have called Ovambo policies oppressive towards their community.

Basters open-in-new

Basters