“Why Namibia Must Acknowledge Damara and San Genocide Victims

[Opinion piece; ed.]

By Seth !Nowaseb [senior lecturer at UNAM and member of the Technical Committee on Genocide, Apology and Reparations; ed.]

9 June 2026

AS NAMIBIA marked its second Genocide Remembrance Day on 28 May, remembrance events were held countrywide – from Lüderitz and Shark Island to Swakopmund, Okakarara, Otjinene and beyond.

[…]

Most speeches and articles rightly focused on the suffering of the Nama and Ovaherero communities, the primary targets of general Lothar von Trotha’s extermination campaign.

Yet an uncomfortable truth remains largely absent from our public narrative: Damara and San people also suffered greatly and are too often invisible in discussions of genocide, memory, apology and reparations.

[…]

Damara and San people lived, worked and travelled among the Nama and Ovaherero communities.

They were caught up in military campaigns, forced removals, imprisonment, starvation, forced labour and concentration camps.

Many lost family members, livestock, land, livelihoods and lives.

[…]

CONSEQUENCES

Acknowledging the suffering of the Damara and San is not to diminish the suffering of the Nama and Ovaherero. On the contrary, it is to complete a historical picture that is often left incomplete.

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The 2021 Joint Declaration between Namibia and Germany refers to the “deep wounds inflicted on the Ovaherero and Nama communities, and on the Damara and San, by the atrocities perpetrated during German colonial rule”.

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This language is important. It recognises that while extermination orders directly targeted the Nama and Ovaherero, the impact extended beyond those communities and affected others, including the Damara and San.

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THE CHOICE

The stories we choose to tell, those we choose to omit, and the narratives we promote shape public understanding of the past and influence who is recognised as part of the national story.

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For genuine reconciliation to occur, all affected communities must be able to see themselves reflected in the national story and get support from others.

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The issue is not whether the Nama and Ovaherero were the primary targets of the genocide – they were.

The issue is whether other communities that suffered death, dispossession, imprisonment, forced labour, family separation and social destruction as a consequence of the same campaign also deserve recognition as victims.

[…]

HUMAN COST

It is encouraging that some scholars, journalists and commentators have begun drawing attention to communities whose suffering has often been overlooked.

Recent discussions have highlighted the experiences of the San people during the colonial wars and the concentration camp era.

[…]

If Germany is asked to acknowledge every victim of colonial brutality, Namibia must be prepared to do the same.

Only then can remembrance become truly national, reconciliation become genuine and justice belong to all who suffered.

[…]

THE TRUTH HEALS

A nation heals best when it tells the full truth.

The victims […] deserve remembrance regardless of their ethnic origin.

Their stories form part of Namibia’s collective history and should have a place in our collective memory.

Seth !Nowaseb is a senior lecturer at the University of Namibia, author and public commentator. He serves on the Technical Committee on Genocide, Apology and Reparations. He is of Damara, Nama and San descent. The views expressed here are his own.”

• Full opinion piece “Why Namibia Must Acknowledge Damara and San Genocide Victims” by Seth !Nowaseb, senior lecturer at UNAM and member of the Technical Committee on Genocide, Apology and Reparations, on the website of the Namibian (last checked in June 2026).

• See also the report “San, Damara demand genocide seat” in the ‘Media Reports’ section of this website.

Editor’s note

The Joint Declaration focuses on the genocides of the OvaHerero and Naman (commonly called Nama), but also mentions in several places that other peoples or communities were affected.

The second paragraph of the introduction reads:

“Mindful of the deep wounds inflicted on particular communities and other peoples of Namibia by the atrocities perpetrated during German colonial rule between 1904 and 1908 […]”

Chapter I, Paragraph 9, reads:

“[…] a substantial number of Ovaherero and Nama were exterminated through the actions of the German State. A large number of the Damara and San communities were also exterminated.”

• See the Joint Declaration of the Governments of Germany and Namibia in the ‘Primary Sources’ section of this website.