Jonker Afrikaner

Jonker Afrikaner (c. 1785, Roode Zand near Tulbagh, South Africa – 18 August 1861, Okahandja, South West Africa) was the fourth Captain of the Orlam in South West Africa, succeeding his father, Jager Afrikaner, in 1823. Soon after becoming Kaptein, he left his father’s settlement at Blydeverwacht with three brothers and some 300 followers and relocated to the area that is today central Namibia. From 1825 onwards he and his council played a dominant political role in Damaraland and Namaland, creating a de facto state.

Around 1840, he established a settlement at Windhoek where he built a church for a congregation of between 500 and 600 in the area of the present-day Klein Windhoek suburb. He is further known for his road building activities in central and southern Namibia, particularly the one over the Auas Mountains to the south and the northern Bay Road from Windhoek to Walvis Bay.

Missionary Hugo Hahn estimated in 1852 that the formation Jonker Afrikaner ruled over consisted of 1500 ethnic Oorlams, 2000 Hereros, and 2000 Damaras.

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Afrikaners

Afrikaners are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They traditionally dominated South Africa's agriculture and politics prior to 1994. Some of the more common Afrikaner surnames include Botha, Pretorius and van der Merwe.

Afrikaans, South Africa's third most widely spoken home language, is the mother tongue of Afrikaners and most Cape Coloureds. It evolved from the Dutch vernacular of South Holland, incorporating words brought from Indonesia and Madagascar by slaves. Afrikaners make up approximately 5.2% of the total South African population based on the number of white South Africans who speak Afrikaans as a first language in the South African National Census of 2011.