Rehoboth

Rehoboth is a town of 30,000 inhabitants in central Namibia just north of the Tropic of Capricorn. Located 90 kilometres south of the Namibian capital Windhoek, Rehoboth lies on a high elevation plateau with several natural hot-water springs. It receives sparse mean annual rainfall of, although in the 2010/2011 a record were measured. In 2005, it had a population of 21378 later increased to 28 843 in 2011, according to the 2011 Namibian Population and Housing Census.Rehoboth is intersected from north to south by the national road B1, which also serves as the border of the two electoral constituencies in the town, Rehoboth Urban West and Rehoboth Urban East.AdministrationRehoboth is divided into eight neighbourhoods, called blocks. The oldest part of the town is blocks A, B and C, whereby block B contains most public services and shops. Block D is home to the wealthiest inhabitants of the town. Block E is the poorest neighbourhood and was originally (under Apartheid) designated for blacks. Blocks F,G and H are the newest neighbourhoods. The current mayor of the town is Mr. Pieters living in Block E.Public amenities include a public hospital, primary and secondary schools and a district court with resident magistrate. The Oanob Dam, approximately six kilometres from Rehoboth, supplies the town with fresh water. The majority of the population consists of Basters.HistoryThe aboriginals of Rehoboth and its surroundings are the ǀHūǃgaoben, a sub clan of the ǀGowanîn . They first came upon the hot water springs after the fall of the Damara Kingdom in the 16 ͭ ͪcentury and named the site ǀGaoǁnāǀaus . The nomadic Damara people would time and time again visit the fountain if water became scares in the Kalahari. The ǀHūǃgaoben later permanently settled at ǃNawases 11km NE of Rehoboth in the late 1700s. ǀGaoǁnāǀaus was later renamed ǀAnes by the Kaiǁkhaun who for a short period had settled there before migrating to ǃHoaxaǃnâs . The "smoke" referred to the steam that was rising over the hot water fountains on cold winter mornings. The ǀHūǃgaoben decided to settle at a distance from the fauna rich springs of Rehoboth so as not chase away game roaming the site.