Coloured people in Namibia

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Coloured people in Namibia are people with both European and African, especially Khoisan and Bantu ancestry, as well as Indian, Malay, and Malagasy ancestry especially along the coast and areas bordering South Africa. Coloureds have immigrated to Namibia, been born in Namibia or returned to the country. These distinctively different periods of arrivals, from diverse backgrounds and origins have led to a diverse Coloured population. This diversity was even further exploited by South African officials who referred to three distinct groups amongst the coloureds, namely: "Baster", "Cape Coloureds" and "Namibian Coloureds".

In addition, another element in the coloured makeup was the coloured community in the enclave of Walvis Bay (which remained part of South Africa until 1994) that was closely linked to the people and traditions of the Cape Coloured.

The biggest cultural clash occurred in the mid-1980s when the school students were becoming politically aware through teachers returning primarily from the University of the Western Cape (UWC). This led to them challenging their elders (elected to the Coloured Councils and Rehoboth self-government) who were anti-SWAPO. This embracing of black nationalism, and rejecting of the term "so-called coloured" led to many young coloured people rejecting their cultural history and insisting on a racially unified, Independent Namibia. Many would agree with Norman Duncan who asserted that "…there‘s no such thing as a coloured culture, coloured identity."^[1]

However, since the early 2000s, more and more writings have appeared arguing that Coloureds are being marginalised.^[2]