"BEGGARS ON OUR OWN LAND ..." Tsumib v government of the Republic of Namibia and its implications for ancestral land claims in Namibia

256pp., illus., paperback, Basel Namibia Studies Series 30, Basel, 2024

Forewords by Robert K. Hitchcock and James Suzman.

In 1954, the Hai||om people were evicted from Etosha by the South African-controlled South West African Administration. In 2015, the Hai||om filed a case in the High Court of Namibia to claim compensation for the loss of their ancestral lands.

"Beggars on our own land ..." covers the historical and contemporary socio-legal complexities that led to the Tsumib v Government of the Republic of Namibia case, the Namibian land reform programme and its oversight in dealing with historical land dispossessions, Hai||om “identity” and how it was used to strengthen their case, and Namibia’s outdated and restrictive legal framework, which ultimately denied the Hai||om people their constitutional right to be heard in the Namibian Court.

Willem Odendaal is an admitted legal practitioner in the High and Supreme Courts of Namibia. He was the project coordinator of the Land, Environment and Development project at the Legal Assistance Centre from 2006 - 2019, and continues working with local communities in Namibia on human, land and environmental rights.