Grootfontein

Overview

The place was known to the Herero under the name Otjivanda. In 1885, 40 Boer families from the north-west of South Africa settled at Grootfontein. Part of the Dorsland trekkers, they were heading towards Angola. When that territory fell under Portuguese control, they turned back and established the Republic of Upingtonia at Grootfontein. Abandoned by 1887, it became the headquarters of the South West Africa Company in 1893.

In 1908, the Roman Catholic church established a mission in Grootfontein as the basis of their eventually successful attempt to establish missions in Kavango.

Like all the towns in the Otavi Triangle, Grootfontein is green in summer but drier in winter. In spring, jacaranda and flamboyant trees bloom in profusion. The town has an old German Schutztruppe fortress from the year 1896, which today houses a museum that expounds on the local history. The economic mainspring of the area were for many decades the Berg Aukas and Abenab mines to the north east of the town. These produced zinc and vanadium but have since closed. Namibia is a dolomite country and the carbonate deposits in the upper parts of the mine have yielded interesting fossils of simian or pongoid creatures that lived millions of years before modern humans evolved.

Twenty-four kilometres west of Grootfontein lies the huge Hoba meteorite. At more than 60 tons, it is the largest known meteorite on Earth, as well as the largest naturally occurring mass of iron known to exist on the planet's surface.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Grootfontein is a railhead on TransNamib, the national railway and transport system. The next station to the west is Otavi. Grootfontein is also home of Namibia's main military base which housed several units of the now departed South African Defence Force.

It has an airfield that can handle large transport carriers such as the Hercules C130, as well as commercial passenger aircraft.

Agriculture

The Grootfontein Show, an annual agricultural exhibition that has taken place since 1911,{{cite news |archive-url = https://archive.today/20130221051202/http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=40818 |url-status = usurped |archive-date = 21 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024191930/https://www.namibian.com.na/archive19982004/2004/september/national/046B5E1F0B.html |archive-date=2021-10-24

Climate

Grootfontein receives an annual average rainfall of 557 mm, with a high of 956 mm in the 2010/2011 rainy season,{{cite news |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111215044804/http://www.namibian.com.na/news/full-story/archive/2011/may/article/rainy-season-was-one-for-the-record-books/ |archive-date=15 December 2011

The town has a hot semi arid climate (Koppen:BSh).

Politics

Grootfontein is governed by a municipal council that has seven seats.

The 2015 local authority election was won by Namibia's ruling SWAPO party which gained five seats and 2,019 votes. One seat each went to the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA, 546 votes) and to the All People's Party (APP, 154 votes). SWAPO also won the 2020 local authority election, obtaining 1,727 votes and gaining four seats. The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, obtained 653 votes and gained two seats. The remaining seat went to the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM, the new name of the DTA) with 309 votes.

Education

Previously, the German school Regierungsschule Grootfontein had been in Grootfonten. In 1965, it had four teachers and 117 learners and was supported by the German government.

Nowadays, Grootfontein is home to four high schools, Grootfontein Secondary School, Otjiwanda High School Friedrich Awaseb Senior Secondary School, and a private school named Karstveld Academy. Further the primary schools Luiperdheuwel, Kalenga, Makalani, Omulunga and Wilhelm Nortier are located here. The city also hosts a private German medium primary school (Deutsche Privatschule Grootfontein – DPG).

Notable people

• Behati Prinsloo – model, best known for working with Victoria's Secret and wife of the band Maroon 5's lead vocalist, Adam Levine
• Leon Jooste – SWAPO politician and businessman
• Hage Geingob – former president of the Republic of Namibia
• Lydia Katjita – SWAPO politician and member of the Pan-African Parliament
• Hannes Smith – journalist
• Inge Zaamwani – businesswoman

References

References

1. "Table 4.2.2 Urban population by Census years (2001 and 2011)". Namibia Statistics Agency.
2. "2023 Population & Housing Census Preliminary Report".
4. Menges, Werner. (12 May 2005). "Windhoek?! Rather make that Otjomuise". [[The Namibian]].
5. Peltola, Matti. (1958). "Sata vuotta suomalaista lähetystyötä 1859–1959. II: Suomen Lähetysseuran Afrikan työn historia". The Finnish Missionary Society.
6. (23 May 2019). "Khomas faces worst drought in 90 years". [[The Namibian]].
7. (2015). "Know Your Local Authority". Institute for Public Policy Research.
8. (28 November 2015). "Local elections results". [[Electoral Commission of Namibia]].
9. (29 November 2020). "2020 Local Authority Elections Results and Allocation of Seats". [[Electoral Commission of Namibia]].
10. "[http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/04/036/0403672.pdf Deutscher Bundestag 4. Wahlperiode Drucksache IV/3672]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160312191648/http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/04/036/0403672.pdf Archive]). [[Bundestag]] (West Germany). 23 June 1965. Retrieved on 12 March 2016. p. 31.
11. Matali, John Travolter. (24 January 2014). "Another school defies ministry". [[New Era (Namibia).
12. (5 April 2014). "Grootfontein learner allegedly dies after punch to the head". [[Namibia Press Agency.
13. [http://www.dsvg.iway.na/schule.htm Deutsche Privatschule Grootfontein] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-04-15 , dsvg.iway.na)
14. link. (2011-06-11 Namibia Institute for Democracy)