Windhoek Katutura

Katutura is a redirect to this article. For the film of the same name see Katutura (film) .

Windhoek Katutura
Coordinates	22 ° 31 '23 "  S , 17 ° 3' 37"  E Coordinates: 22 ° 31 '23 "  S , 17 ° 3' 37"  E
Basic data
Country	Namibia
region	Khomas
District of	Windhoek
Constituencies	Katutura-Central Katutura-Ost Tobias Hainyeko John Alfons Pandeni
surface	5 km²
Residents	48,468 (2011)
density	9,693.6  Ew. / km²
Telephone code	(+264)  61
Map of Katutura in the urban area of Windhoek

Katutura , historically known as a former residential area for segregation during apartheid , is a suburb of Windhoek in Namibia , which in the 1950s under the South African apartheid policy has emerged.

Katutura has a total of about 48,500 inhabitants on an area of ​​five square kilometers . The constituency Katutura-Central has almost 27,000 inhabitants on an area of ​​two square kilometers and Katutura-East about 21,500 inhabitants on an area of ​​three square kilometers.

history

The name of this suburb comes from the Herero ( Otjiherero ) language and means something like "the place where we don't want to live". Previously, the blacks and "colored people" who worked and lived in Windhoek lived directly in Windhoek, especially at the "Alte Werft" (" Old Location ", in what is now the Hochland Park district ). The aim of the city administration, however, was to make Windhoek a “white” city based on the South African model and to banish black families to the outskirts; Although Windhoek is now fully populated between the city center and Katutura, 10 km away, in the 1960s it was separated from the city by many kilometers of wasteland. For this purpose, a completely new settlement area with schools, hospitals, shopping centers and recreational facilities was built out of the ground so as not to give non-working blacks any reason to enter the “white” Windhoek.

The unit houses built here had a living space of 45 m² and thus satisfied the modest demands of a family. Katutura was administratively divided into tribal districts - separated into Ovambo , Herero and Damara . (The suburb of Khomasdal was intended for the "colored" tribes ).

In 1959 the forced resettlement of black people living in the city began. This led to the uprising at the "old shipyard" on December 10, 1959 , in which Samuel Nujoma had also participated and was arrested. 11 insurgents were killed and 44 injured. This event is generally considered to be the birth of SWAPO . The forced relocation was completed in 1968 .

Todays situation

View of Katutura, late 2007

Kindergarten in Katutura (2005)

Katutura currently has about 66,700 inhabitants.

An attempt is being made to improve the living conditions in Katutura by expanding a simple infrastructure, but the district is growing faster than such measures can be carried out. Nevertheless, numerous successes such as electrification, water supply, construction of numerous schools, garbage disposal, road construction were achieved. Today's problem districts are different.

The most notable projects include the Katutura Community Arts Center (KCAC) and the Bernard-Nordkamp Center (BNC). In the meantime Katutura has grown into Windhoek together with Khomasdal and Wanaheda so far that life is becoming more and more mixed up. And despite so much social disorder, Katutura emits a busy vibration that also infects all of Windhoek. At least in the long term, this indicates a positive development in the district. Due to the steadily improved living situation since 1990, Katutura is now often referred to as "Matutura", "place where we want to live".

In 2005 the Sam Nujoma Stadium was opened.

To commemorate the uprising at the “Alte Werft”, December 10th is celebrated today as a public holiday (“Human Rights Day”).

in the center of Katutura there is a market for goods of various kinds and meat, which is also cut up here.

“Single Quarters” market.

literature

• Wade C. Pendleton: Katutura: a place where we do not stay. The social structure and social relationships of people in an African township in South West Africa . San Diego (Calif.), San Diego State University Press, 1974.
• Wade C. Pendleton: Katutura: a place where we stay. Life in a post-apartheid township in Namibia . Athens (Ohio), Ohio University Center for International Studies, 1993, ISBN 0-89680-188-8 (Monographs in international studies, Africa series 65).

Web links

• Cultural Festival in Katutura (English)
• Post-1990 development as the liveliest & most dynamic district of Windhoek

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 2011 Population and Housing Census, Khomas Regional Tables based on the 4th Delimitation. Namibia Statistics Agency, 2014, p. 3ff ( Memento from February 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on February 24, 2015
2. ↑ Khomas 2011. Census Regional Profile Namibia Statistics Agency, 2011, p. 4 ( Memento from September 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on February 24, 2015
3. ↑ Haldenwang, Cornelia: Tourism in Namibia: illustrated using selected examples. , GRIN Verlag, Norderstedt 2003, p. 92.