The Hoachanas Native Reserve

XIV. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE FOURTH COMMITTEE
1357. The Hoachanas Native Reserve

The General Assembly, Having authorized the Committee on South West Africa, by resolution 749 A (VIII) of 28 November 1953, to examine petitions as far as possible in accordance with the Mandates procedure of the League of Nations, Having received the report[1] from the Committee dealing, inter alia, with its examination of petitions concerning developments in the Hoachanas Native Reserve, Considering that the original inhabitants of the Territory have an inherent right to continued and unmolested residence on their own land, Noting that inhabitants of the Hoachanas Native Reserve, survivors of the Red Nation, or Rooinasie Namas, have an inherent right of ownership and possession of their ancestral land at Hoachanas, where they claim an area of 50,000 hectares as recognized by agreement with the German Government, and that former Governor Theodor Leutwein, recording the history of his governorship of German South West Africa from 1894 to 1905, stated: "The next reserve was in Hoachanas, headquarters of the Red Nation. There, in 1902, a total of 50,000 hectares was declared the inalienable property of the tribe",[2] Noting further that the Government of the Union of South Africa reported to the League of Nations in 1923 that it had confirmed the rights of "Natives" on land occupied by them under treaties or agreements with the former German administration, Noting that the residents of the Hoachanas Native Reserve were ordered by the Government of the Union of South Africa to vacate Hoachanas by 31 December 1956, that the majority refused to leave their traditional land and move, as directed by the Government, to land found by a government commission to be inferior to that of Hoachanas, and -that the Administrator of South West Africa consequently obtained a court order in July 1958 for the eviction of one of the Nama residents, the Reverend Markus Kooper, Minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Recalling that the Committee on South West Africa, in its report to the General Assembly at the thirteenth session,[3] urged the Union of South Africa to take all steps necessary to ensure that the people of Hoachanas retained their traditional homeland and to investigate their claim to surrounding land, Recalling further that the General Assembly, by resolution 1245 (XIII) of 30 October 1958, approved the report of the Committee on South West Africa and thereby endorsed the Committee's decision regarding Hoachanas, Noting with concern that the Government of the Union of South Africa disregarded this decision, and caused the Reverend Markus Kooper and his family to be forcibly removed from Hoachanas on 29 January 1959 to a site approximately 150 miles away, thereby depriving his congregation of their minister, that several residents of the reserve were allegedly injured during the removal, and that the other inhabitants of the reserve were informed by Government officials of their impending removal by force, Considering with regret that it is the policy of the Mandatory Power to remove the "Native" inhabitants from their lands which they have held as their own in order to make room for "European" settlers, in violation of fundamental human rights and the sacred trust assumed by the Government of the Union of South Africa over the Mandated Territory, Considering the removal of the inhabitants of Hoachanas for a purpose not in conformity with the Mandate or the Charter of the United Nations to be contrary to the obligation undertaken by the Mandatory Power to promote to the utmost the material and moral well-being and the social progress of the "Native" inhabitants of the Territory,

1. Urges the Government of the Union of South Africa to desist from carrying out the removal of other residents of the Hoachanas Native Reserve and to arrange for the return of the Reverend Markus Kooper and his family to that reserve;

2. Requests the Government of the Union of South Africa to investigate the claims of the Rooinasie Namas to the original area of Hoachanas, of which only 14,254 hectares are now occupied by them, and to take such further steps as may be necessary, in consultation with the territorial Administration and the people concerned, to ensure the recognition and protection of the full rights of the people of Hoachanas and the promotion of their general welfare;

3. Requests the Government of the Union of South Africa to inform the United Nations on the measures taken to implement the present resolution.

838th plenary meeting,
17 November 1959.

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[1] Ibid., Supplement No. 12 (A/4191). [2] Theodor Leutwein, Elf Jahre Gouverneur in Deutsch-Südwestafrika, Berlin, 1907, p. 272. [3] Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirteenth Session, Supplement No. 12 (A/3906 and Add.1), para. 119.