During the 1950s, the Windhoek municipality and the South African colonial administration decided to forcefully move the residents of the Old Location 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) to the north of the city, prompting the evicted people to give the new location the name Katutura, which means "The place where people do not want to live" in Herero.[1][3][4]
For a number of reasons most residents did not want to move: They had owned the erven in Old Location whereas in Katutura all land belonged to the municipality. The newly allocated erven were also a lot smaller than those in Old Location, effectively forbidding the creation of gardens. Also economically black residents were worse off after the move because they now had to pay rent to the municipality, and they needed a bus to reach their work places in town—Old Location had been in walking distance.[5]
Following protests and an effective boycott of municipal services by Main Location residents, the police opened fire on the protesters on 10 December 1959, killing 11 and wounding 44 others. This event is known as the Old Location uprising, it is the reason for the declaration of December 10, Human Rights Day, as a Namibian national holiday.[6]
The transfer to the new suburb took several years. In 1962, approximately 7,000 people had been moved, joining the 2,000 people of Ovambo descent that already lived there. All in all, half of the indigenous population of Windhoek lived in Katutura at that time. The breakdown of residents of different tribes in 1962 was:[7]
During 2019 a campaign by Hendrich Amutenya and fellow activists to rename Katutura was launched. Amutenya argued that the name of the Katutura township has a bad connotation and reflects poorly towards a now free and independent Namibia. The name "Ubuntura", a portmanteau of ubuntu and Katutura, was suggested.[8]
Constituencies
The political constituencies located within Katutura are:
Namibia
