Hendrik Witbooi

Who is Hendrik Witbooi?

Reverend Dr Kaptein Hendrik Witbooi was a Namibian politician and the seventh Captain of the ǀKhowesin clan. A member of SWAPO from 1976 until his death, Witbooi brought with him several clans of Namaqua into the liberation organisation.

Imprisoned numerous times during the Namibian War of Independence, Witbooi was first elected as Vice-President of SWAPO in 1984 and was re-elected for the last time in 1997. A member of the Constituent Assembly in 1989-90, Witbooi served in the National Assembly until his 2004 retirement, including a stint as Minister of Labour and Manpower Development.

Witbooi became Namibia's first Deputy Prime Minister in 1995. He served in that position until 2004.

In October 2009, it was reported that Witbooi was facing major medical problems and had slipped into a coma at the Roman Catholic Hospital in Windhoek. On 13 October, Witbooi died at the Roman Catholic Hospital due to cancer.