First, an explanation concerning the designation ‘Afrikaner' will probably be useful for those who are not familiar with Southern African history. From the early 20th century until the present time, the term ‘Afrikaner' has referred to the light-skinned inhabitants (‘whites') of Southern Africa who speak Afrikaans as their home language and who comprise the majority of the white population of South Africa. These people were formerly called ‘Boers' and are directly descended from a mixture of early Dutch, French, and German settlers.

In mid-19th century Namibia, ‘Afrikaner' referred to an entirely different group of people. They were an extended family of diverse origins, probably including infusions of Khoi Khoi (the original inhabitants of the Cape), Dutch, Malays (originally slaves at the Cape), and other races. The Afrikaners were part of a larger group known as ‘Oorlams' - the origin of the word is unknown - who had similar backgrounds and who had thrown off the dominance of the encroaching Boers to form commando groups that survived by raiding cattle which they then traded with the colonists. The Oorlams spoke Dutch - or, rather, the type of Dutch that later became Afrikaans - as well as other languages such as Nama, and were adept horsemen who handled fire-arms confidently and were acquainted with European technology.

The first recorded Afrikaner name of note is that of Klaas, who launched raiding and hunting expeditions into southern Namibia in collaboration with a Boer farmer named Pienaar.. After a quarrel, Klaas killed Pienaar and the Afrikaners moved north of the river on a permanent basis in about 1800. They were probably the first group to do this. It must have been a substantial trek because the evidence suggests that the party consisted of a few hundred people. After a while, Klaas' son, Jager, inherited the mantle of leadership. Until about 1835, little is known about the relationship between the incoming Oorlams and the indigenous Nama groups. However, it is fairly clear that the former used their superior mobility and weaponry to seize the best water holes and the best grazing. It seems that during the 1830s a sort of balance of power was reached, in which Jonker Afrikaner, son of Jager and the new leader of the Afrikaners, established an alliance with the most powerful Nama chief.

It is not known how Jonker, who was only the third son of Jager, gained such a powerful position. One story has it that he refused to accept his oldest brother's authority and moved northwards with his own followers. Whatever the real facts, it appears that he settled at Windhoek - although it was not called that until much later - by about the mid-1820s.

It was significant that Windhoek was on the border between traditional Nama and Herero territory, if not inside actually the area that the Hereros claimed for themselves. The deal seemed to be that the Afrikaners would use their military superiority to ward off Herero attacks, providing a protective shield that would allow both Oorlams and Namas to utilise the superior grazing in the central areas of Namibia without being disrupted and impoverished by raids by the Hereros. In return, Jonker was recognised as an overlord and, no doubt, also received tribute.

By the 1840s, differences between Oorlams and Namas were diminishing as influential chiefs emerged and assembled large groups of followers in settled locations that were complete with schools and mission churches. Part of their wealth came from trade with the Cape, in which they exchanged cattle for goods such as fire-arms, cloth and clothes, and metal objects and utensils. The chiefs of Namaland recognised the right of Jonker and his Afrikaners to suzerainty over the Herero groups who occupied a large swathe of territory from Windhoek to north of the Waterberg - territory that even today has some of the best grazing land in Namibia.

When the missionaries Hahn and Kleinschmidt arrived in Windhoek in 1842, they found a large settlement of about 1000 people, with another 1000 living close by. Jonker's desire to attract missionaries was so great that he had built a solid church that was spacious enough to accommodate about 600 people. His energy also extended to other projects. For instance, in a territory that the outside world thought of as wild, savage, and abandoned, he had constructed two roads, one to Walvis Bay, and one southward towards the Cape. However, Jonker closely restricted the movements of Europeans and others into Hereroland, because he wanted to be in control of all trade with the Hereros, as well as hunting and raiding. The latter was the greatest source of Jonker's wealth; for instance, European observers report that he captured 12 000 head of cattle in one raid, and 18 000 in another. It was also reported that in a raid on the Mbanderu, the eastern Herero, Jonker captured between 2000 and 4000 head of cattle. Hunting was also a lucrative source of income, with large groups going into the field for long periods, mainly to hunt elephants. The ivory was also traded for commodities from the Cape.

By the time Jonker died in 1861, there were strong warning signs of conflicts to come. One of the main causes was the fact that the European traders, who were mainly British with bases in Cape Town, resented the fact that the Afrikaners prevented them from trading directly with the Hereros. Similarly, the German missionaries resented the fact that they were not allowed to expand their work into Hereroland, because Jonker feared that they would provide the Hereros with resources that might weaken his dominant position. These forces, together with the natural desire of the Hereros to be free of domination, provided fuel for the hostilities that broke out only a few years after Jonker died and led directly to the Afrikaners losing their dominant position in central Namibia.

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