Samkhubis (Sam !Khubis)
Sam Khubis
8 May 1915
History of Sam !Khubis festival
AFTER their settlement in Rehoboth, the Basters suffered many attacks and stared extinction in the face on many an occasion. A small party of Basters were unexpectedly and brutally assaulted and killed in the early hours of 14 November, 1882, twenty six graves at Horabes on the road to Walvis Bay bear witness hereof.
Subsequently, the Basters were forced to enter into a treaty with the Germans in 1885. In terms thereof the Germans would render the Basters protection when threatened and in exchange they had to come to the aid of the Germans when the latter clashed with other indigenous groups. However, when Germany lost the First World War in 1914 and her colonies as well, she was extremely reluctant to surrender South West Africa, the current Namibia.
Germany approached the Basters in a quest to have the latter join them in the fight against the Union troops of South Africa. The Basters refused this request and referred the Germans to the treaty. Unable to accept this Germans entered into a conspiracy with the German parson of the Rhenish Church, Adolf Blecher.
Motivated by the Germans he undertook to ring the church bells on Sunday, 8 May 1915, and as the Basters would have gathered for worship they would be cut down to a man. In the meantime, a Damara man, //Heitab, who worked for Blecher and could understand German, alerted the Basters who fled to !Khubis the same night. It is said that a strange coincidence took place.
Basters from all over the Rehoboth Gebiet hastened towards !Khubis not knowing about one another. Naturally the Germans were furious when they learned that they were outwitted and they went in hot pursuit. A fierce battle raged that day although it was very uneven, the Basters were armed only with the old muzzle-loaders, while the enemy had modern rifles; machine guns and cannon.
The Germans were, however, not familiar with the conditions in the country and mostly rode single file. Therefore the Basters who had fortified their positions could cut them down and relieve the Germans of their arms. For years afterwards many Basters still owned these Mauser 98’s as they were known. It is said that at times the fighting was so heavy that the bullets from the Germans’ side looked like they were casting shadows.
One of the warriors at the battlefield in this life and death struggle heard his confirmation verse churning like a refrain in his mind all day long. It was the words out of Ps. 50 verse 15: “And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.” These are the words that were taken as the vow.
That writing about women and children that is held up year after year as the vow, we don’t know. It is estimated that nearly four hundred Germans died and eleven on the side of the Basters. The Basters took an oath on that day before the Almighty, that the covenant will always be honoured, even if only one Baster remained on this earth. As from the year that followed, every Baster who could make it went to !Khubis on the 7th May.
Until the 60s and 70s the veterans of the battle accompanied the younger generations on the terrain and recounted the happenings of that great day. In so doing a certain outcrop was pointed out which, on account of its strategic location and exceptional formation, enabled Dirk Beukes to bring down six of the enemy.
He was wounded in the right knee and limped for the rest of his life. During the night of the 7th May choirs sang and tales of bravery and suffering were brought to life again. The covenant was commemorated with prayer and song in the early morning hours, because it is the highest praise that one can bring the Lord.
Hymns like “God is tegenwoordig; Ik sal Uw trouw verhalen” and others were sent into the heavens and echoed throughout the surrounding hills. Afterwards shots were fired in the air. Later in the morning a service was held and people started returning home, while some still visited around.
Thus, a !Khubes commemoration without singing in the small hours of the morning is not our pledge and if a person is not prepared to sacrifice his/her morning sleep on that sole morning of 8th May, they are advised to rather stay away.
Customary, Basters from surrounding farms who cannot attend the !Khubes services, faithfully honour this covenant. Many will hang out their flags (black, red and white) and sing hymns while they go about with their chores.
Often they would gather and look into the direction of the !Khubis mountains and have a moment of silence. At Rehoboth some commemorated 8th May under the old camel-thorn tree – the meeting place of the old Kapteins.
There were even times in later years when it was done on the stand of the Old Church, the place where the first church building stood and where the R.E.L.K church was built later.
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