Karibib Otjiherero:Otjandjomboimwe | |
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 Karibib aerial view 2017 | |
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  Karibib Location in Namibia | |
| Coordinates:21°56′17″S15°51′16″E / 21.93806°S 15.85444°E /-21.93806; 15.85444 | |
| Country |  Namibia |
| Region | Erongo Region |
| Constituency | Karibib Constituency |
| Founded | 1900 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Dawid Iipinge[1] |
| Population (2023)[2] | |
• Total | 8,434 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (South African Standard Time) |
| Climate | BWh |
Karibib (Otjiherero:Otjandjomboimwe) is a town in theErongo Region of westernNamibia. It has 8,434 inhabitants. Karibib is the district capital of theKaribib electoral constituency. It is situated on theKhan River, halfway betweenWindhoek andSwakopmund on theB2 (Trans-Kalahari Highway), the main road betweenWalvis Bay andJohannesburg. The town is known for itsaragonitemarblequarries and theNavachab Gold Mine.
Karibib comprises 97 square kilometres (37 sq mi) of town land.[3]
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 3,726 | — |
| 2011 | 5,132 | +3.25% |
| 2023 | 8,434 | +4.23% |
| Sources:[4][2] | ||
The Navachab Gold Mine owned by QKR Namibia is located 10 km from Karibib town. The mine is the major tax payer, employer and property owner of the town, providing more than 750 jobs and owning 240 residential properties.[5] In 2008, proposals surfaced for a newcement works.[6]
Karibib is home to theUsab Stadium.[7] and there is a golf course at the Klippenberg Country Club.
Karibib is situated on theB2 national road (Walvis Bay–Okahandja) close to the branch-off of theC33 toOtjiwarongo. About 1,000 trucks per day pass the town.[5]
Karibib is connected to theTransNamib railway network;Karibib Railway Station is situated downtown. The next station to the west isKranzberg, the junction for the branch railways toTsumeb andGrootfontein from the line to the capitalWindhoek.
North of the town is the location of the headquarters of theNamibian Air Force at theKaribib Air Base, housing the Command of the Air Force. The air base has a 2,600 metres (8,500 ft) asphalt runway, parallel paved taxiways and apron. The history of Karibib Airport goes back to pre-independence when it was used by the South African Air Force.[8]
Originally Karibib was a waterhole known to theHerero under the nameOtjandjomboimwe.[9] Expecting business opportunities arising from the railway construction between Swakopmund and Windhoek, Eduard Hälbich, merchant atOtjimbingwe, bought the waterhole and 20,000 hectares of land surrounding it from Herero headmanZacharias Zeraua. The deal was finalised on 7 January 1895, the purchase price was 22,500marks (ℳ), two ox wagons, and 742 pounds 5 shillings that Zeraua had incurred in debts in Hälbich's shop in Otjimbingwe.[10]
Karibib began to grow quickly when on 30 May 1900 the railway construction reached the newly founded place. 1 June 1900 marks the day of the official foundation of Karibib at the occasion of the first train arriving from Swakopmund.[11] The railway station was built, a medical practice, storage facilities, a prison, and living quarters were erected, and the population rose to 274. This development disadvantaged the settlement of Otjimbingwe; ox wagons that before would travel via Otjimbingwe on theAlter Baiweg (Old bay path) would now take the route through Karibib.[10]
In 1904 the place once again became important as a railway hub for ferrying troops in theHerero and Namaqua War. Its status was upgraded to that of a county, and governance was extended to includeOmaruru. At the end of the war in 1907, Karibib counted 316 white residents, and the remaining Herero land was expropriated and offered to white farmers. Karibib was declared a municipality in 1909, and Eduard Hälbich was its mayor.[10]
One of Karibib's oldest buildings is the Roesemannhaus /Roesemann's house, erected in 1900 shortly after the town was founded. Other historic structures are the Wollhaus /Wool house (1900) erected from local marble, theRailway station building (1901), the Kaiserbrunnen /Emperor fountain (1906-1908) and the Christ Church (1910).[12]
Karibib was downgraded from municipal to town status in 2010.[13] It is now[update] governed by a town council that has seven seats.[14]
In the2010 local authority election in Karibib, a total of 990 votes were cast.SWAPO won with approximately 60% of the vote. Of the three other parties seeking votes in the election,United Democratic Front (UDF) received approximately 31% of the vote, followed byRDP (9%) and theCongress of Democrats, which, despite being on the ballot, did not receive a vote.[15] SWAPO also won the2015 local authority elections, gaining 4 seats (653 votes). 2 seats went to the UDF (223 votes), and the remaining seat was won by the localKaribib Residents Association (KRA) that gained 128 votes.[16]
In the2020 local authority election SWAPO won again by a large margin but lost the majority of seats in the town council. SWAPO obtained 461 votes and gained three seats. One seat each went to the UDF (175 votes), theIndependent Patriots for Change (IPC, newly formed in August 2020, 94 votes), theLandless People's Movement (LPM, registered in 2018, 80 votes) and the KRA (68 votes).[17]
Schooling in Karibib started as a private missionary enterprise in 1902. From 1907 the Deutsche Schule Karibib (German:German School Karibib, also:Privatschule Karibib) operated in town, first as a government school of Imperial Germany, and afterWorld War I as private school supported by German government. In 1965 it had 13 teachers and 53 learners.[18] When competition from other German schools eroded its pupil base, the school closed down in 1986. The campus is currently leased to the similarly named but unrelatedKaribib Private School.[19]
Karibib is also home to Karibib Junior Secondary School and Ebenhaeser Primary School, situated in theUsab Location. Karibib Junior Secondary School emerged from Ebenhaeser Primary School when the latter started offering classes beyond grade 7. TheNavachab gold mine in Karibib has played a major role in developing the school. Karibib Junior Secondary School is situated in town and offers grade 8 to Grade 10.[20]
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