Editing Basters (section)

==Culture==

===Paternal Laws===
The first Kaptein's Council established the ''Vaderlike Wette'' (Paternal Laws), established as a constitution of Baster people in the Free Republic of Rehoboth. These have influenced the actions of the Baster community into the 21st century, although they no longer have the force of law.<ref name="NE11"/>

Basters have a long democratic tradition of electing their leadership. According to the Paternal Laws of 1872, a Kaptein is elected for life. This Kaptein was granted the powers to appoint members of a Council, and together they formed the Executive government of Rehoboth. The Paternal Laws also provided for a Peoples Council (''Volksraad'') which was elected every five years; it formed the Legislature of the Rehoboth government.

The Basters have had seven Kapteins since the Paternal Laws were enacted:
* 1872–1905: [[Hermanus van Wyk]]<ref name="KDV">{{cite web | url=http://klausdierks.com/Biographies/Biographies_V.htm | title=Biographies of Namibian Personalities, V | last=Dierks | first=Klaus | author-link=Klaus Dierks | publisher=klausdierks.com | access-date=7 August 2018}}</ref>
* 1905–1914: Germans suspended the Kapteinship position and instead established a ''Basterrat'' ({{langx|en|Council of Basters}})<ref name="KDV"/>
* 1914–1924: [[Cornelius van Wyk]]<ref name="KDV"/>
* 1924–1925: [[Albert Mouton]]<ref name="KDM">{{cite web | url=http://klausdierks.com/Biographies/Biographies_M.htm | title=Biographies of Namibian Personalities, M | last=Dierks | first=Klaus | author-link=Klaus Dierks | publisher=klausdierks.com | access-date=7 August 2018}}</ref>
* 1925–1975: The South African administration transferred all power from the ''Raad'' and the Kaptein to the Rehoboth Magistrate<ref name="KDA">{{cite web | url=http://klausdierks.com/Biographies/Biographies_A.htm | title=Biographies of Namibian Personalities, A | last=Dierks | first=Klaus | author-link=Klaus Dierks | publisher=klausdierks.com | access-date=7 August 2018}}</ref>
* 1977–1979: [[Ben Africa]]<ref name="KDA"/>
* 1979–1998: [[Hans Diergaardt]]<ref name="KDD">{{cite web | url=http://klausdierks.com/Biographies/Biographies_D.htm | title=Biographies of Namibian Personalities, D | last=Dierks | first=Klaus | author-link=Klaus Dierks | publisher=klausdierks.com | access-date=7 August 2018}}</ref>
* 1999–2020: [[John McNab]]
* since 2021: [[Jacky Britz]]<ref name="Jason"/>

Every male ''burger'' (citizen) of Rehoboth had the right to apply for a free piece of land at the age of 18. Although the size of this [[Cadastre|erf]] was decreased from {{Convert|1300|sqm|acre}} to about {{Convert|300|sqm|acre}}, due to land shortage and servicing costs, Basters continued to honour this provision until 21 March 1990, when the new socialist government took over the lands.<ref>{{cite news
|title=Rehoboth Basters still holding on for erven
|last=Salkeus
|first=Anna
|date=30 January 2014
|work=[[The Namibian]]
|publisher=[[NAMPA]]
|page=6}}</ref> The newly independent Namibian government passed legislation about land use and title that took precedence over Baster traditions. Basters can no longer allocate land to their young men. The land is controlled by the local town council, which replaced the Chief's Council.

===Religion and genetics===
Basters from Mainline churches are mostly [[Calvinist]]. They sing traditional hymns almost identical to those of the 17th-century Netherlands; these songs were preserved in the colony and their group during a period when the Netherlands churches were absorbing new music.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

The average gene pool of Basters is about 48.4% European, 28,5% [[Khoisan|Khoe-San]], 17.1% Asian and 5.7% [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]];<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Petersen |first1=Desiree C. |last2=Libiger |first2=Ondrej |last3=Tindall |first3=Elizabeth A. |last4=Hardie |first4=Rae-Anne |last5=Hannick |first5=Linda I. |last6=Glashoff |first6=Richard H. |last7=Mukerji |first7=Mitali |last8=Fernandez |first8=Pedro |last9=Haacke |first9=Wilfrid |last10=Schork |first10=Nicholas J. |last11=Hayes |first11=Vanessa M. |date=2013-03-14 |title=Complex Patterns of Genomic Admixture within Southern Africa |journal=PLOS Genetics |language=en |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=e1003309 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1003309 |doi-access=free |pmid=23516368 |pmc=3597481 |issn=1553-7404 }}</ref> according to a 2013 [[Autosome|autosomal genealogical DNA testing]].

===Traditional leadership===
{{expand section|date=December 2017}}
Largely through missionary work during the 19th century, they coalesced into fiercely independent, autonomous communities that maintained their identities even after being incorporated into the Cape Colony. Others moved farther north into what is now Namibia in the late 1860s because of pressure from Boer settlers and eventually established a settlement that became known as Rehoboth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Baster {{!}} Khoisan, Namibia, Rehoboth {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baster |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

The first Kaptein was [[Hermanus van Wyk]], the '[[Moses]]' of the Baster nation, who led the community to Rehoboth from South Africa. He served as Kaptein until his death in 1905.<ref name="NE11">{{cite news
|url=http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=38914
|title=Hermanus van Wyk: The 'Biblical Moses' of the Rehoboth Baster Community
|last=Shiremo
|first=Shampapi
|date=26 May 2011
|newspaper=[[New Era (Namibia)]]
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331025848/http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=38914
|archive-date=31 March 2012
}}</ref> After his death, the German colonial government established a separate council. The Rehoboth Basters did not elect another Kaptein until the United Kingdom took over the territory as a [[British Protectorate]] in 1914 during World War I. Basters elected [[Cornelius van Wyk]] as Kaptein. He was not officially recognised by the [[South Africa]]n authorities, which administered the territory from 1915 to Namibian independence in 1990.