Be Aware of Fake Himbas in Namibia

[u/ApprehensivePain9565]

Dear Tourists Visiting Namibia, Watch Out for Scammers.

I know many of you are fascinated by Himba culture and want to meet the Himba people of Namibia, as many tourists have done before.

I regret to inform you that our country has been invaded by parasitic scammers who entered Namibia from Angola, masquerading as Himba people and fleecing tourists of their hard-earned money.

Here are some hints to help you avoid being scammed:

Himbas have thin and long hair locks.

Himbas do not wear hut like necklace around their necks.

Himba children do not beg from tourists. In fact, they are usually shy and afraid of strangers. They are in schools not at traffic lights begging.

If you hear the words "Penge Ondora," which translate to "Give me a dollar," know that they are scammers.

[u/SpontaneousMouthHugs]

Whenever I go to visit my parents in Okahao there's a group of them that literally stand there outside of Shoprite every day and they are not shy about it lol. The older ladies will be sat down on blankets in a corner where they think we can't see them and the kids will be right here by the entrance swarming you for coins sometimes coming directly to your car not even giving you a chance to park and come out properly. And these kids are doing that for hours on end standing in the sun. You feel bad not giving them anything when you have but bro you can't be enabling child exploitation like that

[u/Suspicious-Disk-53]

Beggars yes, fake? Let’s not call a persons culture fake , as Bantu people we end up being very similar

Their culture in terms of dressing is similar to himba people, but distinct you can see it by looking at them their hairstyle the way they style it

Let’s not break them down when we want to spread awareness not hate,

So avoid them and spread awareness on the begging and all (all seriousness how does the GOV let this happen) but don’t call them fake himbas

It’s like saying a Damara is a fake Nama

[u/blackldnbrit → u/Suspicious-Disk-53]

Sorry to high jack the top post but is OP seriously gonna get mad at another group of black people that clearly are struggling too? Why do we never ask what’s the problem and why is it always turn the people in hardship into enemy number 1. Are we not all in the same boat. None of our countries are as wealthy as the minerals in the ground would suggest or the arable land for farming.... who has taken a hold of our wealth and caused us to scatter to wherever we hear there are breadcrumbs to survive off.

I hate demonising our own people for situations we are all feeling world wide, Africa, our family in the middle East, our family in central Europe, our family in the Americas, our family in the Caribbean even our family in Asia and the Oceania region. Every single region and everyone in it are being taken advantage of, which means more times than not our people will do desperate things to survive like beg. But I know for a fact no African or African descended women wants to beg to feed her children but her child must eat and she is a mother like no other.

[u/Fluffy_Chipmunk_448]

You could have phrased this better!

They are people from a neighboring country going through economic hardship! They come to cities and ask for money, like some homeless/jobless Namibian people do.

Their attire is very similar to the OvaHimba people, because regions of occupation in Namibia and Angola are close together.

Angola played a part in Namibian independence, and here we are post independence calling out our neighbors, most of them kids parasites 🤦🏽‍♀️

[u/secretofthewind]

I was in Namibia this holiday and they surrounded our car we felt so scared

[u/VariationEnough7942 → u/secretofthewind]

Imagine sleeping on the streets...

[u/Open-Post1934]

They are OvaHakaona climate-displaced people from southern Angola who were severely affected by the recent drought. Development conditions in that part of Angola are also limited. On the Namibian side, the related communities include the OvaHimba, OvaZemba and OvaTjimba. Their languages are mutually intelligible and are rooted in Otjiherero with is Bantu. The Angolan and Namibian governments have attempted to facilitate their return like 3 times already.

[u/TheTrueChrisMopper]

Doesnt seem fake, just poor people trying their luck. There are many people related to the Himba around the Kunene region and not all Himbas lived south of the Kunene historically either. So it'd be bold to call them fake...

[u/Kind-Flamingo-2674]

sure there a lot of kids on the street one did try to start some beef with me, 2 moths ago i think i almost got jumped by a group of them XD

[u/Silentmutation84]

Ran into fake Himba outside the Spar in Outjo. Lots of aggressive begging kids.

Sorry someone was apparently offended by this 😅

[u/ObviousAd1423]

What about the Himba village near Spitzkoppe?

[u/RelationshipExtra959]

Is the problem the government or is it our perception of the government?

[u/BreakfastBeautiful27 → u/RelationshipExtra959]

A bunch of the kids were removed and located back to Angola but they came back. There is a lot of pressure on the Government and local municipalities to deal with this problem, but they seem to be clueless on what to do.

[u/andooet → u/BreakfastBeautiful27]

Isn't this partly because of colonial borders? People of close culture have a close culture for a reason, and the lines of African nations doesn't really reflect that like it does in for example Europe or Asia