Among the Vawenda the children of sorcerers are sold as slaves; whether at home or abroad we are not told[553]. No more particulars being given, we do not know whether slavery exists here.
Theal, describing the Makalanga or Makaranga, tells us of a chief who offered female slaves to the whites[554]. But this short note is by no means sufficient for us to go upon. [[144]]
2. South-West Bantus.
The Ovampo, according to Galton, have members of foreign tribes living among them in a state of subjection; but whether these people are slaves in the true sense is not clear. “I cannot speak with certainty” he says “of the exact standing in which the Damaras and the Bushmen severally live among the Ovampo. The first are employed principally as cattle-watchers; the second, who are even more ornamented than the Ovampo themselves, are a kind of standing army; but I have great reason to doubt whether either one or the other class is independent. The Ovampo, as I have mentioned, looked down with much contempt on the Damaras; and there is not a single instance, so far as I could learn, of any Ovampo woman marrying a Damara, and settling in Damaraland, but the reverse is a very common case. The Bushmen appear to be naturalised among the negro tribes, and free in the border-lands between them to a distance very far north of Ondonga”[555].
Rautanen, in his description of the Ondonga, states that there are neither serfs nor slaves. But at the same time he repeatedly makes mention of slaves. Slaves have no rights of inheritance. The master is responsible for damages caused by his slaves. Nobody but the chief has the right to sell slaves[556]. These contradictory statements do not allow us to arrive at a definite conclusion.
The Ovaherero or Damaras, according to Andersson, have slaves. The men are lazy; all their work is done by women and slaves. The slaves are the offspring of impoverished families, and captured Bushmen. The former are enslaved when children and mainly employed as herdsmen[557]. It is strange that Fritsch, who often refers to Andersson, makes no mention whatever of slavery. Hahn and Haarhoff also have nothing on slavery[558], which is very puzzling, as according to Andersson slavery holds so large a place in their social life. Perhaps the children of impoverished families whom Andersson speaks of [[145]]are not slaves but free labourers compelled to serve only by poverty; for “among all South-African natives the rich oppress the poor, who in the hope of filling their stomachs, submit to a state of dependence that is not authorized by law[559]”.
Viehe remarks, that slavery in the proper sense does not exist among the Ovaherero. But captive children are reared among them and regarded as making part of the low domestics, so to speak as serfs. These serfs are, most of them, Damaras of the mountains. They do the same kind of work as the Ovaherero. Many of them, when full-grown, acquire wealth and are on a footing of equality with the Ovaherero themselves. “The serfs live entirely without supervision and can at any time return to their free compatriots.” The serfs, as well as the servants of Ovaherero origin, are designated by a native name, originally meaning foreigner, but that has become to mean servant. In another place our informant states, that every individual is called a servant, when compared with a person of higher standing[560].
It is not easy to decide, whether this description is indicative of real slavery. Only some of the captives, when full-grown, arrive at a position equal to that of the free people; so it would seem that the others remain slaves. But if they are allowed at any time to return to their own country, their position is a voluntary one.
Kohler’s authorities, viz. the German magistrate Bensen and the missionaries Meyer and Büttner, all affirm that the Ovaherero keep slaves and give several details. Slaves are captives or children of such; but slavery can also take its origin in voluntary submission. Most of the slaves are Damaras of the mountains. All the goods of the slave belong to his master. The master is responsible for any crime committed by the slave and has the right of life and death over him. Slaves are bought and sold and inherited. They cannot be manumitted. Children of slaves are slaves[561].
From this it would appear that slavery really exists.