The first Captain (Kaptein) was Hermanus van Wyk, who led the Baster nation to Rehoboth in German South West Africa from the Northern Cape of South Africa to escape the rampant racial discrimination. He served as Baster Captain from 1868 until his death in 1905.[1]
Upon the death of van Wyk, the German colonial government established a separate council. It was not until the United Kingdom took over German South West Africa as a British protectorate in 1914, that the Rehoboth Basters elected another Captain - Cornelius van Wyk.
In 1924, South Africa legally transferred all powers of the Baster Captain to the South African-controlled Rehoboth Magistrate through Proclmation No. 31.[2] Following a devastating defeat in the Baster Uprising of 1925, the third Baster Captain, Albert Mouton, was overthrown de facto by the South Africans.[2]
In 1977, two years before the establishment of the Rehoboth Homeland, Ben Africa was elected as the fourth Baster Captain, serving until 1979 upon the successful reversal of the 1976 election by Hans Diergaardt. Diergaardt's tenure oversaw the independence of Namibia in March 1990, and the subsequent loss of traditional leadership powers under the new constitution. Diergaardt served from 1979 until his death in 1998.
Dap Izaaks served as interim Captain until the election of John McNab in 1999, who would oversee the Rehoboth Basters' admission to the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO).[3]
