A Mauser rifle and a walking stick that were used by the late Kaptein Andries Goliath have become a bone of contention between one of his descendants and the recognised |Hai |Haua Traditional Authority.

Goliath, who was the 5th Kaptein of the clan, ruled from 1926 until he died in 1933. 

Now in 2025, some 92 years after his death, his 101-year-old daughter, Katrina Isaak, is demanding that the Mauser rifle and walking stick, which the late Kaptein also used as a chair, be handed back to her.

Isaak reasons she needs it before her death so she can hand it over to Paul Goliath, the great-grandson of Kaptain Andries Goliath.

"My father's brother, late Kaptein Ruben Goliath, who was banished to and died at Hoachanas, was given the rifle and walking stick, but the rifle is the property, and it has a name, Mauser."

The late Kaptein Ruben Goliath was banished to Hoachanas in 1938 because of his opposition to colonial apartheid; however, his remains were brought to Berseba for reburial in 1995. 

The wheelchair-bound Ouma Katrina, who will turn 102 years old on 15 April this year, can recall events and narrate how the rifle and walking stick landed in the custody of late Deputy Kaptein Stephanus Goliath.

"I and my elder sister, Katrina Karools (nee Goliath), decided to leave the rifle and walking stick in the custody of late deputy Kaptein Stephanus Goliath until Paul Goliath, the great-grandson, turns mature."

However, the widow of the late Deputy Kaptein Stephanus, Elizabeth Goliath, argues that the custody of the rifle and the walking stick were given to the late Deputy Kaptein as a member of the second royal house.

The former teacher stated that they received that responsibility because they were members of the second house.

"The rifle was registered with the authorities after independence, and although the license was issued under the late deputy captain's name, the rifle is registered as property of the |Hai |Haua clan."

Former senior traditional councillor Lukas Goliath reiterated that the rifle and walking stick are the property of the |Hai |Haua clan. "It was the rifle of the Kaptein of the |Hai |Haua clan and is registered and documented as such," he said.

Meanwhile, the widow of the late ||Kharas Governor, Stephanus Goliath, expressed the wish and intention of the clan to donate the rifle, walking stick, and headgear of the Kaptein and Deputy Kaptein to the national archive. 

The interview with Ouma Katrina Isaak was attended by members of the unrecognised group under the leadership of Johannes Fleermuys.

The |Hai |Haua clan is a recognised traditional authority under the leadership of Gaob Johannes Isaak.