The settlement is named after the Swartbooi clan of the Nama people who crossed the Kunene here to explore Angola in the 19th century.[2] The Dorsland Trekkers also crossed the Kunene River here in 1881 to move into Angola.[3] In commemoration of this migratory movement, the Dorsland Trekkers Monument has been erected on a hill just outside the settlement.[4]Petrus Swartbooi, one of the Swartbooi Nama's captains, raided the area in the 1890s.[5]
Swartbooisdrift was the administrative centre of the Kaokoland from 1925 to 1939. During that time a police station was operational at the settlement. Afterwards, administrative control of the area shifted to Ohopoho (today's Opuwo). From 1938 to 1942, the settlement was one of a number of guard posts set up on all shallow stretches of the Kunene to prevent the spread of cattle lung disease into Namibia.[5]
Swartbooisdrift is a poor settlement with no access to electricity or clean water.[1] However, it does feature a clinic and a school. People live from subsistence cattle farming. There is a sodalite mine to the east.[4]