Bondelswarts chief missing for a day

CAPTAIN Anna Christiaans (67) of the Bondelswarts clan in the South is recuperating in hospital after she was found lying in the veld about 10 kilometres outside Keetmanshoop on Saturday afternoon.

According to the regional Police Commissioner, Josephat Abel, Christiaans’ family reported her missing on Friday evening when she did not return home. She had last been seen around noon that day, when she went to a shop in the town’s central business district, not far from the Noordhoek residential area where she lives.Abel said Police and Defence Force members spent the night searching for Captain Christiaans on foot.They eventually found her about 10 km out of town, next to the B1 road leading to Luederitz.The Superintendent at the Keetmanshoop Hospital, Dr Maxim Verkusha, yesterday described Christiaans’ condition as stable.He said the Bondelswarts Captain was suffering from short-term memory loss and disorientation.”At the time of Christiaans’ admission, there were no signs of severe hydration or exhaustion,” he said.Verkusha said Christiaans would remain in hospital for two more days for observation and diagnostic tests.”At this stage it is too early to come up with a correct diagnosis,” he said.Member of Parliament Ida Hoffmann, who is a member of the Bondelswarts clan, yesterday expressed shock over Christiaans’ disappearance.She blamed the Bondelswarts clan folk for not looking after their traditional leader properly.”We must not only look after the welfare of the Captain during the clan’s festival commemorations,” she said angrily.According to Hoffmann, the Captain’s frequent short-term memory loss is caused by the abject poverty of the Bondelswarts people, including the Captain.”Our Captain is the poorest among the traditional leaders, though the area where she lives is rich, if not the richest in the country,” Hoffmann said.She told The Namibian that she plans to hold meetings with traditional leaders in the Karas Region in an attempt to address the poverty in the region.Hoffmann who was by Christiaans’ bedside in hospital yesterday, said she rushed from Windhoek to Keetmanshoop upon receiving the news of the missing Captain.She had last been seen around noon that day, when she went to a shop in the town’s central business district, not far from the Noordhoek residential area where she lives.Abel said Police and Defence Force members spent the night searching for Captain Christiaans on foot.They eventually found her about 10 km out of town, next to the B1 road leading to Luederitz.The Superintendent at the Keetmanshoop Hospital, Dr Maxim Verkusha, yesterday described Christiaans’ condition as stable. He said the Bondelswarts Captain was suffering from short-term memory loss and disorientation.”At the time of Christiaans’ admission, there were no signs of severe hydration or exhaustion,” he said.Verkusha said Christiaans would remain in hospital for two more days for observation and diagnostic tests.”At this stage it is too early to come up with a correct diagnosis,” he said.Member of Parliament Ida Hoffmann, who is a member of the Bondelswarts clan, yesterday expressed shock over Christiaans’ disappearance.She blamed the Bondelswarts clan folk for not looking after their traditional leader properly.”We must not only look after the welfare of the Captain during the clan’s festival commemorations,” she said angrily.According to Hoffmann, the Captain’s frequent short-term memory loss is caused by the abject poverty of the Bondelswarts people, including the Captain.”Our Captain is the poorest among the traditional leaders, though the area where she lives is rich, if not the richest in the country,” Hoffmann said.She told The Namibian that she plans to hold meetings with traditional leaders in the Karas Region in an attempt to address the poverty in the region.Hoffmann who was by Christiaans’ bedside in hospital yesterday, said she rushed from Windhoek to Keetmanshoop upon receiving the news of the missing Captain.