The Cassinga massacre will continue to inspire generations of Namibians to remember the price of freedom, parliamentarian Tobie Aupindi said yesterday.
“Today, we honour the fallen, but we also honour you – a survivor, a witness, and a symbol of resilience,” he said in an open letter to his friend and Cassinga survivor Herman Shitaleni.
Aupindi said nation building – ensuring economic justice and addressing historical inequalities – is the best way to honour those who died at Cassinga.
The South African Defence Force’s attack on a Swapo base at Cassinga in southern Angola in 1978 killed more than 600 refugees, mostly women and children, and is commemorated in Namibia on 4 May annually.
This year marks the 48th anniversary of the massacre.
As tributes and commemoration messages were shared yesterday, survivors said remembrance must be the foundation for nation building.
“We vividly remember the massacre as if it happened today.
[The victims] did not even die in the land that gave birth to them, but faced death with courage.
“May we never abandon their memory, nor allow their sacrifices to slip from the national conscience,” survivor representative Ignatius Mwanyekange said at a commemoration ceremony at Outapi yesterday.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at the event called Cassinga an act of “unspeakable brutality”.
“That day did not simply disrupt lives, it redefined our liberation struggle and left a permanent mark on the conscience of our nation.
Under the theme of ‘48 Years of Honour and Sacrifice: Inspiring the Future’, we turn their sacrifice into a call for action to defend our hard-won independence and protect our natural resources to benefit future generations,” she said.
The government also called on the country to use the opportunity to recommit to a unified Namibia.
“As we remember this painful chapter, let us reaffirm our commitment to unity, peace, and nation-building.
The memory of Cassinga must continue to unite us as one people and strengthen our resolve to build a Namibia founded on the principle of justice, equality and shared prosperity,” the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology says in a statement released yesterday.
The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) – Namibia’s official opposition party – also called for the anniversary of Cassinga to act as a moment of unification.
“We are deeply concerned by the recurring tendency to transform commemorative days into partisan political events.
The IPC calls upon all Namibians to use this day not as a day of division, but as a day of deep reflection and renewed national unity,” the party says in a statement.
It says the day should serve as a reminder of the sacrifices Namibians have made for independence and since independence.
“Let us honour the fallen by building a Namibia worthy of their sacrifice,” the IPC says.
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