NDF offers to pay sjambok victims’ medical expenses

THE Namibian Defence Force (NDF) says it will decide today how much compensation it will pay to two people beaten up just before Christmas by uniformed members of the force after they launched an unheralded crackdown on youths and men wearing earrings.

NDF soldiers beat a teenager and a man in his 20s with sjamboks after ordering them to remove their earrings at two separate locations in Katutura. NDF Chief of Staff Major General Peter Nambundunga confirmed to The Namibian yesterday that he and other senior officers had since met the two victims and that the force would make a gesture to them: either paying their medical costs or some other alternative.He said one victim, Hatani Mao Eichab (27), had refused to accept any offer from the military authorities and insisted on pressing charges.The Namibian could not establish yesterday whether Eichab had yet laid any charges.He earlier said that on the afternoon of December 22 he was cornered, ordered by at least 30 NDF members to take off his earrings and, when he didn’t comply, beaten by one of them while another restrained him.The mother of 16-year-old Beau Pietersen, who was forcibly removed from the Friendly Shop in Wanaheda on the same day as Eichab was attacked, is mulling over an NDF suggestion that the force will pay her son’s medical costs, and expects to learn details of a concrete offer today.Anna Willemse said yesterday NDF members had called at her house on four days last week and took her each time to NDF headquarters where she was questioned about the incident, her son’s health and how she would like to settle the matters.She told The Namibian she had not yet made up her mind whether to lay charges.”I have not decided if I will see lawyers or not, because they told us that we have to come in tomorrow (today) and finalise the case with them,” she said.She had not yet consulted any lawyer or the Legal Assistance Centre.Since his beating, Pietersen says he has had nightmares about the assault, and his mother confirmed he had woken in fright.Pietersen said he feared the welts inflicted by the sjamboks would leave him scarred for life.Major General Nambundunga said the force appealed to all victims of the earring attacks not to sue the NDF or any of its members as the force would take responsibility for the actions of those members.”We proposed to all of them that the NDF will foot the medical bills of the affected persons, but we still need to finalise that with them,” he said.Despite that, Nambundunga said that, although the NDF initially anticipated disciplining an acting commander of the Suiderhof Military Base who had been identified as having ordered the raids, the net had now been cast wider.At least 10 members of the force are being investigated and and will ‘possibly face’ a disciplinary hearing when investigation findings – earlier expected to be complete by now – are reached.That is now expected by the end of this week.The acting commander, who was not named, was identified a week after the raids by his superiors as the man ordered the exercise, which some sources say was code-named Operation Giraffe.Apart from the two injured males, many other youths and men were forced to remove their earrings.But Nambundunga earlier said there were no official instructions issued for a crackdown and no operation of that or any other name.He said the officer who ordered the raids had exceeded his authority.NDF Chief of Staff Major General Peter Nambundunga confirmed to The Namibian yesterday that he and other senior officers had since met the two victims and that the force would make a gesture to them: either paying their medical costs or some other alternative. He said one victim, Hatani Mao Eichab (27), had refused to accept any offer from the military authorities and insisted on pressing charges. The Namibian could not establish yesterday whether Eichab had yet laid any charges. He earlier said that on the afternoon of December 22 he was cornered, ordered by at least 30 NDF members to take off his earrings and, when he didn’t comply, beaten by one of them while another restrained him. The mother of 16-year-old Beau Pietersen, who was forcibly removed from the Friendly Shop in Wanaheda on the same day as Eichab was attacked, is mulling over an NDF suggestion that the force will pay her son’s medical costs, and expects to learn details of a concrete offer today. Anna Willemse said yesterday NDF members had called at her house on four days last week and took her each time to NDF headquarters where she was questioned about the incident, her son’s health and how she would like to settle the matters. She told The Namibian she had not yet made up her mind whether to lay charges. “I have not decided if I will see lawyers or not, because they told us that we have to come in tomorrow (today) and finalise the case with them,” she said. She had not yet consulted any lawyer or the Legal Assistance Centre. Since his beating, Pietersen says he has had nightmares about the assault, and his mother confirmed he had woken in fright. Pietersen said he feared the welts inflicted by the sjamboks would leave him scarred for life. Major General Nambundunga said the force appealed to all victims of the earring attacks not to sue the NDF or any of its members as the force would take responsibility for the actions of those members. “We proposed to all of them that the NDF will foot the medical bills of the affected persons, but we still need to finalise that with them,” he said. Despite that, Nambundunga said that, although the NDF initially anticipated disciplining an acting commander of the Suiderhof Military Base who had been identified as having ordered the raids, the net had now been cast wider. At least 10 members of the force are being investigated and and will ‘possibly face’ a disciplinary hearing when investigation findings – earlier expected to be complete by now – are reached. That is now expected by the end of this week. The acting commander, who was not named, was identified a week after the raids by his superiors as the man ordered the exercise, which some sources say was code-named Operation Giraffe. Apart from the two injured males, many other youths and men were forced to remove their earrings. But Nambundunga earlier said there were no official instructions issued for a crackdown and no operation of that or any other name. He said the officer who ordered the raids had exceeded his authority.