On Our Neglected National Heroes

THE other day, driving around at the coast, I could not but notice the number of streets bearing the names of our political leaders.

Having driven around our fair land often in the past, I was struck by the regularity with which these same names appear in almost all our cities. It seems that somewhere there are people indulging in a feeding frenzy to confer greatness (for surely that is what this practice implies) on some with an abandon which, I opine, borders on the obscene.This led me to reflect on how cavalier peoples and nations can sometimes be in the way they select their heroes.Now, with due regard for the views of others, I cannot easily reconcile myself to the way in which some genuine heroes in our struggle for independence have been ignored.Axel Johannes, Martha Ford, Frans Kambangula and Hileni Namalambo constitute, for me, a quartet of heroes as distinguished as you could find in the history of Namibia’s struggle for independence.Axel and Frans, the doers and enablers, for whom torture and deprivation were mere challenges to their commitment.Matha Ford, who left her family behind to pursue the struggle from without, and whose only son’s remains lie somewhere in Angola, and finally, Heleni Namalambo, whose home was constantly under siege by the occupiers, because the party which led the struggle used it for political meetings.I recall her replying to me, serenely, on inquiring whether she did not fear the consequences of making her home available for such dangerous activities, that she would have it no other way! And yet, amazingly, you will not find any reference to them in the names of the cities of our streets, or those buried in what some regard as the nation’s Heroes’ Acre.In spite of this, I strongly submit that the turf where their remains may be found, are hallowed ground, for it is in my view the quality of the people who rest there that determines the heroism of the acreage, and not the other way around.I shall always feel flattered to have befriended and been befriended by Axel, Martha, Frans and Hileni.These four lived and died on the right side of heaven.Knowing them made my cup run over.Neville Cupido Via e-mailIt seems that somewhere there are people indulging in a feeding frenzy to confer greatness (for surely that is what this practice implies) on some with an abandon which, I opine, borders on the obscene.This led me to reflect on how cavalier peoples and nations can sometimes be in the way they select their heroes.Now, with due regard for the views of others, I cannot easily reconcile myself to the way in which some genuine heroes in our struggle for independence have been ignored.Axel Johannes, Martha Ford, Frans Kambangula and Hileni Namalambo constitute, for me, a quartet of heroes as distinguished as you could find in the history of Namibia’s struggle for independence.Axel and Frans, the doers and enablers, for whom torture and deprivation were mere challenges to their commitment.Matha Ford, who left her family behind to pursue the struggle from without, and whose only son’s remains lie somewhere in Angola, and finally, Heleni Namalambo, whose home was constantly under siege by the occupiers, because the party which led the struggle used it for political meetings.I recall her replying to me, serenely, on inquiring whether she did not fear the consequences of making her home available for such dangerous activities, that she would have it no other way! And yet, amazingly, you will not find any reference to them in the names of the cities of our streets, or those buried in what some regard as the nation’s Heroes’ Acre.In spite of this, I strongly submit that the turf where their remains may be found, are hallowed ground, for it is in my view the quality of the people who rest there that determines the heroism of the acreage, and not the other way around.I shall always feel flattered to have befriended and been befriended by Axel, Martha, Frans and Hileni.These four lived and died on the right side of heaven.Knowing them made my cup run over.Neville Cupido Via e-mail