Time To Salute The South In The Struggle

I WANT to ask the Swapo leadership who are the war veterans in Karas Region? This question is crucial because when the delegation came here wanting to meet war veterans in 2006, to talk to them and to include them among those to qualify for houses, those names were provided and people we brought to meet with delegation were questioned as to whether they are true veterans.

In the early ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, the Swapo party did not have an office, vehicles and budget to undertake political activities here. There were those who sacrificed by accommodating those comrades coming and conducting underground activities, because they could not sleep in hotels then, and we had to hide them, and tell lies when South African intelligence forces interrogated us.There were comrades who offered their vehicles and resources for petrol, to transport and campaign for Swapo in those years.There is a budget now, there are offices and better opportunities, and nowadays people only travel when paid S&T.Now who will compensate these people who sacrificed their lives, their resources and their houses.How do you define a war veteran? Is it only people who were confined to house arrest under the notorious acts AG 9 and 26 of the colonial South African apartheid regime? What about those who had no freedom of association, no freedom of movement because their IDs and travel documents were confiscated by apartheid regime.The following people were the torchbearers in the southern politics and Swapo was alive and is still alive because of sacrifices made by these people: Cde Piet Matroos, Cde Johannes Baarman, Cde Tiepies Goliath, Cde Emy Stephanus and her mother, Ou Garugas, Cde Monica Konjore, Cde Alietie Stephanus, Cde Sannie Witbooi, Cde Johannes Isaack, Cde Ou Job, Cde Takanise Thomas, Cde Cornelius Jacobs, Cde Julia Thomas, Cde van der Westerhuyzen, Cde Elise Angula, and many others, whose names cannot be listed here because of space.Some are deceased and left without recognition for their sacrifices, like Tolo April, who was brutally shot at close range in Asab by drunk whites in the late ’70s, while he was on the way to Swapo rally in Gibeon.How sad, annoying and provoking it is to hear that these elders, role models, heroes and heroines are called Swapo supporters, sympathisers, tribalists and instigators.In Karas Region, our history and sacrifices are wiped out, and labelling someone as a tribalist is one of the major poisonous tools used against people who contributed so much in this region.Who took Swapo exiles to the borders from this region, because many comrades, sons and daughters from this soil, left from Karas and Hardap regions, to go and fight for the freedom of their motherland.Many of those who are national leaders today slept in the houses of the above-mentioned mothers and fathers.Why are they silent, in whose houses were they slept? Were these people tribalists then, and why did they allow you to sleep in their houses, look after you, embrace you and treat you as one of their own? Our elders are still active and attend most of the national and party events, yet there is no Swapo Elders Council in Tseib !Goas, where they are residing.Some of them were leaders of Sections like Daniel Tjongarero, yet these Sections were made dormant by the former Regional Coordinator.Why are they excluded, or don’t they deserve to have an Elders Council? Our Elders did not waver, even during difficult times when their loved ones died in exile, some of their children did not return at independence, yet they stood firm in the mighty Swapo.Many are traumatised because they lost wives, husbands, sons and daughters, and yet, even without proper psychological intervention and emotional treatment, these elders have been consistent in their support of the Party and the Government.History is about the past, and should be all-inclusive.History cannot start in the middle.Swapo activities did not only start after independence, and therefore the southern dynamics of that time should be acknowledged and appreciated.I recall with passion how my grandmother, Late Lena Jacobs, would wake me up, in the late ’70s and early ’80s, in dusty and dark streets of Gibeon, when we marched at those early morning hours, from Swapo Headquarters in the streets of Gibeon, in solidarity with independence of other African countries.That was always the culture and practice of Gibeon politics.There was no media to cover and witness our resolve and commitment.The lesson I learnt from this is that my grandmother had hope already for the pending independence of Namibia, and I salute her for her belief and conviction that she knew ultimately independence would arrive, and her offspring would enjoy the fruits and freedom she never enjoyed.In conclusion, there is a saying in my lingua franca: !Hao khoets ga o, tanisen./Uts ga o dî.Hã hana an hâ ge-in ai dî, tsî ta //nas /kha ora /hawide gora-ai.(Behave as a visitor.Ask if you don’t know.When arriving, ask from those that were there and thereby do not open sour wounds).Annarine Jacobs KeetmanshoopThere were those who sacrificed by accommodating those comrades coming and conducting underground activities, because they could not sleep in hotels then, and we had to hide them, and tell lies when South African intelligence forces interrogated us.There were comrades who offered their vehicles and resources for petrol, to transport and campaign for Swapo in those years.There is a budget now, there are offices and better opportunities, and nowadays people only travel when paid S&T.Now who will compensate these people who sacrificed their lives, their resources and their houses.How do you define a war veteran? Is it only people who were confined to house arrest under the notorious acts AG 9 and 26 of the colonial South African apartheid regime? What about those who had no freedom of association, no freedom of movement because their IDs and travel documents were confiscated by apartheid regime.The following people were the torchbearers in the southern politics and Swapo was alive and is still alive because of sacrifices made by these people: Cde Piet Matroos, Cde Johannes Baarman, Cde Tiepies Goliath, Cde Emy Stephanus and her mother, Ou Garugas, Cde Monica Konjore, Cde Alietie Stephanus, Cde Sannie Witbooi, Cde Johannes Isaack, Cde Ou Job, Cde Takanise Thomas, Cde Cornelius Jacobs, Cde Julia Thomas, Cde van der Westerhuyzen, Cde Elise Angula, and many others, whose names cannot be listed here because of space.Some are deceased and left without recognition for their sacrifices, like Tolo April, who was brutally shot at close range in Asab by drunk whites in the late ’70s, while he was on the way to Swapo rally in Gibeon.How sad, annoying and provoking it is to hear that these elders, role models, heroes and heroines are called Swapo supporters, sympathisers, tribalists and instigators.In Karas Region, our history and sacrifices are wiped out, and labelling someone as a tribalist is one of the major poisonous tools used against people who contributed so much in this region.Who took Swapo exiles to the borders from this region, because many comrades, sons and daughters from this soil, left from Karas and Hardap regions, to go and fight for the freedom of their motherland.Many of those who are national leaders today slept in the houses of the above-mentioned mothers and fathers.Why are they silent, in whose houses were they slept? Were these people tribalists then, and why did they allow you to sleep in their houses, look after you, embrace you and treat you as one of their own? Our elders are still active and attend most of the national and party events, yet there is no Swapo Elders Council in Tseib !Goas, where they are residing.Some of them were leaders of Sections like Daniel Tjongarero, yet these Sections were made dormant by the former Regional Coordinator.Why are they excluded, or don’t they deserve to have an Elders Council? Our Elders did not waver, even during difficult times when their loved ones died in exile, some of their children did not return at independence, yet they stood firm in the mighty Swapo.Many are traumatised because they lost wives, husbands, sons and daughters, and yet, even without proper psychological intervention and emotional treatment, these elders have been consistent in their support of the Party and the Government.History is about the past, and should be all-inclusive.History cannot start in the middle.Swapo activities did not only start after independence, and therefore the southern dynamics of that time should be acknowledged and appreciated.I recall with passion how my grandmother, Late Lena Jacobs, would wake me up, in the late ’70s and early ’80s, in dusty and dark streets of Gibeon, when we marched at those early morning hours, from Swapo Headquarters in the streets of Gibeon, in solidarity with independence of other African countries.That was always the culture and practice of Gibeon politics.There was no media to cover and witness our resolve and commitment.The lesson I learnt from this is that my grandmother had hope already for the pending independence of Namibia, and I salute her for her belief and conviction that she knew ultimately independence would arrive, and her offspring would enjoy the fruits and freedom she never enjoyed.In conclusion, there is a saying in my lingua franca: !Hao khoets ga o, tanisen./Uts ga o dî.Hã hana an hâ ge-in ai dî, tsî ta //nas /kha ora /hawide gora-ai.(Behave as a visitor.Ask if you don’t know.When arriving, ask from those that were there and thereby do not open sour wounds).Annarine Jacobs Keetmanshoop