Helao Shityuwete (born 25 August 1934 in Evale, Angola) is a Namibian author and former politician and military commander. After Namibia gained independence in 1990, Shityuwete published his autobiography titled "Never Follow the Wolf" which chronicled his time on Robben Island as well as his trial for involvement in the Namibian War of Independence as commander of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia, the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organization.
Shityuwete was the 19th child of 22 to his father and was named by his grandfather, Nelindi Shityuwete, king of Evale. [1] He worked as a contract labourer under the apartheid South African occupation and became interested in politics working in Walvis Bay docks in 1959, when he was one of the labourers who first joined Ovamboland People's Organization, which on 19 April 1960 became SWAPO. [2] He made several trips to Angola including with Jakob Kuhangwa, guided by Kahumba Kandolo. [2] In 1964 he was among a group that left Namibia and were arrested at the Botswana border and escaped and eventually arrived for military training in Tanzania. [2] He returned to Namibia in 1966 as part of PLAN cadre G2 to participate in the Namibian War of Independence, but he and three of the four others of the group were arrested at Nkurenkuru by the South African Police. They were detained in Pretoria, South Africa, and held for two years before a trial in September 1967 for him and 32 others under the Terrorism Act of 1967. [2] In 1968 he was sentenced to 20 years on Robben Island prison, [1] others such as Nathaniel Maxuilili and Jason Mutumbulwa got lesser sentences. [2] Ephraim Kapolo dies during the trial in Pretoria. [3] Others in Robben Island prison at the same time included Jerry Ekandjo, John Pandeni, John Ya Otto Nankudhu, Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, Gerson Veii, Kaxumba Kandola, Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu. [2]
On 7 May 1984 Shityuwete was released from prison and in February 1985, received a scholarship through the Council of Churches in Namibia to study at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, [1] sponsored by Africa Educational Trust. He studied in Birmingham until 1987, when he graduated and moved to London, [2] where he married Jane (née Prewett) and had a daughter, Tulimelila.
Shityuwete returned to Namibia in 1989 upon the establishment of the Constituent Assembly, which wrote the Namibian Constitution. His family joined him on 16 March 1990, [1] five days before Namibia's official independence on 21 March 1990. [2] After independence, he was hired to help found the Ministry of Labour as Deputy Director of Human Resources, where he worked with future ambassador Ponhele ya France as well as Katrina Itula. He worked in the Labour Ministry until retirement in 1996. [2] Their son, Freddy, was born in 1991. In 2008, Shityuwete was diagnosed with lymphoma [1] and had successful surgery to remove the cancer in neighboring South Africa. In early 2010, he also suffered a stroke which left him unable to speak English, though he later recovered the ability to speak it through the help of a language therapist. He continued very active after his retirement, including in Namibia-Angola friendship and being Director of the Namibian Former Robben Island Political Prisoners Trust. [1] [2]
The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late nineteenth century to Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990.
Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first president of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) in 1960. Prior to 1960, SWAPO was known as the Ovambo People's Organisation (OPO). He played an important role as leader of the national liberation movement in campaigning for Namibia's political independence from South African rule. He established the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) in 1962 and launched a guerrilla war against the apartheid government of South Africa in August 1966 at Omungulugwombashe, beginning after the United Nations withdrew the mandate for South Africa to govern the territory. Nujoma led SWAPO during the lengthy Namibian War of Independence, which lasted from 1966 to 1989.
Herman Andimba Toivo ya Toivo was a Namibian anti-apartheid activist, politician and political prisoner. Ya Toivo was active in the pre-independence movement, and is one of the co-founders of the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) in 1960, and its predecessor the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) in 1959.
Denis Goldberg is a South African social campaigner, who was active in the struggle against apartheid and was imprisoned for 22 years, along with other key members of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. After his release in 1985 he continued to campaign against apartheid from his base in London with his family, until the system was fully disbanded with the 1994 election. He returned to South Africa in 2002.
The Ovambo language, Oshiwambo, is a dialect cluster spoken by the Ovambo people in southern Angola and northern Namibia, of which the written standards are Kwanyama and Ndonga.
The Ovamboland People's Organization was a nationalist organization that existed between 1959 and 1960 in South West Africa. The aim of the organization was to end the South African colonial administration, and the placement of South West Africa under the United Nations Trusteeship system. Andimba Toivo ya Toivo had founded its predecessor, the Ovamboland People's Congress, in 1957 in Cape Town, South Africa. In 1959, Sam Nujoma and Jacob Kuhangua established the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) at the Old Location in Windhoek. Sam Nujoma was the president of OPO until its transformation into the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) a year later and remained president until Namibia gained independence in 1990.
The Heroes' Acre is an official war memorial of the Republic of Namibia. Built into the uninhabited hills c. 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of the city centre of Windhoek, Heroes' Acre opened on 26 August 2002 and operates for the purpose of "foster(ing) a spirit of patriotism and nationalism, and to pass on the legacy to the future generations of Namibia".
Andreas Zack Shipanga was a Namibian politician known for the "Shipanga Rebellion", a movement within SWAPO that sought to elect a new leadership and whose followers were in response detained without trial. Imprisoned for two years following this fall-out, Shipanga was arrested and held in detention in Zambia then Tanzania until 1978. After his release from prison he founded the opposing SWAPO Democrats and served as minister in different portfolios in the Transitional Government of National Unity, the interim government of South-West Africa directly before Namibian independence.
Mweukefina Kulaumone Jerobeam Dimo Hamaambo was a Namibian military commander in both the Namibian War of Independence as a SWAPO member and in independent Namibia as the Chief of Defence in the Namibia Defence Force. He became the second commander of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) in 1967 after the death of Tobias Hainyeko and held the position until independence was gained in 1990.
John Ya-Otto was a Namibian trade unionist, politician, author and diplomat. Ya-Otto began a career in politics following the 1959 Old Location Massacre in Windhoek's Old Location black township. Eventually, Ya-Otto fled into exile and worked as SWAPO's labor minister. He established relationships with trade unionists around the world. In 1981, he published his only book Battlefront Namibia, detailing SWAPO's and his own struggle for independence. He was arrested in 1966 following the Battle of Ongulumbashe, which was the opening attack by SWAPO on South African military and police in northern Namibia. He and 38 other SWAPO activists were arrested, with most receiving 10-year prison sentences. However, due to a lack of case against him, Ya-Otto received a five-year suspended sentence and was released a month later. Following independence, he returned to Namibia and was elected to the National Assembly of Namibia with SWAPO. Later, he was assigned the position of Ambassador to Angola due to failing health. He died in Luanda on 25 May 1994.
Omugulugwombashe is a settlement in the Tsandi electoral constituency in the Omusati Region of northern Namibia. The settlement features a clinic and a primary school. In Omugulugwombashe the first battle of the South African Border War was fought in 1966. The government of Namibia erected a monument in honour of this battle at the thirtieth anniversary of the start of the conflict in 1996.
Peter Mweshihange was a Namibian revolutionary and guerrilla leader, and after Namibian independence, politician and diplomat. He was Namibia's first Minister of Defense from 1990 to 1995, and first ambassador to the People's Republic of China from 1996 until his death.
John ya Otto Nankudhu was a Namibian guerrilla, army officer and politician. He was the commander of the forces of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) at Omugulugwombashe when the armed struggle for independence began there on 26 August 1966 and was later jailed for 17 years at Robben Island. He is a National Hero of Namibia for his contributions to the independence of the country.
Eliaser Tuhadeleni also known as Kaxumba Kandola was a Namibian anti-apartheid activist, guerrilla fighter and political prisoner. He was one of the co-founders of the Ovamboland People's Congress in Cape Town, South Africa in 1957 and became one of the first participants of the Namibian liberation struggle. Kaxumba Kandola took part in the battle of Omugulugwombashe which was the first battle of the Namibian War of Independence on 26 August 1966. He evaded arrest but was eventually caught and sent to Pretoria Central Prison where he was charged under the Terrorism Act of 1976. He was tried with other Namibians in the Pretoria Terrorism Trial from September 1967 to February 1968. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island but was eventually released in 1985. Kaxumba Kandola was born at Omatangela village in northern Namibia, one year after the British-South African forces conquered Oukwanyama kingdom. His father, Lyaalala ya Tuhadeleni, was one of the senior headman of Oukwanyama King Mandume Ya Ndemufayo.
Gerson Hitjevi Veii was a Namibian politician. Veii was founder member of the South West Africa National Union (SWANU) and its president from 1968 to 1982. After Namibian independence he was the first governor of Kunene Region.
Ephraim Kamati Andjengo Kapolo (1924–1967) was a Namibian activist who participated in the pre-independence movement. He was one of the early members of the Ovamboland People's Organization. Kapolo was an active and founding member of the South West Africa Liberation Army (SWALA), the forerunner of PLAN, at the beginning of the Namibian War of Independence.
Jafta Kgalabi Masemola, also known as The Tiger of Azania and Bra Jeff was a South African anti-apartheid activist, teacher, and founder of the armed wing of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). He spent 27 years in South African prison during the apartheid era in South Africa, and was released in October 1989, shortly before the legalization of the PAC and the African National Congress by F. W. de Klerk. He served the longest sentence of any political prisoner in Robben Island prison in South Africa.
Simeon Linekela Kambo Shixungileni, was a Namibian guerrilla, army officer and politician. He was the second commander in -charge of the forces of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) at Omugulugwombashe when the armed struggle for independence began there on 26 August 1966 and was later jailed at Robben Island. He is a National Hero of Namibia for his contributions to the independence of the country.
Maximum Security Prison is an inactive prison at Robben Island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometers west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa. It was prominent because of Nobel Laureate and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there for 18 of the 27 years he served behind bars before the fall of apartheid. After that, three former inmates of this prison Nelson Mandela, Kgalema Motlanthe, and Jacob Zuma have gone on to become President of South Africa.
Gaus Shikomba was a South West Africa Liberation Army (Swala) intelligence officer who was imprisoned on Robben Island from 1966 to 1984.