‘Amabutho must die’ - ex-soldiers
Say need to demand rights at home
Disillusioned with the South African-inspired Amabutho Royal Defence Agency, former SWATF/Koevoet members at Rundu have decided to join the ongoing campaign of the Namibia War Veteran Trust (Namvet) in its demand for veteran status and pension payouts. A former member of SWATF’s 202 Battalion, Michael Tuneya Haingura, was sent as an emissary to Windhoek “to see if Namvet really exists” and if its sit-in campaign is really taking place.
“People in Rundu support the Namvet campaign and 95% of them say Amabutho must die,” said Haingura while on his visit to the Namvet members participating in the campaign at the Red Flag Commando Hall in Katutura. According to Haingura many of the ex-soldiers who have joined Amabutho are sent by bus to South Africa every second month under false pretences that the mother body of the recruitment agency will lobby the South African government for pension payouts.
“Under Amabutho we have always gone to South Africa but our money is now finished; we have found nothing there [in South Africa]. We have not found the truth by going there,” Haingura said.
According to him those who have signed up with Amabutho are being used for political expediency of the organisation’s leadership.
“All of this is not to get money from the government but to get Petrus Ndaba [leader of Amabutho] into parliament. It does not help us to go there. They are using us; we cannot support them. We must stay here and fight for our right to be recognised as war veterans,” said Haingura.
Infighting
While Namvet has welcomed its new supporters, the former soldiers are split up in divergent groups that claim to be their “legitimate representatives” pushing for their demands.
Willem Beukes, once a member of Namvet, has distanced himself from it and has revived a body formerly known as the SWATF Organisation which purportedly has been “in existence since 1977 but was dormant”. As its emblem the SWATF Organisation is using the military logo of the defunct 901 Battalion that was stationed at Luiperdsvallei south of Windhoek.
“SWATF Organisation exists as long as the emblem exists. We are revitalising the organisation because SWATF was the protection force of the people of former SWA [South West Africa],” Beukes said.
Beukes added: “We who were born in SWA are now treated like second-class citizens. Our history is allowed to die out but we are still here. Our history cannot be wiped out.”
He further said that the SWATF Organisation is the only body formed by ex-SWATF/Koevoet members that has petitioned the United Nations (UN) to intervene in what they consider to be state-sanctioned marginalisation and discrimination.
UN resident coordinator Kiki Gbeho, however, in April this year responded that the UN’s role in post-independent Namibia was “focused on supporting government to maintain peace and stability with the view to support government achievement of Vision 2030”.
She advocated dialogue on any dispute and recommended that the ex-soldiers discuss the matter with the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs. Beukes is similarly accusing Namvet of having embarked on the sit-in campaign to solicit funds from the general public. Beukes has also accused the chairperson of Namvet, Jabulani Ndeunyema, of having defrauded the organisation of funds and failure to deliver on his promises that ex-soldiers will be given war veteran status and receive their pension monies.
“I do not worry about the allegations, which I see as a waste of my time. I have advised him to open a case against me; it is as simple as that,” Ndeunyema responded to Beukes’ allegations. Yet another group, the Namibia Ex-soldiers Organisation, was recently formed and is planning an “international walk of peace” on 21 September in collaboration with ex-soldiers and the Namibian government.
CATHERINE SASMAN
“People in Rundu support the Namvet campaign and 95% of them say Amabutho must die,” said Haingura while on his visit to the Namvet members participating in the campaign at the Red Flag Commando Hall in Katutura. According to Haingura many of the ex-soldiers who have joined Amabutho are sent by bus to South Africa every second month under false pretences that the mother body of the recruitment agency will lobby the South African government for pension payouts.
“Under Amabutho we have always gone to South Africa but our money is now finished; we have found nothing there [in South Africa]. We have not found the truth by going there,” Haingura said.
According to him those who have signed up with Amabutho are being used for political expediency of the organisation’s leadership.
“All of this is not to get money from the government but to get Petrus Ndaba [leader of Amabutho] into parliament. It does not help us to go there. They are using us; we cannot support them. We must stay here and fight for our right to be recognised as war veterans,” said Haingura.
Infighting
While Namvet has welcomed its new supporters, the former soldiers are split up in divergent groups that claim to be their “legitimate representatives” pushing for their demands.
Willem Beukes, once a member of Namvet, has distanced himself from it and has revived a body formerly known as the SWATF Organisation which purportedly has been “in existence since 1977 but was dormant”. As its emblem the SWATF Organisation is using the military logo of the defunct 901 Battalion that was stationed at Luiperdsvallei south of Windhoek.
“SWATF Organisation exists as long as the emblem exists. We are revitalising the organisation because SWATF was the protection force of the people of former SWA [South West Africa],” Beukes said.
Beukes added: “We who were born in SWA are now treated like second-class citizens. Our history is allowed to die out but we are still here. Our history cannot be wiped out.”
He further said that the SWATF Organisation is the only body formed by ex-SWATF/Koevoet members that has petitioned the United Nations (UN) to intervene in what they consider to be state-sanctioned marginalisation and discrimination.
UN resident coordinator Kiki Gbeho, however, in April this year responded that the UN’s role in post-independent Namibia was “focused on supporting government to maintain peace and stability with the view to support government achievement of Vision 2030”.
She advocated dialogue on any dispute and recommended that the ex-soldiers discuss the matter with the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs. Beukes is similarly accusing Namvet of having embarked on the sit-in campaign to solicit funds from the general public. Beukes has also accused the chairperson of Namvet, Jabulani Ndeunyema, of having defrauded the organisation of funds and failure to deliver on his promises that ex-soldiers will be given war veteran status and receive their pension monies.
“I do not worry about the allegations, which I see as a waste of my time. I have advised him to open a case against me; it is as simple as that,” Ndeunyema responded to Beukes’ allegations. Yet another group, the Namibia Ex-soldiers Organisation, was recently formed and is planning an “international walk of peace” on 21 September in collaboration with ex-soldiers and the Namibian government.
CATHERINE SASMAN
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