Assassination twist

A new book titled Incorruptible, which will be launched this week in South Africa, sheds new light on the deaths of Namibian liberation icon and anti-apartheid lawyer Anton Lubowksi, as well as senior African National Congress (ANC) members Chris Hani and Dulcie September.

The book fingers former South African foreign affairs minister Pik Botha for having played a key role in Lubowksi's death.

In the evening of 12 September 1989, Lubowski was shot by a group of assailants in front of his house in Sanderburg Street in central Windhoek.

He was hit by several shots from an AK-47 automatic rifle and died from a bullet wound to his head. Although there has been much speculation about who was behind his murder and the arrest and release of a foreign hitman, Lubowksi's murder was never solved.

Donald 'Dolan' Acheson, who had previously served with the Rhodesian Army, was connected to the killing through the car he allegedly rented for the operation, which is said to have involved apartheid's infamous Civil Cooperation Bureau.

When Acheson was arrested in Windhoek, police found a piece of paper with numbers that led them to his handlers. Despite overwhelming evidence against him, Acheson was released after eight months in detention.

In her book, journalist Evelyn Groenink details how the late trio of Lubowski, September and Hani were keen to expose corrupt dealings in the run-up to independence in both South Africa and Namibia.

On Lubowski's murder, Groenink alleges that a former member of the SA Special Forces Brigade, known as the Recces, killed the Swapo lawyer – allegedly on Botha's orders.





Speaking to Namibian Sun, long-time friend of the late Lubowski, Judge Dave Smuts, said although no official investigations linked Botha to his death at the time, if the possibility exists that Botha was involved, information detailing the former apartheid regime's covert operations would need to be exposed.

“I want to first read what she wrote before I can comment. None of our research during the inquest showed that Pik Botha was involved. It is something new to me [but] a book on this issue needs to be written. South Africa's covert operations at that time need to come out,” Smuts said of the book.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Lubowski's son Almo said they would be engaging with their family attorney on the matter to get legal advice on whether there were grounds to pursue an investigation, owing to the revelations contained in the new book.

“We are not sure if it is grounds for a new investigation, but we will discuss with the family's current advocate,” Almo said, before adding, “The interesting question is if Anton Lubowski was in the way of these mafia and arms dealer individuals and then who in Swapo was open to be corrupted?”

Aside from having his father's remains moved to the Heroes' Acre, Almo said Swapo had not shown much support to the family since the liberation icon's death.

“Apart from the fact that my father was moved to Heroes' Acre and the part Swapo played in that, which we are very grateful for, Swapo has never really shown much support towards us as a family,” he said.

According to Almo, the family was in support of getting the book published and would be attending a launch in Cape Town in the coming days. He added the book also contained similar themes to those published by his mother, Gabrielle.

“We are very much in support of the book. It in fact confirms many of our theories that were in my mother's own book - On Solid Ground,” said Lubowski.

Efforts were made by Namibian Sun to get comment from Botha but he did not respond at the time of going to press. SMSes were sent to his and his wife Ina's cellphone numbers

Groenink compiled her book after an investigation spanning 30 years. The publication of the book was halted 13 years ago because of legal and physical threats made against the then publisher Jacana Media.

Groenink has now published the book on her own.

She details how September, Lubowski and Hani tried to prevent their organisations, the ANC and Swapo, from being corrupted by powerful international interests and various mafias.

She writes that alleged mafia kingpin Vito Palazzolo tried to involve Lubowski “in acquiring a stronghold in Windhoek – a casino – where Palazzolo intended pursuing his favourite hobby, laundering money from drugs and diamond transactions”.

Lubowski had not played along.

When Groenink and her former publishers sent Botha requests for comment, he responded with “phone calls that lasted for hours”, a 20-page letter denying wrongdoing of any kind as well as detailing arms deals with the French and a number of threats, including “the world is a dangerous place you know”.

In his foreword to the book, newly appointed South African public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan writes that Groenink “has unearthed how these comrades were murdered to make way for unscrupulous business deals, self-enrichment and political and military power”. “There are glimpses of a different species of state capture. Evelyn Groenink's research shows us, firstly, that state capture is indeed not new; that unethical people in the public and private sector have collaborated for a long time for the purpose of removing or sidelining those who stand in the way of their hunger for power and wealth,” wrote Gordhan.

Incorruptible will be launched at the Wits University Graduate Centre in Johannesburg tomorrow.

-additional reporting by City Press

JEMIMA BEUKES AND OGONE TLHAGE