Koevoet veteran on the streets for 25 years

This is the reality faced by Koevoet veteran 59-year-old Daniel Swartbooi every day, who has been surviving on the streets of Windhoek for 25 years. After staying in different places over the years, he has for the past 17 years been living outside the Owela Museum in the centre of Windhoek. He sleeps and cooks in the open. He told Namibian Sun he is from Warmbad, a village close to Karasburg, but later moved to Gibeon. “My own people are dead. My mother, father and siblings are dead. I have a brother who is alive, but I don’t know where he is,” said Swartbooi when asked why he lives at the museum. He said only one of his three children is still alive. Swartbooi says he does not know where his child is, although he heard that he is in Gobabis. Swartbooi could not find a job after independence. After being hit by a vehicle in Katutura in the 1990s, an accident in which his legs were injured, doctors declared him unfit to work. Swartbooi now washes cars parked at the museum and in front of the Magistrate’s Court and High Court. He also sells empty bottles and uses the money to buy food. His blankets are folded and packed under a large plastic bag. He said his belongings were recently stolen, while his documents and other items were stolen years ago. The Namibia War Veteran Trust (Namvet) has identified Swartbooi, Angolan-born Manuel Kamboua and 58 other former apartheid soldiers, who live in deplorable conditions around Namibia. They have donated food to them. “I feel all right. God is always with me,” remarked Swaartbooi after receiving his food donation on Tuesday. Swartbooi said he attends church services every Sunday. He also receives food from the church once a month. Kamboua, who is originally from Okuvale in Angola, is disabled and has used a walking aid since a doctor amputated his foot. He said he wants to see his family again. “I want to see my family in Angola, but I have no money to travel there,” he says. Kamboua lives in Katutura at a friend’s place, who has since died. He said he struggles to survive. “I struggle for food. Sometimes friends help me and other times I just drink sugar water and go to bed,” he explains. He joined the army at the age of 17 in Opuwo in 1976 and left the unit in 1990. Kamboua has had various odd jobs since independence. Namvet chairperson Jabulani Ndeunyema says they will be visiting the former Koevoet soldiers every Friday to see if they are in need of food and to provide this to them. Ndeunyema said there are some former apartheid soldiers who are in worse situations than Swartbooi and Kamboua, especially in Keetmanshoop and Dordabis. Ndeunyema said he received items from Good Samaritans. They donated bags of rice, sugar, cans of fish and coffee, among other items. The donation for the 60 recipients is valued at N$24 000. WINDHOEK SELMA IKELA