Lubowski murder: SA investigator exonerates Swapo of blame

WINDHOEK ELVIS MURARANGANDA
A leading investigator for South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) said an investigation into the 1989 death of Swapo activist Anton Lubowski had found that the ruling party had no hand in it.
Speaking exclusively to Namibian Sun from South Africa yesterday, Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza contradicted the remarks of the deceased's widow, Gabi Lubowski, who told this newspaper on Wednesday that the certain members of the “incoming government” orchestrated the killing of her husband.
Swapo won the 1989 general elections and were therefore the “incoming government” at the time.
Ntsebeza, who investigated crimes reported to the TRC, revealed details of his investigation into Lubowski's murder, including that on the basis of the information they had received, Swapo was exonerated from involvement.
Pressed on whether the TRC, which was chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, shared its Lubowski file with the Namibian government or Swapo, he said: “It is not their TRC. Why didn't they create their own TRC?”
The TRC public hearings started in 1996 and ended with a presentation of the final report to former South African President Nelson Mandela on October 29, 1998. The TRC hearing dealing with the Lubowski murder took place from April 3 to 24, 1996.
Ntsebeza said a Namibian version of these hearings would have been critical to resolve and bring closure to several issues, including Lubowski's assassination.
The other unresolved issues in Namibia include the role of South Africa's Civil Cooperation Bureau - a hit squad that operated in both South Africa and Namibia, the so-called Lubango dungeons and apartheid looting by foreign companies.
Lubowski's widow, Gabi Lubowski, this week claimed in an interview with Namibian Sun that her husband was murdered by some of his Swapo comrades who were involved in “shady deals” that he wanted no part of.
According to her, Lubowski wanted the money from the resources which were under white control before independence to go to trust funds for Namibian children, but some individuals “were bribed” to have it otherwise.
“He could not be part of that and he had to be removed because he was in the way,” she added.
Ntsebeza, on the other hand, said Mrs Lubowski never presented such information to the TRC and based on the investigations that he carried out, Swapo was not responsible for killing Lubowski.
“The former minister of defence, Magnus Malan, testified that Anton was killed by Swapo because he was a spy,” said Ntsebeza.
“We were able to establish that all of this was disinformation. The SA Defence Force tried to create the impression that Lubowski was some sort of Trojan horse.
“I can't vouch for what she [Mrs Lubowski] said. We satisfied ourselves that the South African apartheid regime was trying to create the impression that Swapo killed him [Lubowski].”
Ntsebeza added that no Swapo leader was interviewed with regard to the murder due to limited resources, among other things.
Asked what he based his investigations on, Ntsebeza said: “Two reports. One which was seeking and attempted to indicate that Lubowski was a SA military spy and the other saying he was not.”
Ntsebeza said he was happy with what he and the TRC achieved in the Lubowski case.
“We did what we could in 18 months with the limited resources and the time we were given. It was a complicated investigation,” Ntsebeza said.
When asked whether the South African authorities had given up on finding Lubowski's killers as indicated by Mrs Lubowski, he said: “Follow up with the governments. If she wants, Mrs Lubowski must come forth with the information she has.”