26 March 1991

r - I * TODAY: DEVELOPMENT BRIGADE CALL-UP * SUPER INDEPENDENCE CONCERT PICS * Bringing Africa South Vol.2 No.292 Tuesday March 26 Gotcha! Drama at LOderitz SADFvs COpS over tender?" THE faces of some of the Spanish captains and offi cers at 18hOO last night in Liideritz as the door finally swings shut on a police truck taking them into cus GWEN LlSTER tody. PM takes to his bed TWO former members of the South African De fence Force (SADF), who were themselves respon PRIME Minister Hage Geingob has been forced to sible for the planting of anti-personnel mines along relinquish his duties for 10 days after being diagnosed as the Ruacana powerline, offered to remo~e the mines suffering from "extreme exhaustion". at a low cost "as a gesture of reconciliation" but This :shock news was confirmed by Press Liaison Officer in the . Prin1e Minister's Office Wilma Detleefs yesterday. had their bid turned dQwn by Sw~wec< Detleefs said the Prime Minister had been booked off for 10 This emerged in the wake of '~ince "we planted the mines days by his doctor to rest quietly at home. a front page report in The a..'1d we know where they are ., He just needs a lot of rest, and there is really nothing for the Namibian yesterday over " country to worry about," she added. She did not indicate whether massive discrepancies betwcen The fo rmer member of the anyone had been appointed to deputise fo( Geingob in his three tenders and reports that SADF's engineers corps said absence. Swawec had chosen the most he and his partner, after dis Detleefs appecled to friends and sympathisers not to call the expensive tender. cussions with ·he top h;'~rar Prime Minister at home as he needed all the rest he could get. She The job entails the removal chy of Swawec, had put in a suggested that concerned well-wishers should rather send cards of thousands of anti-personnel bid of R950 000. to his office. mines planted along a 180km He added that Swawec had The Prime Minister was known to have a very high work-load, stretch from the nOlthern bor informed them that this quote but his illness comes as something of a surprise as it virtually der to Ruacana. was too high, a':ld they subse coincides with the end of his first year in office. The former member of the quently lowered their tender to Geingob has so fm' proved a very popular Prime Minister and SADF came forward to say R800000. has received praise for his performance from across the political that he and a colleague had Only three companies ten spectrum. submitted the lowest tender dered for the job to remove the SADF-planted landmines, which, in the words ofSwawec chief executive Polla Brand, Spanish skippers netted "have become increasingly dangerous to people and live r---.---------, stock since much of the fenc TWELVE Spanish cap lay before starting to sail in on ing around the approximate 400 TOM MINNEY tains and officers are to be Sunday. Two South African pylons has been destroyed". taken by police today to at LO deritz navy warships escorted them Several thousand anti-per Keetmanshoop to face trial. The captains are to be cruuged to Liideritz, joining the pres sonnel mines are said to be The arrests came after a with illegal fishing in Namibia's sure from Namibian fisheries planted along the Ruacana day of dl'ama at Liideritz exclusive economic zone. They inspector Johan vanRhyn who powerline. were first arrested last Thurs made the initial arrests and Brand said yesterday that yesterday when three boats kept command for 96 hours Swawec had awarded the ten caught fishing illegally day, but only brought ashore last night to a hostile crowd. continuously. Seven Namib der to the company they be wel'e finally brought into Sleepy Luderitz, whose nets· ian Defence Force soldiers have lieved was most capable of harbolU' and raided. Al mainly harvest rock lobster, also been on the three boats doing the ~ "h in a professional most 1 000 tonnes of awoke as a much bigger catch since Thursday. manner and with the best equip-. DEMONSTRATORS show their disapproval of the Namibian fish, especially was landed. The boats finally reached ment. fish plunder as the Spaniards are loaded onto a police h.igh-value hake, were The Spaniards had spent three Liideritz early yesterday. Port The three-person company truck in Liideritz yesterday evening. Photos: Tom found on board. days trying to escape and de- continued on page 2 continued on page 2 Minney ~ ............................................. ........................................... ~ .. • Bottle Store Tel. (061) 61562 . ... Supermarket 61562 ... ~~~~(fIC!).. Super Save 61999 .. Sp~Cial Price 215420 .. Shop Elago & Butchery ~ 215420 .. ~.. GROUP ~eople Bottle Store 62348 .. .. ~ lie ,. III Tel. (061) 227421 (home) = Find us no.w in any Suburb of Katutura PO Box 7290, Katutura, Republic of Namibia •= ~.~ ••III ••••••••••••••••••••••••••I ••••••••• U.I•••• I ••X •••••••U.I.K •••••••••••••••••••• ~ the 4th Battalion ofNamibian ··J Defence Force were'relieved [••· •.• ~ . !?~!~I . t . !~~I .~••••••• ~i~ •••I ••••••••• after keeping guard in shifts Setting up of Bagani captain lan Wingate brought ' ~ecretary Calle Schlettwein over documents on the boats the boats in one by one onto stayed onshore to co-ordinate:. since Thursday. mOOlings alongside four of the Inspector van ·Rhyn, after Seconds before 18hOO last five Spanish boats arrested last almost no sleep for foW' nights, night, the harbour tug brought probe 'well underway' November. Police and a.rmy joined the teams, showing them the skippers, chief engineers teams, armed with submachine where documents were kept. and first and second officers to guns and carrying mattresses, "He was key :to the whole shore. THE finalisation of the General's office was only supervision of officials of the waited on the qyays to go and operntion," said Oelfosen. Defence attorney Tim Pro Commission ofInquiry into waiting for the President's Directorate of Nature Conser take over the ships. During the afternoon the brut of Keetmanshoop was the destruction of Buffalo Office to nonlinate people to vation, but those responsible At 13h50 Inspector Dekker investigators also raided Cabu waiting and said he plans to Base near Bagani has serve on the commission. have still not been apprehended.. Smit, chief investigating offi Primero, owned by Negocios allege assault and that they were reached an advanced stage As soon as the list of names One of the tasks of the cer of the Keetmanshoop po Maritimos Asociados and skip arrested in South African wa was received a proclamation comnussion will be to deter according to Attorney would be published in the mine how the destruction of lice, led the boarding parties pered by Manuel Queim.mo ters, both charges denied by General, Hartmut Ruppel. onto the first ship Altasa Cuarto, Pineiro, and finally CatOlTe the Nanubians involved. Government gazzette which the base1:ould have taken place owned by Alteacanarias de dondo Cua.rto, owned by Al As the captains and officers The creation of the commis would make it possible for the undetected. Expoltaciones of Las Palmas muina of Marin skippered by were fmally loaded into a po sion was announced by Presi commission to officially start The looting and vanda.l.isa and captained by Manuel Este Joaquin Gomez·Blanco. lice truck, a crowd of some 50 dent Sam Nujoma early in its work. tion took place without appar vez Buceta. The Spanish sailors were people made up quick demon . February following the discov A source at State House, who ently being detected by either His target was to seize all quiet and helped police and stration, called together by ery of massive theft and de did not wish to be nanled, Nature Conservation, or the the logbooks and maps as was army aboard and loaded their Swapo organiser Ida Jimmy. struction of the base's infra yesterda~ confirmed that a list Deprutment of Works to whom done in last November's raids equipment although they were Their placards read: "Stop structure. of possible conunission mem the base technically belonged. on Spanish boats. not passed any submachineguns. your evil plundering habits, Damage iS'estimated at be bers was still being compiled. Officials of the Department He was followed by Drs J an Some logbooks were thrown thieves!", "Leave our fish. This tween R3 to R5 million but a Several people had been of Works have indicated that Jurgens and Burger Oelofsen into the sea off the Catorre belongs to the Natnibian full assessment is still being approached to serve on the they have several leads and of the Ministry of Fisheries dondo Cuarto but a nearby people" and "Congratulations carried out by the Ministry of commission, but the President's that possible suspects have been and Marine Resources with speedboat quickly retrieved to the Natnibian authorities on Works, Transport and Com Office was still waiting for them reported to the police. Danie Smal of the Prosecutor them. a job well done ". munication. to indicate whether they would However they declined to General's office. Permanent The seven tired soldiers of • See also report, page 6. Ruppel said the Attomey- accept. state publicly who the suspects The source at State House, are, on the grounds that this ants of the Peoples Liberalion price. however, said ·he could not might prejudice the investiga Almy of Natnibia (PLAN) in The Namibian tried to con indicate when the process of tion of the Commission of late 1980. tact two of the former police selecting commission members Inquiry. which was successful in their remove the mines at a cost of They had tendered low, at men last night, but were un would be completed.

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