- BY MARK VERBAAN DRAMATIC EVIDENCE of army involvement in the death of Mr Immanuel Shifidi at a Swapo meeting late last year concluded the inquest into the fatal stabbing of the 58-year­ old man this week. The inquest ended in the Win­ Philemon; Veino Andreas, and the dhoekMagistrates Court on Tues­ leader ofthe group who was known to day morning, with a statement him only as Kaashiimbi. revealing that more than 50 The two buses left 101 Battalion in convoy at 08hOO on Saturday, members of a SWATF Battalion November 29, had been ferried from northern At a petrol station in Okahandja, the Namibia to attend the meeting in men spoke amongst themselves, say­ Windhoek on November 30. ingthat they fIrst had to travel to Win­ This s~artling fact emerged in a sign· dhoek where they would get inform a­ ed affidavit which was read to a pa«k­ tion about the'camp in which they were ed courtroom by Magistrate Frikkie supposed to sleep. They said the camp Truter. was near Okahandja. Lawyers handling the Shifidi case "Meanwhile, while we were still at obtained the statement from a bus the petrol station, Thomas told me that driver from northern Namibia who they were not going to a course, but transported soldiers from 101 Bat­ that they were actually going to attend talion at Ondangwa to Windhoek the a Swapo meeting which was being held day before the meeting was to be held. the following day in Windhoek:' Friends, family and Swapo sup· The driver said, in his statement, porters crowded into the public gallery that he asked Thomas what they in­ where they listened attentatively as tended doing there. Thomas said that details of an army conspiracy emerged. they would go to listen, as they had THE PA~T WEEK'S bitter cold had people hauling out their thickest woollies. But for many Namibians, like In his statement, the driver said he never attended such a meeting before. the children pictured above, the lUXUry of warm clothing remained a dream not easily realised. Picture by operated a mini-bus service between Con.inued on page 2 John Liebenberg. ' Ondangwa and Oshakati, and that he never took people to the south. During the last week of November, 1986, he was approached by a Jakob Thomas who inquired about the TODAY: possibility of him dri ving people to the AG • Swapo to Court , INSIDE south. • Deported after 10 years He saidthatheknew Jakob Thomas ------By RAJAH MUNAMAVA-----­ as a member of 101 Battalion. THE SOUTH AFRICAN Administrator General, Mr Louis Pienaar, • Stormy Ovambo legislative Assembly Thomas told the driver that he had already spoken to his employer about has accused the internal leadership ofSwapo of "conniving" with • MUN banned from Tel meeting the trip, and that his employer had Swapo's military wing (Plan), and said the internal leadership agreed to it. should be equally held responsible for "atrocities" such as the • Thomas told him that the men were bomb blast last Thursday in Windhoek. to undergo a course at Okahandja. On Saturday morning, the day before The AG said the internal leadership Deputy Chairman ofthe White N a­ .-=- the Swapo meeting was scheduled, he ofSwapo glorified and identified itself tional Party, Mr Jan De Wet was and his assistant driver went to 101 from time to time with the armed reported as saying his Party was in "Have you heard?" Battalion as arranged with Thomas. struggle at their meetings and that in favour ofSwapo being declared a bann­ "I parked outside the camp. Later as much as doing so, were resposible for ed organisation if "terror attacks" in Thomas came to us. There was also a Swapo's "acts of violence". the territory did not stop. second mini-bus - I don't know the Though he was not sp~aking on According to a Sapa report, he said driver's name, but I know they are from it could no longer be permitted that a the Kwambi tribe;' said the driver in so-called politu:al party did not distan­ his statement. tiate itself from violence, and con­ He said Thomas told them that they tinued with sabotage and must bring both buses into the base, intimidation. where the drivers had to wait inside a Approached for comment, Swapo's tent. Joint Foreign Affairs Secretary, Mr "Inside the tent were two white N ico Bessinger, said the statement by soldiers. One of the soldiers was dress­ the AG was aimed at spreading fear ed in army uniform and the other was and was an attempt to create disunity in civilian clothing." in the ranks ofSwapo, especially when The uniformed soldier asked how referring to "internal leadership". many people could fit inside each bus, He said that successive colonial and the drivers said that 27 passengers governors have tried similar strategies could be accommodated. He also ask­ but have failed to reach this objective. ed about the cost, and the drivers in­ Mr Bessinger said the state of formed him that it would be R27 per escalating violance was usually person. created and fuelled by the reluctance "They had money with them -cash. ofthe coloniser to let free the colonis­ They gave each of us R1 080 for a return ed hence Namibia kept true to this trip." pattern. After receiving the money, the * Beautiful dress material, MR Louis Pienaar, drivers returned to their vehicles. The pure cotton only R4,92 per metre black soldier who translated for them behalfof the State, he hoped that legal remained in the tent. ' action would be taken against Swapo's This soldier came out after awhile internal leadership, he said. and told the men to board the vehicle. Mr Pienaar said personally, he was Smart men's Sunday hat "Twenty-seven people climbed not in favour ofthe banning ofSwapo, aboard my bus. They also loaded bows and further disclosed that such a deci­ onlyR16 ,45 and arrows, Ovambo knives, ordinary sion lay with the Cabinet of the interim knives and kieries onto the bus. They government. were all dressed in civilian clothing." He added however, that there might The other 27 people boarded the se­ be good grounds at this stage to ban the, cond bus. movement. @ Amongst the 27 men who were on his Mr Pienaar said he was waiting with bus, he recognised some ofthem as be­ great interest to see whether the OERMANN ing soldiers attached to 101 Battalion. Swapo leadership inside the country Tel: 32391 They were: Jakob Thomas; Paulus W BROCK would dissociate itselffrom acts such Sakaria; Emmanuel Gideon; Matheus as the bomb blast in Windhoek, or not. ---WHOlESAlE _ _ .....__ • Friday July 24 1987 2 r' THE NAMIBIAN " ..... '----:. TeL allegations: correction ~'&_- -, ,.-, In a report on page two ofThe Namibian ofJuly 17, headed "TCL can't meet demands", statements were made regarding a meeting, conducted between Tsumeb Corporation Limited, represented by Mr Bob Meiring, and member s of a Tsumeb consumer boycott group, including Pastor Hevita, during the week July 13-17. The Namibian has since established the following facts: • that no meeting has ever taken place between Tsumeb Corporation Limited and representatives of a consumer boycott organisation; • that Mr Meiring was not present at any meeting conducted during that time with any workers' delegation; • th at Pastor Hevita was not at any time a member of a workers' delega­ tion meeting with Tsumeb Corporation Limited. It is apparent that the statements and attitudes attributed in the report to Mr Meiring and the-Tsumeb Cor poration had no basis offact, and were the result of a misunderstanding between the reporter concerned and his source. The Na mibian accordingly retracts the report and unconditionally apologises to Mr Meiring, Tsumeb Corporation Limited and Pastor Hevita for any embarrassment and inconvenience caused. FROM left to right, Mr Thomas Fues, Ms Ursula Eid and Michael Vesper of the German Green Party Army exposed who are on a fact finding mission to Namibia. that it was not the correct camp. Continued from page 1 "1 offlo aded the men together with Greens' fact·finding visit The buses then continued on to Win­ their goods, and drove to the gate." dhoek, and went to an army base "near When they reached the gate, THREE Delegates from the Greens Party of West Germany, led by The delegation consists ofMs Ursula a place where cement is made". Kaashiimbi asked them to wait as he was waiting for an answer over the Ms Ursula Eid, a member of Parliament for the Greens, are on a Eid, MP, Mr Thomas Fues, (staff From there they left with a soldier in two week fact-finding mission in Namibia . member for Southern African Affairs) uniform on a motorcycle riding before radio. He recei ved an answer and told the and Michael Vesper, an Executive them. He took them to another army The group will consult with Nami­ Director of the Greens Party. base to the south of Windhoek. driver that it was not the camp where The delegation will also collect infor­ bian church leaders, Swapo and other mation on the rumour that West Ger­ "As at the previous camp, Kaashiim­ they must sleep, andthat he should go back and pick up the men again. political groups outside the South many was planning to dump its bi and another person went into the African interim government. Ms Eid camp with the white soldier. We waited He said that his bus was not running nuclear wastes in the Namibia desert. smoothly, and he told Kaashiimbi this said that since the change of govern­ Ms Eid said her party was opposed to Prayer outside in the buses:' ment in West Germany, there had been After awhile they returned from in­ once they reached Windhoek.