The Cassinga Massacre of Namibian Exiles in 1978 and the Conflicts Between Survivors’ Memories and Testimonies

ENDURING SUFFERING: THE CASSINGA MASSACRE OF NAMIBIAN EXILES IN 1978 AND THE CONFLICTS BETWEEN SURVIVORS’ MEMORIES AND TESTIMONIES BY VILHO AMUKWAYA SHIGWEDHA A Dissertation submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History University of the Western Cape December 2011 Supervisor: Professor Patricia Hayes ABSTRACT During the peak of apartheid, the South African Defence Force (SADF) killed close to a thousand Namibian exiles at Cassinga in southern Angola. This happened on May 4 1978. In recent years, Namibia commemorates this day, nationwide, in remembrance of those killed and disappeared following the Cassinga attack. During each Cassinga anniversary, survivors are modelled into „living testimonies‟ of the Cassinga massacre. Customarily, at every occasion marking this event, a survivor is delegated to unpack, on behalf of other survivors, „memories of Cassinga‟ so that the inexperienced audience understands what happened on that day. Besides survivors‟ testimonies, edited video footage showing, among others, wrecks in the camp, wounded victims laying in hospital beds, an open mass grave with dead bodies, SADF paratroopers purportedly marching in Cassinga is also screened for the audience to witness the agony of that day. Interestingly, the way such presentations are constructed draw challenging questions. For example, how can the visual and oral presentations of the Cassinga violence epitomize actual memories of the Cassinga massacre? How is it possible that such presentations can generate a sense of remembrance against forgetfulness of those who did not experience that traumatic event? When I interviewed a number of survivors (2007 - 2010), they saw no analogy between testimony (visual or oral) and memory. They argued that memory unlike testimony is personal (solid, inexplicable and indescribable). Memory is a “true picture” of experiencing the Cassinga massacre and enduring pain and suffering over the years. In considering survivors‟ challenge to the visually and orally obscured realities of the Cassinga massacre, this study will use a more lateral and alternative approach. This is a method of attempting to interrogate, among other issues of this study, the understanding of Cassinga beyond the inexperienced economies of this event production. The study also explores the different agencies, mainly political, that fuel and exacerbate the victims‟ unending pathos. These invasive miseries are anchored, according to survivors, in the “disrupted expectations” or forsaken human dignity of survivors and families of the missing victims, especially following Namibia‟s independence in 1990. DECLARATION I declare that “Enduring Suffering: the Cassinga massacre of Namibian exiles in 1978 and the conflicts between survivors‟ memories and testimonies” is my own work and has not been submitted for any degree or examination in any other university, and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by complete references. Vilho Amukwaya Shigwedha 20 December 2011 Signed................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study has come a long way in reaching this stage. Since its inception in July 2006, it has received support from different people who assisted in different ways throughout its endeavors. Without others‟ assistance, I could not have, alone, overcome numerous hindrances that this study encountered in the course of gathering archival data. I would single out the former SADF archive in Pretoria which really gave me a tough time and delayed my archival research for a period of two years before it finally approved my application to consult documents of the Cassinga attack. I thank Sello Hatang, the former Director of the South African History Archive (SAHA), for coordinating links and lobbying for the release of some of the Cassinga declassified documents. Steve De Agrela and Gerald Prinsloo, the principal archivists, were invariably helpful during my frequent research trips to the SANDF archive, but they had limited power to influence things. They had no authority to release unscrutinized, though declassified Cassinga files. The support I received in Johannesburg from John Liebenberg, Jo Ractliffe and Verne Harris is immeasurable. Patricia Hayes thank you for introducing me to these wonderful people and many others. I am grateful to Dag Henrichsen for allowing me access to the Namibia Resource Center & Southern Africa Library in Basel, Switzerland. I am indebted to Giorgio Miescher and Lorena Rizzo for hosting me in their house throughout my stay in Basel. Martha Akawa, I am very grateful for your support in Basel. In May 2011, I had the privilege of attending the South-South Exchange Programme for Research on the History of Development (SEPHIS) workshop on visual methodologies in Cairo. Part of my work benefitted from the intellectual expertise and critical analysis of Hanan Sabea, Mark Westmoreland and fellow participants in the two-week workshop in Egypt. I spent the last five months (August – December 2011) of my study at the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC), University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, USA. There I met academics with intellectual proficiency and extraordinary inter-personal rapport. I found myself in a very supportive academic and family-like environment with the following wonderful people: Eric Sheppard, Karen Brown, Helena Pohlandt-McCormick and Sara Braun. Allen Isaacman showed interest in my project. Unfortunately things do not always go according to plan. Helena Pohlandt-McCormick provided immeasurable mentoring support during my stay at the University of Minnesota. She read parts of my work with profound interest and suggested ways of improving critical areas. Terence Mashingdiaze‟s coordination of the ICGC brown bag presentations was exceptionally helpful for the critical analysis of my work. Kate Griep Kulhanek acted professionally and passionately with the distribution of the bi-weekly finance and fixing errors. Thank you! Cecilia Aldarondo facilitated access to affordable yet good quality clothing for the harsh winter - thank you for showing Okechukwu and I the way to the Salvation Army. iv Okechukwu Nwafor, my colleague at UWC and flat-mate in Minneapolis, I am indebted to you in many ways. You did not only share my pain and suffering when I fell sick but you also played a brotherly role in ways that languages cannot weigh and explain to others. But as the saying goes, a friend in need is a friend indeed! This project would not have been completed without the Carl Schlettwein Foundation in Basel, Switzerland, which funded the first three years of my study. Jeremy Silvester thank you for introducing me to the Schlettwein Foundation during my MA programme with the University of Namibia. I am also grateful to the National Archives of Namibia for funding my initial field trip to northern Namibia to interview survivors of the Cassinga massacre. The Centre for Humanities Research (CHR) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) provided immense financial support for this study. Thank you for the two year doctoral research fellowship I received from you. I can‟t fail to list names of academics, colleagues and friends with whom I spent time with at UWC and who enriched both my academic and personal growth. Patricia Hayes, Premesh Lalu, Ciraj Rassool, Leslie Witz, Nicky Rousseau, Heidi Grunebaum, Okechukwu Nwafor, Olusegun Morakinyo, Heike Becker, Anette Hoffman, Paolo Israel, Christian Williams, Zuleiga Adams, Suren Pillay, Annachiara Forte, Geraldine Frieslaar, Memory Biwa, Loide Shifula, Michael Akuupa, Kletus Likuwa, Napandulwe Shiweda, Charles Kabwete, Nduduzi „Mdu‟ Xakasa, Stanley Baluku, Steve Akoth, Janine Brandt, Jane Smidt, Lameez Lalkhen, Margreth Wazakili, Rebecca Amollo, Kaikai - the list is long. In fact, writing an acknowledgement is about producing exclusions and absence of all the assistance I received over the years. The completion of this thesis is indebted to the professional expertise of my supervisor, Patricia Hayes. She responded to each chapter draft with analytical acumen and gratifying insights. Thank you for your insightful comments and useful guidelines. Thank you for organizing platforms such as colloquia to present my work and receive audience feedback. Such meetings, discussions and debates enabled me to revisit my work in a more critical and scholarly manner. I really consider myself fortunate to have worked with you over the years - Kulupa nomesho. I must not fail to acknowledge the numerous contributions made by my interviewees. In particular, this thesis owes a great deal to the support and contributions made by survivors of the Cassinga massacre. Regrettably, interviews invoked your suffering and bitterness by switching on your difficult memories of that episode and its uninterrupted aftermath. I regret the emotional and psychological suffering you experienced in remembering Cassinga as you tried to reveal your experience to the inexperienced other. But that is the price you pay for the world to hear your uninterrupted suffering and forfeited justice. To my parents, Tate Kadhila Jonas Martin-Nkandi and Meme Namupa Aina Martin-Nkandi I am grateful: Nampongo has listened to your prayers. Hafeni, Kadhila, Katopi, Namupolo, Iikondja, Ndapewa, Lazarus, Shatika, Lugambo and Mweupandje I equally thank you. Meme Joolokeni “Faya” Kiinge-Shigwedha, this study carried me away from the numerous responsibilities of a husband. Thank you for your patience, understanding and unwavering support. v Lastly,

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