SMember of the national executive committee of the African National Congress (ANC) Lindiwe Sisulu, has called on the Namibian and South African governments to erect monuments in places where refugees from the two countries were living during the liberation struggle.
Namibia and South African refugees were hosted in countries such as Angola, Tanzania and Zambia during the liberation struggle.
“It is disheartening to see that those places where we lived are deserted. We should not forget about the people who sacrificed their lives during that time and their graves that are scattered in refugee camps in Angola, Zambia and Tanzania,” she told Nampa in an interview on the sidelines of the Swapo Party congress underway in Windhoek.
She said she visited the ANC transit camp which was next to that of Swapo in Luanda during the Angolan presidential elections, and could not believe what she saw there.
“My heart was very sore. I have seen there is nothing to show that liberation movements were here, nothing can show you that there is a history written here. In fact, in my view, I feel some spirit of our own people still remains there, because we never went back to bring those spirits back home,” she said.
Sisulu, who is also South Africa’s Minister of Tourism, said the spirits of those who fought for the liberation of South Africa and Namibia ‘need to be brought back home.’
“We cannot ignore that, we cannot forget our history because it is that history that will teach the young generation to appreciate the liberation struggle, to appreciate where we were and where we are now, because at times they take it for granted. They take it for granted because we are not talking about it, we are not taking them to see what happened and how we lived then,” she cautioned.
She called on the two governments and two liberation movements to give respect to comrades who lost their lives for the liberation struggles and whose graves are scattered in those countries.
The two organisations must erect monuments that show their history, she demanded.
“If you go to Europe, you will find monuments and shrines dedicated to the Second World War and First World War and you can go anywhere in the world, people respect the sacrifices that were made by their people, they don’t leave those places to just become dams,” she bemoaned.
Sisulu commended the government of Angola for putting up a shrine in recognition of the Quito Cuanavale battle in southern Angola.
The battle of Cuito Cuanavale was the largest military confrontation between South African regime forces and Swapo, the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) and Cuban armed forces.
It marked the beginning of the end of white minority domination in southern Africa, the dismantling of the apartheid system, and the total liberation of Africa from European occupation.
The battle against apartheid forces in Angola in 1988 is regarded as the moment that expedited the liberation of Namibia, South Africa and the SADC region.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
