Patience Makwele
Defence and veterans affairs Minister Frans Kapofi has warned that further delays in inaugurating the Cassinga Memorial could see the completed facility deteriorate and increase costs for both Namibia and Angola.
The warning comes as the joint Namibia-Angola project has reached about 99% completion, nearly nine years after construction began.
Kapofi made the remarks on Wednesday in Lubango, Angola, following a joint inspection of the Cassinga Memorial Park and a six-day meeting of the Namibia-Angola Joint High-Level Committee.
“Further delays in the inauguration of the memorial could result in deterioration of the already completed facility which in essence would invoke additional cost for both governments,” Kapofi said.
The memorial is now substantially complete, but several outstanding issues remain, including the engraving of names of the victims of the 1978 Cassinga massacre.
Kapofi also raised concerns over the fading and peeling of the national coats of arms at the memorial, while water supply and wildfire prevention remain among the outstanding matters requiring attention.
“The coats of arms of both countries are fading and peeling off, and this requires urgent attention. We also need to address the water supply and wildfire prevention measures to ensure that the memorial is properly maintained,” Kapofi said.
The two governments have committed to completing the remaining works and inaugurating the memorial at the earliest mutually convenient opportunity, although no inauguration date has been announced.
The memorial is being built at the site of the 4 May 1978 attack by South African apartheid forces on Namibian refugees in southern Angola.
According to the joint statement issued by both countries during the meeting, more than 900 Namibian refugees, mostly women and children, were killed and buried in mass graves at the site.
Kapofi said construction had been affected by unintended interruptions, including the Covid-19 pandemic and other challenges.
“After close to a decade of the memorial park’s construction, it is utterly gratifying to finally see that, officially, the construction phase of the park is substantially completed,” he said.
Angola’s minister of national defence, former combatants and veterans of the homeland, General (Rtd.) Lúcio Gonçalves Amaral, said the outcome of the meeting would provide a basis for amendments to the bilateral agreement governing the memorial.
“The outcome of this meeting will serve as a basis for the necessary amendments to the bilateral agreement, so that the significance of the Cassinga Memorial is respected, preserved and passed on to future generations,” Amaral said.
He however did not specify which provisions would be amended, saying the changes would ensure the significance of the Cassinga Memorial is respected and preserved.
Amaral also stressed that the memorial should not only preserve the physical site, but should house documents, photographs, testimonies and other historical material for research and presentation.
Kapofi said President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah had indicated her readiness to co-inaugurate the memorial once an invitation is extended by Angolan President João Lourenço.
The ministers also agreed on the need for interim arrangements to preserve and manage the memorial immediately after its inauguration.
“We have agreed that interim measures must be put in place to protect and manage the memorial immediately after the inauguration, while the long-term management arrangements are finalised,” Kapofi said.
The Cassinga project was jointly initiated by Namibia and Angola in 2017 to honour those killed in the attack and preserve the shared liberation history of the two countries.
The latest engagement was the ninth technical visit and third high-level meeting on the project.
