Patience Makwele
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has revealed that a 12-year process to bring liberation struggle heroes home was completed on Monday, with the remains of six reinterred at Heroes’ Acre and symbolic graves established for two others whose remains remain missing.
The remains of Eliaser Inamutwika Tuhadeleni, Hafeni Immanuel Shifidi, Nduuvu Fillemon Nangolo, Immanuel Nathaniel Maxuilili, Simon Petrus Niilenge and Festus Nehale were reinterred at Heroes’ Acre, while Brendan Kangongolo Simbwaye and Tobias Hainyeko were honoured through symbolic graves.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said the process began in 2014 and was already the subject of a Cabinet decision when she assumed office in March 2025.
She said the decision directed government to continue working with South Africa to secure the return of Niilenge and Nehale, establish symbolic graves for Simbwaye and Hainyeko, and bring the remains of Tuhadeleni, Shifidi and Maxuilili to Heroes’ Acre.
“We are executing a decision taken because ours is a continuation. And we believe in implementation, particularly when they are talking to an issue that is of national importance,” she said.
Nandi-Ndaitwah described the reinterment as an act of national remembrance and restorative justice, saying it corrected historical wrongs against liberation struggle heroes who were buried far from home, in unmarked graves or whose whereabouts remained unknown.
“Through this reinterment, we correct a historical wrong and accord these liberation struggle heroes the honour they earned through their service and sacrifice,” she said.
She said the ceremony was also an investment in national memory, reconciliation, identity and the education of future generations.
The remains of Niilenge and Nehale were repatriated from South Africa on Friday, 21 August. Nehale died in Robben Island prison on 4 March 1971 and was buried at Maitland Cemetery in Cape Town on 8 April that year.
After more than five decades away from Namibia, the Nehale family described his return as the restoration of dignity and recognition of his contribution to the liberation struggle.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Armas Nandjigua said Nehale grew up under colonial rule and worked in Gobabis, Otjiwarongo, Walvis Bay and Oranjemund before becoming involved in political mobilisation.
He eventually left ordinary employment to dedicate himself to the liberation struggle through structures associated with SWAPO and PLAN, the family said.
The family has called on the government to consider naming a street after Nehale to ensure his legacy is remembered by future generations.
The Nangolo family described Monday’s reburial as the healing of a wound that had remained open for years.
In a statement delivered by Andreas Namwenyo Amundjindi, the family said Nangolo was the first and last freedom fighter to be publicly executed by the colonial regime during the liberation struggle.
“Today, that wound is being healed,” the family said, describing his reburial as an act of justice, respect and recognition.
The family said the reburial gave them closure and a place where future generations could visit and remember the freedom fighter.
For the Maxuilili family, the ceremony marked the final resting place of a man who devoted decades to Namibia’s liberation.
The family said Immanuel Nathaniel Maxuilili served as SWAPO’s acting president inside Namibia for decades and endured imprisonment, persecution and house arrest.
They also remembered him as a committed non-tribalist who welcomed Namibians from different regions, languages and backgrounds.
“He simply did not recognise the divisions that others insisted upon. To him, there was one people: Namibians,” the family said.
The family said Maxuilili lived to see Namibia become independent and witnessed the return of Walvis Bay to Namibia.
“Today, Namibia lives. The country is free. Walvis Bay is home,” they said.
South Africa’s minister of defence and military veterans, Angelina Motshekga, said the ceremony reflected the deep historical connection between Namibia’s liberation struggle and South Africa’s own history.
Motshekga said the struggle came at a significant human cost, with freedom fighters spending years in exile and imprisonment, while others died far from their homeland.
She said returning the remains gave the fallen a final connection to the country for which they sacrificed, while allowing Namibia and South Africa to confront and remember a difficult chapter in their shared history.
Motshekga also acknowledged the cooperation between the two governments in facilitating the return of Niilenge and Nehale.
Nandi-Ndaitwah also announced that Namibia received 84 ancestral human remains from South Africa on Friday.
The remains, which had been kept at the Iziko Museums, represent individuals whose identities were taken away and whose histories were disrupted during the colonial era.
She said they would be kept at the National Museum until consensus was reached on the way forward.
The President thanked the Namibian delegation led by education, innovation, youth, sports, arts and culture Minister Sanet Steenkamp, as well as government officials, traditional leaders, relatives and members of the Namibian Air Force involved in the repatriation mission.
She also thanked South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, represented by Motshekga, and the South African government for their cooperation.
Nandi-Ndaitwah called on universities, schools, museums, archives, cultural institutions and the media to preserve and teach the history of Namibia’s liberation struggle.
She said the greatest tribute to the fallen would be to build the Namibia for which they fought, a country where citizens live in dignity, opportunity is broadened, poverty is defeated, justice is protected and national unity is preserved.
