ONGWEDIVA – Former Koevoet and SWATF fighters who joined DTA in throngs last year are unhappy with plans by the incoming official opposition party to rebrand it.
DTA announced last weekend that plans are underway to rebrand the party in a bid to rid itself of perceptions that it collaborated with apartheid authorities before independence.
The Chairperson of Namibia War Veteran Trust (Namvet), Jabulani Frans Ndeunyema, said the step taken by the DTA leadership to rebrand the party, as an effort to disassociate themselves with the colonial regime is also a way of shunning former SWATF and Koevoet soldiers.
While refuting allegation that Namvet plans to retain the original DTA symbols and shun the mooted new changes, Ndeunyema could not rule out such possibilities.
New Era understands that unhappy former Koevoet and SWATF members are weighing options of either retaining the former symbols of the party or starting a new party from scratch.
“I am not saying that is what is going to happen because at the moment Namvet is concentrating on improving the lives of our [Namvet] people and getting what is due to them from the Swapo government,” Ndeunyema added.
Ndeunyema said it would be impossible for the DTA to cut the ties of apartheid legacy that is well known as that party’s basis of existence.
According to him, even if DTA changes its colours, logo and slogans its members including some of those in senior leadership position are part of the apartheid legacy.
“Nico Smith who is the fifth person on the party list came from the apartheid legacy. What are they talking about? What are they running away from?” Ndeunyema asked.
“They know that the reason why they got five seats in parliament it is because SWATF/Koevoet former members voted for them and we are part of the apartheid legacy.”
“Now it looks like they are running away from us. They are confused, they are running away from the legacy but we will die in this legacy,” said Ndeunyema.
Ndeunyema further boasted that Namvet has thousands of members that could win at least 21 seats in parliament, if it was a political party.
He added that apart from the DTA, parties like Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP) United People’s Movement (UPM), managed to get seats in parliament because of Namvet.
“They wanted us during the elections but now they don’t want to be associated with us, that is the reason why you will not see a face of any Namvet member among the DTA top leadership and there is nobody from the North, when we are the ones that voted them.”