Some philosophers have suggested, and truly so, that “A generation which ignores history has no past – and no future.” As we approach the 49th anniversary of the Oshatotwa massacre of the combatants of the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), the former military wing of the SWAPO Movement, the author reflects with despondency how this momentous event has been relegated in the political history of the armed liberation struggle of Namibia. The Oshatotwa massacre that happened in the southwestern Zambia in 1976 is regarded as the first atrocious attack by the racist South African forces on unarmed members of SWAPO in exile.

SWAPO set up guerrilla bases in southwestern Zambia, and opened the Eastern Front, as the first significant military operation zone for PLAN combatants’ incursions into Namibia. The PLAN combatants at the Eastern Front in southwestern Zambia formed the core constituent of the PLAN before the SWAPO leadership repositioned PLAN to Angola after Angola obtained its independence in November 1975. Earlier to the relocation of PLAN to Angola, PLAN operations from Zambia into Namibia, were proscribed by the Zambian government. Thereafter, PLAN relocated to Angola where they were able to conduct military operations from the new military bases it established in southern Angola, instead of through the Caprivi Strip.

PLAN combatants were effectively and efficiently conducting their military attacks on the enemy positions and military installations in the former Caprivi Strip, now Zambezi Region. The PLAN combatants adeptly used guerrilla warfare and sabotage activities to disrupt apartheid South African military operations within the Caprivi Strip. 

PLAN military successes in the former Caprivi Strip instilled fear and division within the local population, making it difficult for the former racist South African security forces to gain the support and cooperation from the community.  It is estimated that between 4000 and 6000 Namibians entered Zambia between 1974-5 to join SWAPO. Most of these Namibians were either accommodated at the Oshatotwa camps or sent elsewhere.

As the liberation war escalated, the former racist South African Defence Forces failed to contain the military activities of PLAN combatants in the former Caprivi Strip. This led to increased attacks on SWAPO bases inside Zambia by the former racist South African Defence Force. Moreover, the Zambian authorities received threats of sustained military retaliation from the Prime Minister of the then South Africa, John Vorster, thus the government of Zambia were under pressure and consequently informed the leadership of SWAPO to end its military activities from Zambian territory. It is also suggested that the other reason that led the Zambian government to disarm PLAN combatants in 1976, was the rebellion in the ranks of PLAN, which came to be known as the Shipanga rebellion. 

The Zambian troops disarmed about two thousand PLAN fighters who expressed dissatisfaction with their commanders because the armed struggle was not being pursued as they thought it should be. The dissenting PLAN combatants were disarmed and taken away from the Eastern Front, which was the military operational area, to the Mboroma refugee camp for “re-education”.

Subsequently, the remaining elite members of PLAN were withdrawn from the war zone to the rear base of Oshatotwa in 1976.  On arrival at the rear base of the Oshatotwa Camp B, the heroic combatants of PLAN were disarmed by members of the Zambian Defence Force and confined to this Camp. There were Camps A and B in Oshatotwa. Camp A was largely comprised of the newly arrivals from Namibia, who did not have any military training. At the time of the attack, there were hundreds of Namibian civilians waiting to undergo basic military training. 

In the early morning hours on 11 July 1976, the apartheid South African soldiers attacked unarmed PLAN combatants at the Oshatotwa Camp B, in the southwestern of Zambia. During the attack 28 PLAN combatants were killed, most of them were recruits who were undergoing training. The heroes and heroines of the liberation struggle who paid the ultimate price for the independence of Namibia were all buried in an unmarked mass grave in Oshatotwa, Zambia.

As we praise our departed heroes and heroines of our independence struggle, we should pause to reflect on the ideals which formed the basis for many sons and daughters of Namibia to take up arms against South African colonial occupation of our country.

Befittingly, a shrine should be erected on the site of the mass grave at Oshatotwa, now and not later. Additionally, regional heroes’ acres, especially in the regions where they are not established yet, such as the Zambezi Region, they should be established to honour the men and women who sacrificed their lives fighting for freedom and independence we enjoy today in Namibia. 

It is in this context that we plead that our heroes and heroines’ efforts should not be in vain. Neither should their sacrifices be tarnished and warped to mean that they were made for only one group of people. The aim was independence!

*Vincent M. Mwange is a former PLAN combatant and survivor of the Oshatotwa massacre.