In February 1985, I successfully recruited an enemy collaborator who knew someone in the Civic Affairs Office at Ondangwa.
This person, a certain Mr Nghilundwa, used to work for the South African Army at Sector 10 at Oshakati where he served as an electrician responsible for repairing electrical infrastructure in the military bases across the northern part of the country. He knew someone who was directly involved in the issuing of birth certificates at the Civic Affairs Office at Ondangwa. Mr Nghilundwa was generally respected within the ranks of army officers at Sector 10; hence was able to convince the official at the Civic Affairs Office to issue me a birth certificate.
I told him that he should tell his fellow enemy collaborator that he has a cousin who had been at the cattle post for a long time and needed a birth certificate. I gave Mr Nghilundwa my false name that would be entered on the birth certificate and other false personal particulars.
I did not meet the enemy collaborator at the Civic Affairs Office. It took only two days for Mr Nghilundwa to bring me a birth certificate, which I later used to obtain a South West African national identification card at the same office.
Since the enemy collaborator had no access to the issuing of identification cards, I had to find someone else who would either help me acquire the documents or find someone who could do it.
I had all the necessary skills and capabilities to identify such a person in the shortest possible time. However, I was not sure whether the person would agree to issue such a document. After obtaining the necessary information and carefully analysing the working environment in the office, I came across someone who knew someone who issued identification cards in the Civic Affairs Office.
The person who knew someone working in the Civic Affairs Office was Tate Kayupa ka Mwatotele, the current Senior Headman of Elyambala village. I asked Tate Mwatotele to approach that official to issue an identification card to his purported cousin who had lost his card while herding cattle at the cattle post (ohambo) east of Oukwanyama District.
After lengthy and repeated discussions with Tate Mwatotele, he finally agreed to do it. I gave him at least two weeks or so to convince the Civic Affairs official to give me the identity document.
Before two weeks elapsed, at the beginning of February 1985, I went back to Tate Mwatotele to check on progress made so far.
Tate Mwatotele had already done his homework.
He told me that he had already discussed the matter with the Civic Affairs official who had agreed to issue the identification card as requested. Although Tate Mwatotele did not tell me the name of the said official, he indicated that it was someone related to the Ondonga Royal Family at Onamungudo.
When I asked him about the possibility of that official being an enemy collaborator, Mwatotele said that every person employed in that office was supposed to be working for the apartheid government; hence he could not rule out that possibility.
After we exchanged views about the risk involved, the old man told me that he had already made an appointment with the Civic Affairs official for my identification photo at Ondangwa office in two days’ time.
I remember very well that I met the old man on a Sunday; hence I only had Monday and Tuesday to make up my mind whether to go to the office and risk being apprehended or to operate without the necessary document, which was almost impossible, as I would not be able to pass through Oshivelo without the crucial document. I promised the old man that I would let him know my decision before Wednesday.
After I left, I was still pondering whether the old man had connived with the enemy collaborator to help the security services agents arrest me or not.
During the few months that I interacted with Tate Mwatotele, I realised that he was a risk taker, a man who was full of courage and did not fear the security forces.
The question, which kept hovering in my mind, was why he had such a character; was it because he partially works for the enemy security forces or he was simply an arrogant old man who had no respect for the brutal apartheid security forces.
I used the two days to gather more information about Tate Mwatotele’s past activities; I wanted to know whether he had a history of collaborating with the enemy security forces.
What came out of my research was that he was a respected headman who could interact well with some security members without necessarily working for them.
• The book is available at the Book Den near Polytechnic of Namibia in Windhoek, Etunda filling station in Otavi, Omuthiya filling station, Okapana filling station in Ondangwa, Highway filling station (Selector) Ongwediva, Spar Shop Ongwediva, Book of Namibia in Ondangwa, Oshakati and Outapi, Hosea Kutako International Airport and at Bush War Publication in Durban South Africa.