BERSEBA – A sombre atmosphere prevailed on Tuesday at the residence of the late Dean Emeritus Stefanus Tiboth in the southwestern village of Berseba. 

Tiboth, a former Swapo party regional coordinator, died on 26 May 2025 after a short illness at the Keetmanshoop State hospital. He was 80. 

In a condolence speech read on her behalf, Swapo leader Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah (also affectionately known as NNN), said Tiboth was not only a long-serving leader of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in his community but also a steadfast comrade within the party’s rank and file. 

He served as former Hardap regional coordinator, NNN recalled. 

“A task he carried out with great discipline and with the heart for servanthood, as this was evidently displayed by the cross-regional memorials held in //Kharas and Hardap,” she emphasised in hailing praise for the clergyman. 

The politician continued, “On behalf of the Swapo Party and Ndaitwah family, I convey to you, the Tiboth family and the bereaved community at large my sincere sympathy and heartfelt condolences during this difficult time, and may his soul rest in eternal peace.” 

In his remarks, former //Kharas governor Dawid Boois said if the history of the Swapo Party is recorded and the name of Stefanus Tiboth is omitted, it would be a big mistake. 

“This formidable political leader has fought till the end for our freedom where others have even wavered,” said Boois. 

The former governor also recognised the veteran of Namibia’s struggle for freedom as a hero and strong fighter who, during his lifetime, made sure that the apartheid system was demolished in an independent Namibia. He also said it was a privilege and honour to know a person and leader like Stefanus Tiboth. 

Mathilda Tiboth (90), the eldest surviving member of the family, remembered her brother as a leader during their upbringing. “He was also a deep-rooted Christian who liked to sing and make music in the community, apart from always sharing jokes with us,” she recalled. 

Tiboth is survived by his wife, seven children, 21 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. 

His eldest son, Christian Tiboth, told Nampa he will remember his father as a humble and kind man who fought for equal rights for all. 

“I will remember my father as a social justice advocate and a fearless revolutionary. My father already stood against apartheid way before party politics in the 1960s; he believed in equal rights for all. We joined the Swapo party in 1976 and by then, he was already an ordained pastor,” Christian Tiboth recounted. 

He added that his father was an active mobiliser for Swapo. While his pastoral duties prevented him from holding political positions, he actively advanced liberation theology from the church’s platform. 

When asked about the life lessons learned from his father, he said, “I have learned that I need to be humble, to be kind to people, and afford everybody the benefit of the doubt. He taught me that I must always remember that we are all equal in the eyes of God.” 

Tiboth will be laid to rest this weekend at Berseba. 

-sklukowsk@nepc.com.na 

-Additional reporting by Nampa.