The fabric of Namibian society, already distorted by apartheid, is being further destroyed by the effect of the war on the civilian population. People in the north bear the brunt of the increasing violence perpetrated by the South African security forces and the various sections of the indigenous police and military. Reports of attacks on villages, indiscriminate killings by individuals, and forced removals give evidence of the suffering inflicted on the population.
According to recent reports, people in the north are being forced to leave their villages as a result of army and police action. Their sources of water are being cut off with the destruction of pumps and boreholes. Houses and agricultural land are being burned down by the Home Guards with the help of South African troops, according to a letter in the Windhoek Observer. The writer reports that "South African army vehicles are destroying the fences and agricultural vegetation of the Ovambo-speaking people by passing over their land". The soldiers don't pursue SWAPO guerillas but "come to the civilians and start beating them up, asking why they do not shoot the SWAPO people", the writer says. According to SWAPO, the purpose of these actions is to force people to move near the main towns of Oshakati and On-dangua, where major South African army bases are located, in an effort to prevent support for SWAPO guerillas.
The South African army has previously cleared large areas along the Namibian border with Angola of civilians. In 1975/76, South Africa decided to create a "free-fire zone" of one kilometre width along the entire Namibian border with Angola. The area contained large settlements with church missions, schools, clinics, shops and cafes which had to be abandoned. South African police carried out the wholesale destruction of villages and crops. Up to 50,000 civilians were forcibly removed from their homes. Security forces were instructed to "shoot to kill" if necessary in the depopulated border zone.
Several recent reports give evidence of coercion, arrests and shootings of civilians by the armed forces. Andreas Shipanga, the leader of the SWAPO-Democratic Party, returning from a visit to Ovamboland in December 1980, said he had never seen so many cripples in his life. He added that the Ovambo people were under crossfire and were being terrorised by the armed forces.
A representative of the Lutheran Church in America, John Evenson, arrived in Oniipa in northern Namibia at the time the printing press, owned by the Evangelical Lutheran Ovambokavango Church (ELOC), was blown up. He witnessed the arrival of soldiers two nights after the event, and was told that a number of Namibians had been rounded up. Some were accused by hooded informers of being SWAPO guerillas. One shopkeeper was severely beaten and taken away.
The following day, the rounding up continued. In the shop area of Oniipa armoured cars were positioned in a circle, with machine guns pointed at more than 40 Namibian men sitting in the centre of the circle. Evenson learned later that, after producing their identity cards, the men had been forced to say repeatedly "we hate SWAPO", and then to shout "the white man is good" louder and louder. Two persons who had not responded quickly enough to questions had been clubbed, and a number of persons had been taken away. Evenson, who had taken pictures of some of these incidents, was forced to hand over his film.
During his stay in northern Namibia, he met numerous people who told him of family members arrested, missing or killed by white South African army and police officers.
As a result of widespread violence, many essential services no longer function in the north. At least 15 schools have been closed in Ovamboland, affecting approximately 20,000 children. Medical assistance is non-existent in some areas. Clinics have been burnt down and local people often have to walk 50 kilometres for medical treatment.
Women face the additional fear of being raped by armed soldiers, with little chance of escape or redress in the courts. Although the maximum sentence for rape is death, no soldier convicted of rape has received more than a suspended sentence or a fine. In one case, a 26 year old SADF soldier, Johannes Pretorius, raped an 80 year old woman, Sabina Kasiku, at a wedding party in Kavangoland. Evidence cited in court established that he had first tried to rape a younger woman, that Ms Kasiku had been hospitalised for two weeks because of profuse bleeding, and that the soldier's rifle was found at the homestead. Nevertheless, Pretorius' plea of "consent" was accepted. He told a court reporter afterwards that he had lied to escape "the shadow of the gallows".
An 18 year old white soldier, Jacobus Abel van Zyl, was given 18 months and 6 months suspended sentences and R200 and R100 fines respectively for raping Hilma Sakarias (25) and attempting to rape Frida Dawid (20) in February 1980. Van Zyl had at first pleaded not guilty to the charges and only changed his plea after several women had given evidence.
In another case, two white South African soldiers were sentenced to 3 years imprisonment, suspended for 5 years, and a fine of R100 each for repeatedly assaulting a 14 year old Caprivan girl. John Anthony Bessinger (19) and Daniel Phillip Pearson (20) forced a black man at gunpoint to "take them to his sister". Some 100 yards further on, they came across a woman holding a baby and a young girl. They attempted to force both women into their army vehicle, but seized only the girl when the older woman started shouting. The girl was dragged into the cabin of the truck and driven into the bush. Despite her desperate struggles she was repeatedly assaulted by both men.
Pregnant women are not safe from such assaults. During an attack on civilians at Otsandi in the north in September 1980, a pregnant woman died after being raped by five South African soldiers.
Faced with such lenient attitudes towards the perpetrators of rape, many women are reluctant to seek redress in court. A letter to the Windhoek Observer points out that South African Defence Force members in the north "believe they are free to do anything with an Ovambo-speaking person. Many women have been raped, and ... people killed like flies without compensation to their families. If the convicted cannot be punished according to the law, why bring them before the court?"
Security has been tightened in the north of Namibia, following the reported presence of SWAPO guerillas. The Kavango tribal administration has imposed a ban on all movement in the south-west of Kavango between dusk and dawn. The ban cuts off almost the entire south-west of Kavango and also restricts movement on the road from Rundu to Grootfontein. A spokesman for the Kavango administration said the ban had been imposed because civilian movement at night had been hindering the security forces during operations in the area. The ban was aimed at restricting SWAPO guerillas moving to the southern white farming areas and back.
In the Ovambo region, vehicle control between sunset and sunrise is to be applied stringently, according to Colonel Roets, senior staff officer Staff Operations of the SWA Territory Force (SWATF). Security forces opened fire on a private vehicle recently, though no one was hurt. The officer emphasised that the measure was not an extension of the existing curfew in Ovamboland. The new measures applied only to vehicle traffic.
Previous restrictions imposed in Ovamboland under Security Districts Proclamation AG9, which has been amended several times, required the written consent of a Peace Officer or an officer of the security forces for vehicles travelling at night.
Security measures in and around the northern town of Ondangua were reported to have been tightened in April, following evidence that SWAPO guerillas were in the area. Ondangua has a military air base.
A number of road haulers owned by the SA railway and operating in Namibia have been converted to make them mine-resistant and bullet-proof. The trucks operate along the road leading from Oshakati to Ruacana. There are allegations that landmines are planted by South African soldiers. A correspondent wrote to the Windhoek Observer claiming that on one occasion people saw members of the army on the road between Ondangua and Oshakati, and that a landmine was later detonated at that spot.
